All Entries Tagged With: "nurse leadership skills"
One of your nurses will make an error today. Will she report it?
Be prepared for errors and develop a culture where near misses are reported—and learned from—with the best practices presented in the 90-minute audio conference Learn From Errors and Near Misses with a Just Culture: Stop Punishing Nurses for Mistakes. Experts Cole Edmonson, DNP, RN, FACHE, NEA-BC, and Lucy Bird, RN, ONC, live the Just Culture experience every day and will demonstrate what to do when the worst happens to support clinicians, learn from mistakes, and build a culture of accountability and high-reliability.
Find answers to all your questions about improving patient safety and increasing nurse satisfaction by building a Just Culture in your facility.
For more information or to order, call 800/650-6787 and mention Source Code EZINEADp1 or visit the HCPro Healthcare Marketplace.
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]
You can’t teach with apathy: Why it’s important to support your preceptors
by Julie Harris, MSN, RN
I occasionally peruse online nursing forums to see what the hot topics are. Last night, I was on a highly popular forum and came across an interesting discussion. A new graduate was being oriented and her preceptors were not interested in training her. She perceived their behavior as intimidating and somewhat hostile and she didn’t know what her next step should be. Should she quit and look for a new job? Should she stick it out?
Responses to her post ranged from “This is part of orientation. Try not to take it personal,” to “Those nurses shouldn’t be preceptors. If this facility supports that kind of behavior, you need to leave and find a new job.”
I find myself agreeing more with the last response. Nobody should be forced to precept. Some nurses are wonderful caregivers with excellent clinical skills; however they do not possess the desire to train orientees. Other nurses have a strong craving to teach and pass on their knowledge to orientees. Both options are perfectly acceptable.
Manager tip of the month: Be a good boss
Bob Sutton, a professor at Stanford University, is the author of the book Good Boss, Bad Boss. He reminds us of the balancing act related to being effective while also being respected in a leadership role. During his podcast “How to be the best boss”, he reveals the following considerations:
- You must combine competence with compassion.
- Many leaders are out of tune with what it is like to work for them! Get feedback from your staff.
- Long term loyalty is your goal.
- Your enemies “lie in wait,” waiting to crush you – be alert.
- The skill of being a best boss is learned over time – it is a “craft.”
- Listen to staff and encourage them to be engaged in dealing with conflict.
- Be respectful of differing opinions.
- Understand the work that the people you lead actually do.
Listen to this free podcast at: http://www.bnet.com/blog/management/how-to-be-the-best-boss-useful-commute-podcast/3077?promo=665&tag=nl.e665
Visit Shelley’s website, Health Resources Unlimited.
Karen Hill: Image of nursing in leadership
Each year, HCPro’s Nursing Image Awards recognize nurses who have helped elevate the image of nursing. One of the categories, the Image of Nursing in Leadership award, recognizes nurse leaders who embody a positive image of nursing through leadership excellence. The award honors leaders who serve as inspiring mentors and outstanding role models to nurses as they strive to be professional in all they do, whether by overcoming challenges, spearheading change, or fostering teamwork that results in the achievement of operational goals and objectives.
This year, the judges bestowed their accolades on Karen S. Hill, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, a visionary vice president and chief executive officer at Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington, KY. Hill began her career at Central Baptist Hospital as a teenage candy striper. Twenty-six years later, Hill is a source of empowerment and support for other nursing professionals.
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.
Nurse liability: Keeping you and your staff educated and aware
As a nurse manager, you have many legal concerns. Not only must you be concerned with your own liability, but you must also stay alert about the liability risks of the nurses working under your supervision.
Although some liability risks are universal to all nursing practice areas, certain clinical settings also generate liability risks. As the nurse manager, being knowledgeable and educating your staff about universal liability risks and those specific to a practice area will increase the quality of care provided and reduce liability.
