Analyzing a Nurse Manager - Weebly



Analyzing a Nurse ManagerJean HarkenFerris State UniversityAnalyzing a Nurse ManagerManagers are extremely important to the structure and organization of a unit. They have many responsibilities to uphold in the area for which they are in charge. The manager interviewed for this paper is the manager of the surgical intensive care unit. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing and has been the manager of the surgical intensive care unit for the past three years. Prior to that she was the manager of the pediatric/pediatric intensive care unit. She has been employed by Covenant Healthcare her entire nursing career. She started as a cardiac nurse and then transferred to the coronary care, pediatrics and now the surgical intensive care unit. When she accepted the manager position of pediatrics, that hospital had many classes and programs which she attended to help her become a successful leader. She has attended many of these classes over the years and continues to attend many leadership classes and seminars. She is proficient in all of the AONE competencies including: communication, health care environment, leadership, professionalism and business skills (The American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2011).Roles and ResponsibilitiesSchedulingIn this position, the manager is responsible for the schedule of all the nurses, aides and secretaries on the unit. Although staff does self-scheduling, the manager has to go make adjustments as necessary to make sure that each day has balanced staff. Every effort is made to accommodate the requests from staff, but the safety and needs of the unit must be met.228600162560QualityWhen it comes to making sure a unit is running smoothly and everyone is happy and satisfied, quality plays a huge role. Quality is ensuring the safety and satisfaction of the staff, but also the patients and families. Per AR, this is one of the toughest jobs of being a manager. There are many things that the institution lumps into quality category. In many institutions, the manager is responsible for keeping staff up to date on education necessary to complete the job. The manager rounds daily in every patients room to ensure quality. Each day there is also a “safety huddle” with every staff member on the unit to make sure all quality indicators (DVT prophylaxis, MI precaution, CVA criteria, and flu and pneumonia vaccines) are met on every patient.Payroll/Budget/FinanceManaging money and ensuring people get paid is a major responsibility of the manager role. The manager is responsible for making a budget each year and ensuring the unit adheres to the budget. Payroll involves making sure that each staff member is appropriately paid and each employee has appropriate punches in the computer payroll system. This also includes making sure that overtime is at a anizational StructureThis manager works under a bureaucracy. There is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organization and there are five people in management that report to him, and each of them have several people they are responsible for (Yoder-Wise, 2014). Each person that works on my unit reports the manager. This would include the secretaries, nurses, and aides. This manager then reports to the director of critical care who reports to the Vice President of nursing, who then reports to the municationCommunication is a key to success, and without effective communication, nothing gets accomplished in an effective manner (The American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2011). This manager is great at communication. She values staff input and seeks their input before making any big decisions (The American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2011). She believes decisions that directly involves staff should have their input. There are many ways to communicate and ensure that staff is up to date and aware of the happenings on the unit. In addition to a daily meeting, a daily email is sent to staff on what is addressed in this brief daily meeting. Staff also has the ability to bring and concerns they have at this time. In this day in age, one of the best way to communicate and keep staff informed is electronically (Raso, 2010). Messages are able to be delivered to the entire staff or individuals very quickly. By rounding in each patient’s room and communicating with the families, she is able to identify any problems that may have occurred and address them immediately. She is great at listening and can always keep a conversation on track (Belzer, 1999). Patients and families really appreciate the time that she gives to them and she gets very useful feedback from them.Knowledge of Healthcare EnvironmentHealthcare environment and doing what’s right for your patient should be a priority to every nurse. Safety to all employees and patients is the number one priority (The American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2011). Each day she checks with staff to ensure that the unit is operating in a safe manner. She then reports to a daily check in with every manager and administrative staff. She understands that quality and safety are keys to providing good care and having a successful unit. It seems that often times there is a huge spectrum between care patients feel they should receive and the care that they actually receive (O’Neil, 2011). This manager does everything in her power to bridge that gap and make sure that quality and safety are achieved (The American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2011).Leadership StyleWhile there are many leadership styles, this manager’s style incorporates many of them. It becomes obvious when talking with anyone about her that she has the leadership skills mastered. While she feels there is always room to improve, grow and learn. She is comfortable in the position that she holds. She has a democratic or participative leadership style. She takes input from her subordinates and uses this information to make decisions (Gilliard, n.d.). She looks at the overall dynamics of the group to make to best decision. The organization realizes the skills that she has and the succession planning she possesses and often times has her mentor new managers (The