Here are some observations while we implement our Nurse Leadership Academy at a well-respected regional hospital:
1. Many Nurse Managers have not successfully made the leap from staff nurse to management. These managers still commiserate too much with staff, even thinking of staff as “buddies.” Once you become a manager, you must forget about being popular. Rather, you have to set high standards for your unit and mobilize your staff to go the extra mile to achieve those standards — while being fair with each staff member, letting them know how they are doing (and how they can do better), and being concerned about their ongoing development and success.
2. Some Nurse Managers actually sabotage the organization that has promoted them and pays them. For instance, they sometimes complain to medical staff about issues and enlist the medical staff to argue for them, rather than going to their direct supervisor and making a case for change. This “end around” undermines leadership’s credibility with the medical staff, and the manager’s credibility with leadership. Nobody wins.
3. Many Nurse Managers have an opportunity to claim their place at the table as managers and leaders. We work with a number of hospitals where Nurse Managers are largely silent, and as a result the organization goes around them when it comes time to make key decisions. Sometimes these Managers complain in the background (inappropriately to staff or physicians), or suffer stoically; however, this strategy is not sustainable over the long term, and inevitably leads to built-up resentments and an eventual, often sudden outburst (or resignation). Others do express themselves, but in unproductive ways. There is a right and a wrong way to communicate as a leader; few Nurse Managers have been given the opportunity to learn how to influence people up, down, and across their organization. For instance, how many Nurse Managers know how to construct a business case for an investment or change in patient care model on the unit?
More observations to follow….
Written by Andrew Neitlich.
