Nursing Leadership Reflections

This week we talked about the future of nursing. There were a lot of good ideas mentioned of where the future of nursing should be headed. One of the main ideas I thought was most important was continuing education. I don't necessarily agree that education needs to be formal education, but that nurses extending their education is essential to carry out all that is required of us and to do our jobs well. Having formal education is a quantitative way to measure education and I think adding a BSN or MSN to a badge gives patients more of a sense of comfort feeling that a BSN or MSN nurse may be more competent and better able to care for them. In reality, nurses have a lot of literature, nursing conferences, CEU, on the job training, etc. that can help them increase their education and skills. I believe more nurses would get their BSN or masters if a raise came with their new level of education, however, most of the hospitals in my area don't give raises. Timpanogos hospital at le...

Surprisingly I enjoyed learning about budgets this week. I naturally enjoy finding ways to save money and avoid debt. Looking over the budget, I was surprised that the majority of money paid out was to nurses and with some adjusting of nurse and CNA hours, over $20k could be saved. The following table is what I used to show temporary staffing hour changes. My intent was not to lay anyone off, but to notify the employees that we had a slow month and may have to cut back hours temporarily until we get our feet back on the ground. I would ask any there are any nurses and CNAs that would volunteer for a decrease in hours.  And then I would rotate who gets called off so there'd be a balance of who's hours get cut back. This would also give nurses a chance to look for a new job if they want to, without losing their current job. Many of the nurses in this case study were seasoned nurses making high wages. If some of these seasoned nurses quit, then new nurses could be hired when busin...

This week has been enlightening. I struggled with the assignment to choose who make better leaders, men or women. I don't really like this question because there are a lot of variables that go into making a great leader and I don't think it has to do with gender. I had to go off of what I read in the articles and what my experience has been with my past and present leaders. I believe the characteristics of women mentioned in the articles are characteristics and skills that would make great leaders. However, my experience with women leaders and male leaders have been that my male leaders have been a bit more competent, but that's just my own experience with leaders.  The reason for that is that these leaders were well-organized, intelligent, concise (did not deviate from topic or ramble), were not condescending, had a prestigious demeanor and because of this their compliments and praise seemed to mean more. I admire those with these qualities and tend to be more inspired b...

I interviewed Kc Smalley who is the Chief Operations Officer at Elevate Mortgage Group Here's the interview: What are the top 3 most common reasons you need to discipline or fire an employee? Failure to follow a process, attendence, dishonesty How do you prepare for a discipline/firing meeting? Work with Hr to set up the meeting with paperwork needed. How common is it that you have to fire an employee? Very seldom. Only about 5 in the past 6 years. Are you usually able to resolve a problem with just a verbal warning, or is necessary to get more official to see change? Usually a verbal and sometimes written, but yes we usually get it resolved. What kind of documentation is needed when actually firing someone? Final paycheck and separation form that show why they are being terminated. Who do you include in the disciplinary meeting? HR and their direct manager Would you ever rehire someone you have fired? No How do you maintain being professional and set your emotions asi...

Leadership Appraisal Interview with a Leader-Due Feb. 18th 1- Do you do all the appraisal interviews yourself or do you divide them up between you and other leaders or managers in the company? I prefer to do all that I am responsible for myself but in times where it is not feasible when my time is short, some interviews are delegated to my superior or one of my supervisors over the employee. 2- What scale do you use to do your appraisal interviews? Do you use low-medium-high, 1-3 scale, not met-low met-met- hight met-outstanding, or unsatisfactory-satisfactory- excellent? There are a range of scales depending on the area of concern. 1-5 leaves less need for contemplation than 1-10 and 1-3 may not serve justly. So, 1-5 is most often used. Few questions can be answered with unsatisfactory-satisfactory- excellent and I find this ranking method to be taken too personal too often. 3- Do you appreciate when employees offer ideas on how the company can do better? Absolu...

Feb. 18th Reflection 1.  What did you actually learn from the unit. I learned about ethic committees and some current ethical events that occur in healthcare. I've also learned more about how some leaders conduct employee appraisal interviews. One tidbit of new knowledge I gained was the composition of ethics committees and that they actually don't actually have power, only the power of suggestion. Ethic committees are composed of a number of different individuals, from physicians to lay people such as stay-at-home mothers.  I also learned that patients may put on a mask, especially around family and friends, and it's important to privately seek out their desires and to be their advocate. 2. Discuss your feelings/experiences from the team activities? Did it change your opinion on the subject? If so, how? If not, why? It was helpful to discuss ethical issues. There are common ethical issues, such as taking a vegetative patient off life support, however, there are...

Feb. 11th Reflection 1.  What did you actually learned from the unit? I learned what it means to be an exceptional employee. I hadn't thought of picking up extra shifts as being an exceptional employee, however, some viewed this as being such. From my previous supervisors, they looked down upon this as it usually meant the company having to pay overtime. I think what is meant by this, is that an exceptional employee is willing to take extra shifts if it's needed. Sacrificing for the benefit of the team is considered exceptional.  2. Discuss your feelings/experiences from the team activities? Did it change your opinion on the subject? If so, how? If not, why? I enjoy hearing everyone's ideas as the often add to my own. Working in a team can be a great help. I enjoyed hearing supporting data for my team member's choices for who they voted as the "greatest leader of all time". I learned new facts about some of these leaders I did not know and feel ...