All Entries Tagged With: "Career development"
Practical tips for implementing shared governance
Diana Swihart, PhD, DMin, MSN, CS, RN-BC, shares the following practical tips and best practices for ensuring success when building shared governance.
- Schedule a day-long retreat away from the organization to prepare organizational and nursing leaders to implement shared governance. Discuss the role shared governance plays in the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program(r) (MRP) journey. Have subject matter experts present topic discussions on specific points: leadership, shared governance partners, steering committee formation, design team for the shared governance model, a business case for MRP and shared governance, and roles of direct-care nurses and the multidisciplinary team members.
- Create expectations for staff contributions, beginning in the new employee orientation and continuing throughout their careers.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate! Have a nursing town hall meeting at least once a quarter to facilitate open communication among nursing staff and leaders.
- Administer the Index of Professional Nursing Governance surveys and see how your organization “measures up”-help build the repository of information on the efficacy and value of shared governance in healthcare settings.
- Use journal clubs, for example, to bring nursing research to the bedside and engage direct-care nurses in evidence-based practice for developing and implementing advanced decision-making and critical thinking.
- Let direct-care nurses meet each year to review organizational competencies and unit/area needs and determine which competencies they will focus on for that year (high-risk/time-sensitive, changed, problematic, and/or new).
- Train every registered nurse on each unit/area to be charge or lead nurse. Rotate the role and responsibilities to encourage leadership skills development and shared decision-making among all team members.
Source: Book excerpt adapted from Shared Governance: A Practical Approach to Transform Professional Nursing Practice by Diana Swihart, PhD, DMin, MSN, CS, RN-BC. Click here to visit www.hcmarketplace.com.
Nurse leaders upbeat at Nursing Management Congress
I just returned from the annual Nursing Management Congress and it was a pleasure to meet so many nurse leaders who are committed and passionate about nursing.
The conference was held in Las Vegas and for three days the 1,000 plus attendees ignored the lure of the bright lights outside and focused on education and networking. The three topics on everyone’s lips were transforming care delivery, the changing role of nursing, and how to be a better leader.
Many of the most popular sessions focused on transformational leadership and how to find more time in your day. I particularly enjoyed one called “Why am I so tired when there’s still so much to do?” by Rhonda Lawes, RN, MS, CNE, assistant professor, University of Oklahoma College of Nursing, in Tulsa. Lawes explained the nine myths for why we’re so tired and what we can do about it. I am going to implement several of her suggestions as they were so practical and straightforward. She certainly left me invigorated and feeling like I can make some changes in my life that will make me feel like I have more time and can get more done.
The conference also covered the changing face of healthcare and provided a chance to discuss pressing issues such as value-based purchasing and nursing’s role. Attendees were buzzing about:
- The Future of Nursing report: How to implement its recommendations and how it will change the profession
- Value-based purchasing: How this will affect nursing and what do we need to know
- Patient engagement: There’s more reason than ever before to pay attention to this topic, which nursing can really own
- Quality: Preventing HAIs and all quality improvement initiatives
- Leadership: Being a better manager, improving communication, and retaining a committed and engaged nursing staff
Keynote speaker Tim Porter-O’Grady, DM, EdD, ScD(h),FAAN, said it’s time for nursing to unbundle its work and decide what it will no longer do so that nurses are able to focus on what’s most important in the changing face of care delivery.
Click here to read a longer article on his fascinating and informative presentation and learn the strategies he shared that nurse leaders can implement now.
Performing a SWOT analysis
One of the most important, although sometimes time-consuming, activities that are frequently completed in financial planning sessions is the Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats (SWOT) analysis. This analysis can be useful in many problem-solving situations that you may face. The SWOT exercise may seem very time-consuming; however, this planning will again help direct where resources are needed and to what extend the resources should be allocated.
As a nurse leader, sometimes you may be part of the group being asked to identify SWOT. This selection usually occurs if your director or vice president is conducting the session and you are a group member. In working with just your area of responsibility, you might be the leader guiding your direct reports through this exercise. In both cases it is important to understand the SWOT analysis to gain the full benefit.
Strengths are what the organization, division, or department identifies that they do well and have success in above the competition. When identifying strengths for your organization ask yourself: “What would the community say that we are best at providing?” The answer to this question will help you get started with your list. Maybe it’s your strong orthopedic program and the total joint camp that you’ve developed. Maybe it’s the great oncology doctors that you’ve been able to recruit. This list should include both internal and external views. Here are some other examples of possible strengths:
- Strong name recognition of the organization
- Stable workforce
- Strong succession planning
- New facilities
- Private patient rooms
- Strong financial position
- High-quality care delivered
Weaknesses, of course, will be just the opposite. The weakness assessment should openly and honestly describe what the organization currently does not do well or is seen as a weakness to achieving the desired goals for the organization. Weaknesses are identified by asking the question: “What currently causes us trouble in providing the exceptional patient experience that we strive to provide?” [more]
Determining financial goals and objectives
It is common for highly driven organizations to develop goals and objectives annually. In healthcare, just as in many businesses today, rules, regulations, customers, workforce, and technology are changing at such a rapid pace that it is impossible to effectively operationalize goals for further than a one- to five-year period. At the senior level of leadership, goals are developed in conjunction with the board of trustees and senior leaders of the organization. A complete assessment of the community, the patients, physicians, employees, and services is reviewed.
