A Nurse Manager's To Do List

A Nurse Manager’s To Do List

The nurse manager presented in the scenario is above all, a nurse who belongs to the group of “professional nurses that experience situations each day in which they must lead, manage, and follow” (Yoder-Wise, 2014, p. 6). The manager as she walks in to her unit, is aware of the fact that “care routines must be managed” (Yoder-Wise, 2014, p. 5). In prioritizing her decisions, the nurse manager would need to sort out which problem or issue has the high urgency and importance. Therefore, “a problem with high urgency and importance rankings should be dealt with first” (NDC, 2007, p. 12). Of the five issues she is faced with, the number one priority to address would be the staffing issue related to the RN who called in. As in any staffing problem, the nurse manager needs to consider not only the patient quality care and

Without much consideration of the situation at hand, the easy way out would be to call the staffing office for an additional nurse to fill in the deficit. However, as cited in NDC (2007) nurse managers “must balance the needs of followers for growth with the needs of the organization for productivity. They look at what needs to be done and what is right for the organization, then develop plans, establish standards, and take coordinated action” (” (p. 5). Therefore, the best approach the manager would take would be: (1) take note of the day’s census, the nurse-patient ratio, anticipated discharges, and the number of available beds for possible admissions. It is only when all the information are made available that the nurse manager would be able to take appropriate action and decide whether another nurse is needed or to distribute the patients to the other nurses. Whatever decision the manager would make, it is critical that he/she keeps in mind that