Question

Cindy Newman is a new nurse manager of an 85-bed medical-surgical unit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has been asked by the vice president of nursing to chair the policy and procedure committee for the nursing division. The vice president warns her, “This committee is a disorderly, unhappy bunch. You’ll find they’re hard to control and hard to please. We’ve chosen you as the new leader because you’re very upbeat. We have hopes that you can turn this committee around.”

Nurse Newman is excited and asks the nursing division secretary for a list of names of those who serve on the committee, the scheduled meeting times, and the room where the meeting is held. She discovers that the next meeting is scheduled for 2 weeks from now. Nurse Newman happily plans her schedule to be at the meeting on time. On the day of the meeting, she arrives at the assigned room 5 minutes early and finds the room a mess, with chairs everywhere. The room has no chalk or flip chart. Members arrive and begin mumbling.

Nurse Newman asks everyone to help arrange the room, and the committee spends the next 10 minutes getting the seating arranged. Jon Nage, a nurse, asks Nurse Newman where the coffee and donuts are, and she replies that she did not know that it was her job to arrange for refreshments. Jack Belen, a pharmacist, asks for a copy of the agenda because he did not find one in his box. Nurse Newman says she did not send one. She was interested in finding out what items should be covered at the meeting by getting the group’s input. Many members start mumbling that their units are busy, and they cannot afford to waste time. One woman looks at Nurse Newman and says, “Well, I guess some things are just never going to change, new leader or not.”

1. What tasks did Nurse Newman do that were advantageous? What tasks did she neglect that would have assisted a positive group environment?
2. Nurse Newman is told she was chosen because she is upbeat and the group is such an unhappy one. Obviously, being upbeat and friendly is not enough. What might Nurse Newman need to do as the first order of business?

Answer 1

The advantageous thing that nurse Newman did was to hold a meeting to resolve conflits and instabilityin the committee. Keeping communication open and honest is one of the important things to do as a manager. But the thing she shouldnt have emphasizzed more on the negative remarks and pointed out the positive things and began working with that. Turning something positive from something neative is very crucial in situations like this.She should also listen carefully to all the queries and para phrase comments to clarify and avoid misunderstandings

Other things she could have done is

2. Expand critical thinking skills

Nurse managers are expected to make decisions and solve problems as part of the job. Critical thinking — analysis, evaluation, inference, problem-solving, and deductive reasoning — play an important role in making decisions and solving problems.

3. Be a visionary

Self-awareness, the ability to understand one’s personal strengths and weaknesses, and emotional intelligence, or being able to read and understand others’ emotions, is essential to becoming a successful visionary. Nurses who possess both skills are committed to an overall vision rather than self-interests

4. Serve as a mentor and seek a mentor

Mentors provide important guidance for both new nurses and managers. Serving as a mentor allows nurse managers to impart their personal experiences to new staff nurses. Working with a mentor provides nurse managers with guidance on the transition from nurse to nurse manager,

5. Set the tone

Nurse leaders influence work environments, safety, quality, and patient outcomes.Effective nurse leaders provide transformational leadership, which encourages greater nurse autonomy and professional development opportunities. When nurse leaders use appropriate staffing and teamwork, patient outcomes are positively affected.

6. Embrace education

Even after graduation, nurse leaders are encouraged to seek continuing education opportunities for future growth. The most successful nurse managers continually explore their roles in healthcare and work to better themselve