Maintaining motivation under pressure

Recent media headlines have reported much negativity about nurses lacking compassion for the patients in their care. Not surprisingly, the morale of nurses has hit an all-time low with surveys reporting that many nurses feel stretched, overworked, undervalued and underpaid. The continuous fast-paced change imposed on healthcare staff within the health service has left many nurses feeling demoralised. With low morale also comes demotivation and patient care can begin to suffer. So how can primary care nurses remain motivated at work and why is this important?

Motivation is derived from the word motive and explains why we do what we do and what drives our behaviour. Motivation or the lack of it drives our performance at work.