ANALYZING A NURSE 1
Analyzing a Nurse in a Leader or Manager Role
Diana VanRhee
Ferris State University
Analyzing a Nurse in a Leader or Manager Role
Introduction
This paper analyzes Christine Conran, MSN, BSN who is a nurse manager for Metro Health Hospital. It discusses her professional roles and responsibilities as a leader in the nurse manager position. Included are the American Organization of Nurses Executives (AONE) competencies that nurses must practice in relation in their executive role.
Christine (Christi) obtained her Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree after completing high school. While she practiced as a direct care nurse at Metro Health Hospital, on a medical surgical unit, she went on to further her nursing career with a Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN). During her 13 years of nursing, Christi worked as a direct care nurse on several different medical-surgical units and was a Clinical Coordinator of two different areas prior to accepting the Clinical Director position of Surgery, Prep and Recovery (SPR) and Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU).All of her nursing career has been at Metro Health Hospital and she has been in her current position for 3 years.
Roles and Responsibilities
Christi oversees the delivery of patient care, patient satisfaction, staff satisfaction and financial responsibility to not only the unit she manages, but to the organization as a whole. SPR and PACU encompasses two additional smaller areas, pre-surgical testing and the Surgical Overnight Unit. All together there are 80 employees to supervise with the assistance of three Clinical Coordinators. Communication and collaboration are essential in Christie’s everyday practice and it is something she values strongly.
The organizational structure is described as a functional. A functional structure tends to “support professional expertise and encourage advancement” (Yoder-Wise, 2015, p. 145). The employees of the SPR/PACU unit report to her, then in turn she reports to Chief Nursing Officer (CNO). The CNO governs all of the nursing staff and reports to the Chief Executive Officer (CE0). Metro Health Hospital’s philosophy is a combination of their vision and mission statement “taking health care to a better place” and “improve the health and well-being of our communities” (Metro Health Hospital, 2015). Christi embraces both of these and has a similar philosophy for own nursing profession which incorporates “do unto others as you want them to do unto you” (C. Conran, personal communication, February 12, 2015).
Communication and Relationship Building
Effective communication is essential in all relationships, including business ones. A successful organization is mindful of the environment it develops, the atmosphere it creates and the tone that it expresses (Gerson & Gerson, 2007). Communication is one of the competencies that AONE emphasizes in executive leadership (AONE, 2011). Christi demonstrates her communication skills and dedication to relationship building every day. Communication is a two-way street that needs includes evaluation, being transparent and being an active listener (C. Conran, personal communication, February 12, 2015). Building lasting relationships takes time and trust to maintain, therefore Christi takes time each day to walk around the various units and talk with the staff. Her office is known to be an “open door” where people feel welcome to vent their frustrations, provide ideas or just share their concerns (C. Conran, personal communication, February 12, 2015). With modern technology, “our ability to communicate at any time in any place with anyone is increasing our opportunities for interaction” (Turner & Reinsch, 2007, p. 36). Communication brings about awareness, which strengthens relationship, which is beneficial in today’s healthcare environment.
Knowledge of the Healthcare Environment
With knowledge comes understanding of the ever changing, challenging and complex healthcare environment. Knowledge, another AONE competency (AONE, 2011), builds confidence in leaders and empowers them to perform to the best of their ability based on evidence based care. Christi confided that reimbursement drives a lot of how healthcare is delivered and creates an intrapersonal conflict for her in finding a balance between the financial and personal care in healthcare delivery (C. Conran, personal communication, February 12, 2015). Tracking trends, attending conferences and continuing education are ways Christi stays current with the knowledge of healthcare. According to White & O’Sullivan, 2012, “nurses are expected to expand nursing’s knowledge base by using theories that are congruent with nursing values and nursing practice (White & O’Sullivan, 2012, p. 5). It is evident that Christi believes that this is best not only for her patients, staff and the organization, but for herself as well. She maintains specialty certification for the SPR/PACU area and encourages, as well as motivates, other nurses to do so. I believe that her knowledge helps her to be a great leader.
Leadership
There are many roles and ways in which leadership plays out in management. AONE has leadership as a competency that leaders should be assessed on (AONE, 2011). Leaders should display a positive attitude, inspire others, exercise good self-control and maintain a good work-life balance (Yoder-Wise, 2015). Empowering others in their job classification, mentoring others providing self-motivation, giving and receiving feedback are leadership styles that Christi displays (C. Conran, personal communication, February 12, 2015). Being a role-model and mentor is both valuable to the organization as a whole. Not only does mentoring “foster teamwork, improve staff motivation, and increase employee competency levels”, but it “improves individual and organizational performance and results in higher employee retention (Moon, 2014, p. 27). A good manager should have excellent leadership abilities. Christi believes that taking ownership for yourself and the unit you work on is something everyone should do and encourages this by seeking out others input with decision making (C. Conran, personal communication, February 12, 2015).
Professionalism
There is a lot of accountability in the nursing profession, professionalism is one of them. AONE’s competency of professionalism assists with “nurses seeking expertise and knowledge in executive practice” (AONE, 2011). Nurse’s mannerism, actions, and attitude greatly affect their patient care delivery which in turn affects the organization they represent. Christi views her professional manager role as being in a “fishbowl”, meaning that everything you do will be seen and critiqued (C. Conran, personal communication, February 12, 2015). Metro Health Hospital fosters a culture of safety to which all nurses are expected to uphold.To help accomplished this Christi ensures that the nursing staff abide by the American Nurses Association (ANA) Standards of Nursing Practice, adhering to the nursing Code of Ethics and by following the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses (ASPAN) guidelines (C. Conran, personal communication, February 12, 2015).
Business Skills
Good business skills are needed in order to run a business, AONE has a competency to address that (AONE, 2011). Some of the business skills that a manager uses are making a budget and adhering to it, data analysis, reports, meetings and agendas to attend to. Christi believes that all of these skills and looking ahead help her to be an effective manager (C. Conran, personal communication, February 12, 2015). Hospitals are businesses providing healthcare services and managers play an integral part in the care of the patients and the organizations success.
Conclusion
The interview and analysis of Christine Conran in a nurse manager role demonstrates that she achieves all the of the AONE executive competencies of Communication, Knowledge of the Health Care Environment, Leadership, Professionalism and Business Skills. Each competency exposed effects patient outcomes and the organization to which it serves. Christi appears passionate in her role and is committed to the staff and the organization she works for. Her professionalism and leadership serve as an example to others, including myself. I realize how important each competency is and how I, as a nurse leader, can apply those to my own nursing career.
References
American Organization of Nurse Executives. (2011). The AONE Nurse Executive Competencies. Retrieved from
Black, B. P. (2014). Professional nursing: Concepts and challenges (7th ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier Saunders
Gerson, S. J., & Gerson, S. M. (2007).Workplace communication: Process and Product. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Metro Health Hospital. (2015). Retrieved from
Moon, T. M. (2014). Mentoring the next generation for innovation in today’s organization. Journal of Strategic Leadership, 5 (1), 23-25.
Turner, J. W., & Reinsch, N. L. (2007). The business communicator as presence allocator: Multicommunicating, equivocality, and status at work. Journal of Business Communication, 44 (1), 36-58. doi: 10.1177/0021943606295779
White, K. M., & O’Sullivan, A. (2012). The essential guide to nursing practice: Applying ANA’s Scope and Standards in Practice and Education. Silver Springs, MD: Nursesbooks.org
Yoder-Wise, P.S. (2015). Leading and managing in nursing (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.