Transforming Paltry Donations into Meaningful Contributions: Role of Nursing Staff in Enhancing Patient Giving

Abstract Background: Nurses spend substantial time with patients and their families as part of routine clinical care, including monitoring vital signs, administering medications, providing health education, and offering emotional support. This sustained, trust-based interaction positions nurses uniquely to influence patient engagement beyond clinical outcomes, including participation in voluntary activities such as small-value charitable donations. Aims and Objectives: To enhance voluntary crowd-sourced funding through hospital donation boxes by actively involving nursing staff using Action Research. Methods: An Action Research study was conducted in the inpatient areas of a super-speciality tertiary care public hospital. Eight nurses participated actively under the leadership of a senior hospital administrator and a postgraduate resident. The study followed a five-step Action Research cycle: practice, reflection, research, planning, and action. Participating nurses maintained reflective notes in English to identify reasons for low donation uptake and propose feasible improvement strategies. The team leader synthesised these insights, designed interventions, implemented selected measures, and facilitated group discussions to assess progress and outcomes. Results: In August 2016, donation box collections totalled INR 294,397 from 23 boxes located across general wards, private wards, and outside the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, yielding a baseline monthly average of INR 2,559.97 over 115 months. Four months after implementation of nurse-led interventions, the average monthly collection increased to INR 10,095.25, representing a fourfold rise. Conclusion: Active nurse involvement significantly improved donation outcomes. Leadership in Action Research functioned primarily as facilitation. Improved location, visibility, accessibility, and regular opening of donation boxes were key contributors to enhanced fund collection.