Ideas That Work: Fruits of Their Labor

We invite patients and staff to recognize members of the team who demonstrate one of our medical center's core values — respect, teamwork, service, honesty — by submitting a card describing the good deed to our facility's human resources department. The recognition is noted in the employee's personnel file and the card is passed, along with a small round blue sticker, to their manager. The manager reads the card aloud at a staff meeting and presents the employee with the 'blueberry' sticker, which they place on their ID badge. After an employee receives 12 blueberries, they exchange their standard-issue white badge for a blue badge. Twelve more blueberries earn them a gold badge and then accumulating 24 more blueberries earn them the highest honor: the Cloud Badge (white puffs on a sky-blue background). Staff are limited to earning one blueberry a month, so we know dedicated staff members with cloud badges have worked hard over several years to earn at least 48 blueberries.

Tami Geske, RN, BSN
Rogue Regional Medical Center
Medford, Ore.
[email protected]