All Entries Tagged With: "leadership development"
2.0 Web technology integrates a nursing program near you
As the terms “podcasts”, “wikis”, and “blogs” fill the vocabulary of nurses, physicians, students, and hospitals nationwide, more and more facilities are finding ways to integrate these new technology tools into the everyday hustle and bustle of the healthcare world.
In a recent study published in the Journal of the Medical Library Association, 53% of nursing schools and 45% percent of medical schools are now using Web 2.0 tools in their curricula. Also, 58% of nursing schools and 50% of medical schools intend to include Web 2.0 tools in the curricula within the next year. Web 2.0 is a term defining the second generation of Web development that allows users to do more with Web sites. Rather than just passively retrieving information, Web 2.0 technology allows users to own and exercise control over the data.
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Help! It’s my first month on the job!
A nurse manager’s first month on the job is often a hectic time. Adjusting to a new set of responsibilities, new issues that demand your attention, and new coworkers make it hard to stay focused and productive. Still, you need to.
Make the theme of your first month “meet and listen.” Each week, take time to plan a schedule of meetings to acquaint yourself with those who are in key positions supporting you and your unit. This can include:
- Members of the unit-level management team (including the interim manager, charge nurses, educators, house-wide supervisors, staffing office clerks, etc.) in group meetings or one-on-one
- Key department directors, such as pharmacy, materials management, admitting, etc.
- Nurse managers responsible for units that work collaboratively with yours
- Medical director of the unit or a physician who frequents the unit
- Employee relations manager in human resources or the nurse recruiter
Keep these meetings to 30-45 minutes each, and use lunch or breakfast meetings as needed to expedite the scheduling process. Attending the shifts and making rounds two to three times a week to visit with patients is another way to get to know staff and begin your assessment of practice issues or system problems.
You also might want to take notes at these meetings and use a consistent format for them. This format could be initiated with questions, such as, “What’s working or not working, and what do we need to do differently?” or an open-ended question like, “What do you see as priorities for me relative to the needs of patients or staff working with me?”
How do you get acclimated to a new position?
Lessons learned from my first class
When the Leader’s Lounge was born, I started the blog with my decision to return to school in my mid-50s. What was I thinking? It is hard to believe that my first course has already ended, and that I am preparing for the next one. Wondering how it went?
Better than I expected.
I took the one course that was only for two credits, as I knew the load would be less and I could plan from that for the other three- and four-credit course loads. I found out today I received an “A” (I never read so much in such a short time period; eat lots of carrots!) and found the overall experience was good. Getting a good grade certainly helped with that perception. I would prefer to be in a live classroom as I thrive on that interaction, but “life” gets in the way of that. Online courses can be interactive in their own way, but I miss the voices, tones, and facial expressions. Call me a product of my generation compared to the younger ones who don’t use the phone much (they text message).
I learned a great deal from my first course on Issues in Health Care Informatics. Along with the acquired knowledge of real substantial material that I can use, I learned how to study at an airport with people around you talking (shouting) into their blackberry’s, I learned how to scan articles for what I have to read, and mostly, I learned that my nursing experience, every bit of it, is relevant.
Additionally, because this was a two-credit course, it did not take nearly the time away from my home life as I thought it would. Being able to do a great deal of the work while on the road, left little time taken away once I was home.
Are you still on the edge about going back to school? What’s holding you back?