In addition to internal assessment, much attention should be paid to external factors affecting the organization. This is important in every market but particularly important in markets with more than one facility that offers similar services. If the competition across town is the known market leader in one service line, does it make sense to compete for the patient population? In some cases the answer to this question will be yes, and in some cases the answer will be no. Some of the factors affecting this decision include:
- Number of patients in the market
- Quality of the competition’s service
- Expense to provide the service
- Reimbursement for the service
- Projected life of the technology or equipment
Let’s assume that your competitor is providing a very highly specialized cancer radiation treatment program. [more]
Should all new nurses be required to obtain baccalaureate degrees?
New nurses need to have four-year degrees, according to the readers of www.StrategiesForNurseManagers.com.
We’ve been asking readers whether baccalaureate degrees should be required before new nurses can enter into practice. By a slight margin, the majority say yes. Forty-three percent say the profession of nursing needs a more highly educated workforce.
Forty-one percent don’t think it necessary for nurses to enter practice with a baccalaureate degree, but say nurses should be required to obtain one within a few years of entering practice.
Just 15% say associate degrees are sufficient and only 1% have no opinion.
What do you think?
Making the leap from “one of us” to “one of them”
One day you’re part of the group. Helping each other out, complaining about never having the supplies you want when you need them, and chipping in for pot luck holiday meals. The next, you’re promoted to manager and suddenly you become “one of them.”
Becoming a nurse manager is a tough transition for anyone, but it’s even harder when you become manager of the same unit where you worked as a staff nurse. Suddenly, you’re the one with the power—you can finally make the decisions you’ve always wanted to—but you also have all the responsibility.
One of the hardest issues to navigate is reconfiguring the relationships between yourself and your former peers. It’s key to acknowledge that the relationship has changed and that your new role is quite different.
Shelley Cohen, RN, MS, CEN, president of Health Resources Unlimited, and staunch nurse manager advocate, has written that the first things to do is obtain a copy of your job description and share it with staff. That was, they understand what you’re accountable for and what your priorities will be. [more]
Confusing terminology: Understanding the difference between patient satisfaction and patient experience
Everyone is talking about patient experience these days and the term is often used interchangeably with patient satisfaction. In fact, the two are different concepts. Here’s a primer:
Patient satisfaction
Patient satisfaction speaks to the quality of care. Patient satisfaction surveys are used to identify issues and spot problems as they measure what actually happened.
Patient satisfaction isn’t owned by marketing or by the c-suite. It is owned by the direct caregivers and the frontline staff who interact with patients every day.
The importance of succession planning and training nurse managers
By Betty Noyes, RN, MA
The management gap in healthcare is a real and increasing issue of concern. We do not seem to have enough talented managers to meet the goals of our organizations.
Without sufficient skills, first-line managers do not benefit an organization. The first step to increase the number and education of managers is to provide effective training designed to specifically improve organizational performance.
Currently, healthcare costs are high. When all elements of healthcare reform are implemented, higher costs may ensue. There will be a demand for more change and greater resilience from our management teams. Unless we have managers who are resourceful in their management skills, we will not achieve new and improved ways to succeed in the goals of safe, high-quality care at a reasonable cost.
The Maddeningly Difficult Patient
The maddeningly difficult patient presents a maddeningly difficult challenge —almost daily.
Oops. I said “difficult patient” and I vowed never to use that term. I think it’s much more constructive to talk about “difficult situations” and the “difficult-for-me patient”. The fact is, because patients and families are so anxious during healthcare experiences and so out of their element, many people do not behave at their best. They are not inherently difficult. The situation is difficult for them. (Click here to read more about “The Difficult-for-me Patient”)
Yet, since challenging patients and families produce so much stress for service providers, I am constantly trying to learn about ways to help. Recently, at a large medical group, I ran a focus group with nurses, billing reps, registrars, phlebotomists and others known for dealing with difficult situations well. [more]
Twin Cities nurses prepare for strike
After months of negotiations, nurses in Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN, have voted and authorized a one-day strike to take place on June 1 at 14 metro hospitals because nurses and healthcare officials could not settle on a new contract that satisfies both parties.
The vote consisted of 9,000 nurses of the 12,000 in the hospital system, with 90% voting to reject pension and labor proposals from the hospitals. Prior to the vote, nurses and healthcare executives tried to reach an agreement to no avail. Each party stood strong in its beliefs and the nurses felt they had no choice but to strike.
The Twin Cities Daily Planet summed up some of the issues discussed, which ranged from patient care to pension. [more]