American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2011). She leads by example, keeping up on all her nursing skills and jumping in whenever she can to help. The patients often comment on how unusual it is to see a manager involved and how great it is to see that. This is great for new nurses to see and shows no matter what your role is, never forget where you came from (McAllister, 2005). She promotes change brought in by the organization and is typically a super user. She also encourages the members of our department to become involved with the organization and promote change (The American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2011).ProfessionalismProfessionalism is huge in healthcare. Leading in a professional manner and expecting nothing less than that from your staff is essential as a manager. Showing qualities of truly caring for patients, families, other employees and the place of employment shows a great deal of professionalism (Reid et al., 2007). Not only does this manger provide this, she also expects this from her staff. While she has high expectations, she makes these expectations easy to achieve. The work environment that you walk into in nothing less that pleasant and she does everything in her power to keep it that way. She provides numerous opportunities for nurses to continue their education through many different classes to continue to develop in their career (The American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2011). This provides new skills that are beneficial in taking care of patients. She realizes the impact that she has on many people’s lives and does not take that lightly. She is well respected in both her personal and professional life.Business SkillsThis manager is particularly good at managing a budget and analyzing financial statements (The American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2011). She makes sure that the budget stays on track and the unit is profitable. With that also comes customer service, something as simple as daily rounding to the patients rooms and following up with the press gainey scores assist in providing great customer service. Finally, submitting a capital request each year to ensure that our department receives the most up to date equipment that is in working order and replace equipment that needs replacing. Mastering the skills of business is necessary in order to be successful and prosperous in this position (Danna, n.d.). The patients require good customer service and manager have to understand the big picture in order to be successful (Danna, n.d.). ConclusionBeing a nurse manager is not an easy role to fulfill. You must be skilled in many areas and most of them do not involve the actual practice of nursing. In order to be a successful manager, you must be able to adapt to whatever the job throws and you and do so with dignity and ease. Gaining the trust and respect of those around you is not an easy task and certainly not one that is taken lightly. Being able to lead by example and effectively communicate are areas that are extremely important to being successful in this job. While not an easy job, being a nurse manger is fulfilling in many ways and a great job to have.ReferencesBelzer, E. J. (1999, May 6). Improving Patient Communication in No Time. Family Practice Management, 6, 23-28. Retrieved from , D. (n.d.). Essential business skills for nurse managers. Retrieved from , M. (n.d.). Leadership Styles in Management. Retrieved from , M. (2005, April 12). Transformative teaching in nursing education: leading by example. Collegian, 2, 11-16. Retrieved from ’Neil, E. (2011). Healthcare Environment Drivers. Retrieved from , R. (2010, November). Communication is vital to success. Nursing Management, 41, 56. , P., Glazer, G., Dann, E., Gross, A., Tyrrell, R., Branowicki, P., ... Washington, D. (2007, January). The Power of Professional Nursing Practice – An Essential Element of Patient and Family Centered Care. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 1(). Retrieved from American Organization of Nurse Executives (2011). AONE Nurse Executive Competencies. Retrieved from , P. S. (2014). Leading and Managing in Nursing (5th ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier- Mosby.POINTSPOSSIBLEPOINTSAWARDEDCommentsIntroduction Provide intro to what the paper is about and the type of area of expertise of the person you interviewed. Background on this person to include education, employment history and current role, additional qualifications for role, etc.55Describe the role and responsibilitiesWhat is the role of this person? What are their responsibilities?? Describe the organizational structure and philosophy from the perspective of this leader/manager. Where in the organizational chart do they fall – whom do they report to?? Who reports to them (if anyone)? 1515Describe & analyze communication and relationship-building (include effect on patients and organization)15Evidence=5Analysis=1013Describe & analyze knowledge of the health care environment (include effect on patients and organization)15Evidence =5Analysis = 1013Describe & analyze leadership(include effect on patients and organization)15Evidence = 5Analysis = 1013Describe & analyze professionalism (include effect on patients and organization)15Evidence = 5Analysis = 1013Describe & analyze business skills (include effect on patients and organization)15Evidence = 5Analysis = 1013Conclusion: Summarizes main ideas and reflects on impact of assignment55TOTAL POINTS10090Deductions: Sentence structure, spelling, grammar & punctuation; APA FormatUp to 30 points-10Final Grade80The interview obviously gleaned much information. However, the criteria that are associated with each AONE competency are not used as support in the paper. It is not expected that each criteria be addressed but at least reference to one or two as supportive evidence of meeting the competency. Need to work on economy of expression. It is important to avoid first person referencing (I, me, my) as it focuses on the writer and confuses the reader. Also avoid speaking conversationally to the reader with “you”. Scholarly writing takes on objectivity in these areas. ................
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