Nursing Leadership Blog

I had not considered the complexities of scheduling before this unit. As units get larger the difficulty of scheduling increases as well. It is vital to have staff aware of their scheduled work times and present for them, these RN's are depended upon to support and maintain people’s lives. If scheduling is not done well or if RN's are not properly informed or do not understand their schedules people may suffer physically because of it. Charge nurses and managers carry a heavy load in creating schedules and ensuring staff is aware of their responsibilities. I now more fully understand the stresses on these managers who have to juggle people’s personal schedules, being short on staff, and whatever other problems present themselves. At first glance it seems that scheduling should be a quick and simple process, but in reality it is a difficult and very important job of the charge nurse/managers. I will be sure to be mindful of this burden when receiving future schedules on my unit...

The future of nursing is bright! I think this study and results that we examined this week are fantastic, their vision is taking nursing in a great direction! Diversity in the workforce and treating diverse populations will increase. I think it is great that wellness is going to again be a huge focus in healthcare and in society. For so long the focus has been centered on treating symptoms rather than maintaining and promoting wellness. Primary care will see a rise as more incentive is placed on staying healthy and not becoming sick. Professionals working hand in hand to best treat their patients is the way healthcare should be handled. I believe these forums and group efforts to best support patients is vital to the future of healthcare. We will see an increase in quality of care as these systems change and as technology and education improves. Nurses have always been and will continue to be the forefront of patient care. These new focuses and systems being implemented will be done s...

You’re right Sean, budgeting isn’t the most exciting! I completely agree that all healthcare is about money. Obviously budgeting is a huge part of that. This week did give me a great opportunity to see further into facility management, budgeting, expenses, and how the day to day is managed in the healthcare facility. I feel that knowing these things and keeping them fresh in my mind, working day to day on the hospital floor I can personally work to conserve budget and avoid waste. The articles this week provided deep insight into how to create hospital budgets and how to better understand expenses. Being able to work through these documents allowed me to see step by step how these things are done. I am not sure how active I will be in using these in my career, but I know I will be a better nurse and manager better understanding the implications of budget management. I like what Sean said about how simply good leadership can result in dramatic budget cuts.  Things like educating an...

I learned a lot about disciplinary action and firing this week. These are not easy things to do and should not be taken lightly. Warnings and notice should be given to employees in regards to unacceptable behavior the potential of being let go. It is not morally okay to simply fire someone on a wimb, they should have forewarning and an opportunity to correct errors in action. With that said, sometimes firing is the best situation for the business and for the employee as well. Sometimes being fired and the lessons learned there in are needed by some to fully understand this misconduct and to begin bettering themselves for the future. This is why I believe a big part of the firing process should involved explanation, teaching, and guidance. When I attain a leadership position, I personally plan on do this hard job myself. I want to be the one to look my employee in the eye and explain to them how be removed from one opportunity will hopefully open them up to many more. I want to be able...

For this interview we interviewed Mike. Mike is a lead technician for Utah Communications Agency Network (UCAN). I haven't given much thought to the firing process until now. It is an aspect of management that is important but not one I have really had to consider until now. Speaking with Mike about discipline and firing was a great opportunity to learn from someone who has had to deal with it routinely. One thing I thought was impressive about Mike was the responsibility he was willing to take in the firing process. He talked about now involving others in the final decision and act of actually dismissing somebody. He said as the manager it is up to him and him alone, and as the decider, he also says it is his responsibility to take care of the actual act of firing. He also talked about the importance of being honest with the person that is being fired as to the reasons why and how you think they could improve in the future. I think this is a great way to approach it, you are putt...

I was able to interview Robert Brough. Robert oversees a team of programmers for Utah Communications Agency Network. This state organization makes sure public safety units have communication with each other (in a nutshell). I feel like this was a great learning opportunity for myself in better understanding how a manager operates their performance appraisal interviews. I found Robert to be pretty short in his answers but exact and concise as well. He talked a lot about how the main focus of his interviews is on employee reliability and their ability to complete their responsibilities with quality work and on schedule. He said that if results fall outside of those two parameters then he considers expectations not met. His exactness in this area surprised me. He demands near perfection with these employees and without it his assessment of their performance falters. I don’t necessarily think that is a bad thing, it is just surprising and a bit of a wake up call hearing it from a manageri...

I learned a lot about ethics this week and the usefulness of an ethics committee. Ethics are a complicated thing as they are subjective person to person. What one person values another one might not. This conflict can often present with difficult dilemmas and situations, especially in the medical field. I have rarely thought about or heard about ethics committees. Although their purpose is meaningful I just haven’t had to deal with them at all up until this point in my nursing career. Now with learning about these committees, it is quite comforting. I have often thought about medical moral decision-making and the grey areas often involved. The legality and the ethical decision-making involved in such situations seems so much less stressful and simpler with the availability of an ethics committee. I think that it is great that these committees are required throughout healthcare. An ethics committee is a group of people that are put together to present ideas and perspective on the ...