Development of Management Programme for Nurses

Development of Management Programme for Nurses An advancement from a clinical role to a leadership role is one of the most challenging transformations for professional nurses in their career development. Nurses must be prepared as leaders who are competent, flexible, and able to energize others to adapt to change (Grohar-Murray Langan, 2011). Effective nurse leaders must communicate with their staff, manage stress, make decisions and handle power wisely. Additionally, managers must acquire and cultivate skills such as financial and change management, cultural literacy and personnel development and evaluation. The new nurse managers should acquire the qualities of management and leadership and need good mentors and orientation program in the transition. The purpose of this paper is to present a proposal for the development of a new manager orientation program. Effective nurse managers are crucial in achieving the hospital’s patient care mission and its financial viability (Cathcart, 2010). New nurse managers should be aware of problems that affect todays health care. Since the nursing job is getting more and more stressful and the health care is getting more expensive day by day, the nurse manager orientation program should include the ways to do good budgeting and safe staffing and retention of staff which helps in delivering safe and effective patient care. Nurse manager has great responsibility in maintaining a safe and quality patient care in the unit. Formal orientation programs are essential in retaining and motivating employees, lowering turnover, increasing productivity, improving employee morale, facilitating learning, and reducing the anxiety of new employees (Ragsdale, 2005). New nurse managers should be given enough time to know about the facility and the staff of the hired unit. New nurse managers should be aware of the expectations of them in the department and organizational level. Topic Rationale for Inclusion Objectives Possible Resources Necessary time and good orientation program A nurse manager should be given time to know the staff and the unit she/he is going to work with. Necessary time for orientation help the nurse manager to know the problems on the unit and the expectation of the staff about the new nurse manager. A well-designed orientation program can reduce turnover, shorten the period of adjustment, and lay the groundwork for a long successful career (Ragsdale, 2005). After getting enough time for orientation, a nurse manager will be able to plan herself for the job. The new nurse manager should use her mentor, all the staff and auxiliary staff in the unit as resources. Effective communication Effective communication is necessary to clear the ideas and gain confidence with the staff members. Communication has been identified as an essential component of team functioning within the nursing and inter-professional teams (Kilpatrick, 2013). After the nurse manager practice to do clear communication, they will be able to share the ideas and commands appropriately. A nurse manager should observe the mentor and can read books and discussions and should adapt his/her own way for effective and clear communication. Conflict resolution Conflict resolution skills are very important for the nurse manager to run the unit smoothly and improve the quality and increased productivity in a team which helps to bring better patient outcomes. The nurse executive must train or select nurse managers with effective conflict resolution skills (Baker, 1995). The focus of the nurse manager must shift from managing the behaviors used by staff to resolve the conflict (Baker, 1995). After learning the conflict resolution skills, the nurse manager will be able to recognize the issues and behaviors that causing the conflicts and analyze and solve the problems with the unit. A nurse manager should look into the mentor and others and also brainstorm possible resolutions to gather ideas to solve the conflict. Decision making Decision making is a difficult process sometimes for the nurse managers because they have to make fast decisions in times of evacuations, disasters and all affects the patient and their families and the staff. The degree of stress depends on their management and organizational factors, their work experience etc.. Throughout each 24-hour day, nurse managers make countless rapid fire decisions that impact patient, staff and organizational outcomes (Shirey, 2013). After getting enough time of orientation, nurse manager will able to know about the organization, unit and the staff which helps in better decision making. Nurse manager should learn from the mentor and also he/she should ask the staff with one on one or group meetings and get the opinions and ideas of different staff before the decision making. Motivation of staff Nurse managers can motivate the staff by creating a healthy work environment, participating the staff in the decision making process and complimenting the staff for their achievements. A transformational leadership approach can help nurse managers to increase or maintain a motivating work environment (Curtis, 2011). Motivating the staff is very much necessary for staff retention for this stressful and hectic job. Most nurse managers use a transformational leadership style which can increase motivation, enabling participation in decision- making, creating a healthy work environment, increasing worker empowerment, and offering a better quality of work-life balance (Curtis, 2011). After learning the necessary skills for motivating, the staff the nurse manager is able to create a healthy working environment which helps to increase the staff satisfaction and improve better patient outcomes. The nurse manager can learn from the mentor and from other excellent approachable senior leaders. Good budgeting Nurse manager has responsibility in maintaining the budget allowed for the unit. Nurse manager has to notify the staff of the budget allowed for the year and expenses of the unit and to decrease the unnecessary wastage of supplies. Nurse manager has to maintain the schedule in a way to decrease the unnecessary overtime on the unit and maintain the vacation time without affecting the staff and the patient care. Nurse leaders must make it their responsibility to provide nurses with increased exposure to quality, safety, and financial data, thereby allowing nurses to translate data while achieving and sustaining successful outcomes (Talley, 2013). After learning the budget allowed for the unit, the nurse manager is able to notify the staff about the patient safety priorities, quality outcomes, and financial accountability of each staff. The nurse manager should ask the mentor and other approachable nurse leaders of the organization and she can read materials on the financial management in the nursing field as resources. Safe staffing and staff retention Nursing job is a demanding at the same time a stressful job. Nurse manager should provide safe staffing and has to motivate and encourage the staff for better patient outcomes. Increase turnover of nurses will result in the economic burden, negative patient outcomes and decreased continuity of care. Increase turnover results in increased stress on the existing staff to cover the vacant shifts and also to orient new staff to the unit. So the nurse manager has to ask frequently to the staff for the feedbacks about the management and also for any problems with the unit. Improved retention will lead to savings of the organization, which may be allocated to activities such as training and mentorship to assist nurse leaders in developing these critical leadership skills (Duffield, 2011). Nurse manager has to appreciate the staff for their help on the unit and better patient outcomes and their achievements for certifications or attaining a degree. After learning how to do safe staffing and staff retention nurse manager is better able to increase patient outcomes and to save money on a tight budget. Nurse manager should ask the mentor and also should use her existing skills and experience to do safe staffing. Nurse manager should always ask feedbacks from the unit and can use all the employees in the unit as resources to solve the problem with the unit. Good nurse managers always try to make a positive and healthy working environment. The positive working environment will increase the job satisfaction. The skillful nurse manager always listens to the problems and feedbacks of the staff in the unit. This helps the nurse manager to find out the problems in the unit and manage the unit well with co-operation from all the staff in the unit. By managing the unit well, the nurse manager is able to do safe staffing, improve the retention and better budgeting, which all leads to better staff and patient satisfaction and better patient outcomes. References Baker, K. (1995). Improving staff nurse conflict resolution skills. Nursing Economic$, 13(5), 295. Cathcart, E., Greenspan, M., Quin, M. (2010). The making of a nurse manager: the role of experiential learning in leadership development. Journal Of Nursing Management, 18(4), 440-447. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2010.01082.x Curtis, E., OÂÂ ¿Connell, R. (2011). Essential leadership skills for motivating and developing staff. Nursing Management UK, 18(5), 32-35. Duffield, C., Roche, M., Blay, N., Stasa, H. (2011). 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