Some universal liability risks include the following:
- Failure to communicate patient’s condition to other healthcare professionals
- While a patient is hospitalized, his/her condition must be monitored continually and evaluated. Pertinent physical findings must be reported promptly to the healthcare professionals involved in the patient’s care. [more]
Managers’ role in promoting a professional image
We all try to shape up our physical appearance at one time or another. Or we may make an internal change in our personal attitude that eventually reflects on the outside with a positive change in body language or tone of voice.
Our actions—or lack of action—appearance, voice inflection, and ability to convey empathy and concern all play a role in our image. There are four categories we can focus on when considering as image makeover:
- Professional work environment and interactions
- Appearance
- Collegiality/team member role
- Professional accountabilities
Nurses in various areas of the profession—nursing departments, nursing individuals at all levels and practice, nurse faculty, and nursing students—can select a category and develop a program that reshapes their image at the individual or group level.
For instance, when making changes to professional work environment and interactions, remember:
- Do not carry on a discussion in the nurses’ station that you would not want others to hear
- Respect the equipment you work with and handle it as if you paid for it out of your own paycheck
- Support other nurses who are being approached unprofessionally
- Do not display any behaviors or gestures in view of coworkers, patients, or families that you would not want seen or heard
Managers can set expectations for professional appearance and should never forget to set a good example. Share with your staff these points:
- Dress for the respect you feel you deserve
- Follow your organizational dress code policies and procedures
- Recognize that your appearance affects perceptions of your competency
- Differentiate yourself in dress from the unlicensed members of your healthcare team
The stresses of the profession are minimized when nurses are able to care for patients in a collegial, supportive environment, where everyone is striving to provide the highest-quality patient care and deliver the best possible patient outcomes. Set expectations that your staff members will:
- Proactively offer to assist other members of the team to demonstrate team commitment
- Actively become involved in the orientation process of all new staff
- Not allow someone else’s unacceptable behavior to become their own behavior
- Be open to constructive criticism and feedback
Finally, managers should encourage their staff to hold themselves accountable to high standards as well. Remember to:
- Acknowledge that it is your name on the license, not your manager’s or your organization’s
- Maintain a current knowledge of your nurse practice act
- Belong to and support at least one professional nursing organization
- Document appropriately and according to nursing standards of practice
Source: Shelley Cohen, RN, BS, CEN. The Image of Nursing: Perspectives on Shaping, Empowering, and Elevating the Nursing Profession.
Improve nurse satisfaction in a time of uncertainty
Improving nursing satisfaction is tough in bad economic times, when many hospitals are experiencing census dips and cost cutbacks that are forcing reductions in work force, benefits, hours, and pay. But the state of the economy doesn’t need to bring your nursing satisfaction scores down—there are ways to boost morale immediately.
For example, you can:
- Begin nursing staff meetings by asking, “What was the best thing that happened to you today or during your last shift?” The meetings should focus on improving care and team-building.
- Focus on improving the image of nursing by gathering a group of nurses to volunteer with a community or organization project.
- Ask creative nurses to develop banners or posters that showcase nursing excellence and hang them around the unit or facility.
- Thank nurses for their fortunate choice of profession. In Gallup’s annual honesty and ethics professional survey, nursing has been rated No. 1 for the past seven years.
- Ask a nurse to create helpful hints on how to deal with stress and print them in your nursing or hospital newsletter.
- Ask the CNO to visit each nursing unit to listen and discuss why he or she is encouraged and hopeful about the future. Now is the time for leadership to paint an accurate but hopeful picture for nurses.
- Keep up the budget-friendly celebrations and recognitions for staff nurses. You can celebrate by handing out coffee coupons or recognizing a staff nurse during every unit meeting for his or her excellent patient care.
Time mastery for the nurse manager
by Debra Nussdorfer, MS, RN, PMHCNS-BC
Do you feel like everyone and everything is vying for your attention? Is your to-do list growing, calendar bulging, and are your deadlines looming? Regardless of the overload of responsibilities that await you, you can increase the energy and mental performance you put into each and every day. Here are some of my best tips to help you manage your time: [more]
