In today's health care structure with the nursing shortage organizations are using charge nurses as gate-keepers to manage the day-to-day operation of the organization. According to Platt & Foster (2008) the charge nurse role is pivotal to the provision of high-quality care and effective charge management. However, many nurses are promoted to the role with no formal management preparation, or leadership skills, the may be apprehensive and in some cases reluctant to manage. Sherman (2005) suggested that providing a formal and structured educational program would improve leadership skills and confidence, resulting in less frustration and greater satisfaction for staff assuming the charge nurse role. According to McCallin & Frankson (2010) organizations must provide charge nurses with formal support to facilitate management development. Without the necessary preparation and ongoing in-service training these nurses may feel over whelmed, stressed and unsupported. Studies show nurses' become a liability to the institution when placed prematurely in the charge nurse role without proper training (Sherman, 2005). Additionally, they also play a central role in risk management for the organization (Sherman, 2005). Sherman & Pross (2010) state that a healthy work environment requires strong nursing leadership at all levels of the organization, but especially at the point of care or unit level where most front line staff work and patient care is delivered. The purpose of this proposal is to recommend a charge nurse development program that will improve and enhance the leadership and management skills of the charge nurse. The paper will address the following elements: Project objectives, review of literature supporting the need for an ongoing educational program for charge nurses, project methodology, timeline, formative and summative evaluation.
Practicum Objective
The objectives are the specific accomplishments the researcher hopes to achieve (Polit & Beck, 2008). The charge nurse development proposal objectives are:
1. Review three sources of evidence, literature, professional organization standards and
information from networking on charge nurse job description
2. Analyze the organization's charge nurse job description.
Huber, D. (2010). Leadership and Nursing Care Management (4th ed.). Maryland Heights, MO: Saunders Elsevier.
As student nurses, I have many goals that would like to achieve upon completion of 150 hours of my capstone course. My plan is to use this opportunity to demonstrate competency skills, and knowledge gained through previous quarters. I have listed seven learning goals that I wanted to achieve during the capstone experience. On my first day of capstone, I have gone over each one with my preceptor and requested from her to provide me with feedbacks, so I can use them as stepping tool to work upon. These goals ranged from critical thinking decision making, culture, growth & development, legal and ethical to clinical competence safety/holistic care, evidence-based practice, and professionalism lifelong learning.
Whitehead, D. K., Weiss, S. A., & Tappen, R. M. (2010). Essentials of nursing leadership and
Clinical Nurse Leaders’ responsibility scope includes all nurse and patient management details except for administrative duties. They are important resources in United States medical intuitions. CNL candidates must have a master’s degree to fulfill this position. This knowledge gives them the needed skill set to manage the daily operation of the hospital’s entire nursing pool. They also observe and regulate the patient care setting. Ultimately, the Clinical Nurse Leaders’ role will continue to gain importance as healthcare caseloads increase in
Murphy J, Quillinan B, Carolan M. "Role of clinical nurse leadership in improving patient care." Nurs Manage 16, no. 8 (2012): 26-28.
Mrs. Denise Callaway (RN, BSN) is my charge nurse at the hospital in rural Georgia. She is a patient advocate. In her interview, she stated that she is a patient advocate first and foremost. She believes that all nurses, RN?s and LPN?s, have a responsibility to advocate for their patients. She admits that she try to put herself in the patient?s and/or family?s place. She was taught to? do unto others? and she has followed that philosophy throughout her nursing practice. Mrs. Callaway always encourages her staff to see the best in the patients. She never sets in an office. She is always out on the unit helping staff, it does not matter if it is housekeeping, and she is always there to lend a hand when needed. She always includes her patients
One of the problems that faces most health care facilities are being able to recruit and retain their nurses. Nursing shortage and turnover are a complex issue that is affecting healthcare delivery. Nurses form the majority in healthcare and mostly direct caregivers, its deficit poses a dangerous effect on the care of the sick and the disabled. Curbing the nursing shortage and turnover is important for facilities to hire and train their leaders and managers. A good leader or manager should be creative, effective, committed, initiative, motivated, and can handle stress (Huber,
I will also discuss the plan I created in order to successfully meet my learning needs prior to becoming an RPN, and how I will evaluate whether or not I improved in these two areas. Learning Needs / Goals The two areas I feel I need further development in are understanding the scope of practice for an RPN, and Intravenous (IV) therapy. Also, it is important to understand your role as a nurse to ensure the patients’ needs are being met, and to ensure you stay within your scope of practice while providing care.
Leading and managing in nursing (4th edition), pp. 92-93.
Leading and managing take on different meanings depending on one’s perspective. A registered nurse (RN) in healthcare may not fully internalize his or her role as “leader” on the team, but the responsibility inherent with licensure to practice, understand expectations and fulfilling them, is essential. Effective delegation is an important leadership strategy for any RN to learn and execute, as patient outcomes are ultimately tied to the RN assigned.
Nursing educators and researchers developed theoretical frameworks for the nursing practice that are used to validate application of nursing knowledge and skills, and the theory gives a professional identity for nursing practice. Watson’s caring theory provides guidelines in transformational nursing practice, and stimulates nursing when profession experiencing shortages, decline, crisis in care, safety and healthcare reform. Nurse staffing issue creates potential challenge for nursing profession; therefore, nursing leadership should be involved, and actively participate to resolve it (Peterson, S, J. & Bredow, T. S., 2013).
In healthcare it is very important to have strong leaders, especially in the nursing profession. A nurse leader typically uses several styles of leadership depending on the situation presented; this is known as situational leadership. It is important that the professional nurse choose the right style of leadership for any given situation to ensure their employees are performing at their highest potential. Depending on which leadership style a nurse leader uses, it can affect staff retention and the morale of the employees as well as nurse job satisfaction (Azaare & Gross, 2011.) “Nursing leaders have the responsibility to create and maintain a work environment which not only promotes positive patient outcomes but also positively influences teams and individual nurses” (Malloy & Penprase, 2010.) Let’s explore two different leadership styles and discuss how they can enhance or diminish the nursing process.
In today’s society, leadership is a common yet useful trait used in every aspect of life and how we use this trait depends on our role. What defines leadership is when someone has the capability to lead an organization or a group of people. There are many examples that display a great sense of leadership such being an educator in health, a parent to their child, or even a nurse. In the medical field, leadership is highly used among nurses, doctors, nurse managers, director of nursing, and even the vice president of patient care services. Among the many positions in the nursing field, one who is a nurse manager shows great leadership. The reason why nurse manager plays an important role in patient care is because it is known to be the most difficult position. As a nurse manager, one must deal with many patient care issues, relationships with medical staff, staff concerns, supplies, as well as maintaining work-life balance. Also, a nurse manager represents leadership by being accountable for the many responsibilities he or she holds. Furthermore, this position is a collaborative yet vital role because they provide the connection between nursing staff and higher level superiors, as well as giving direction and organization to accomplish tasks and goals. In addition, nurse managers provide nurse-patient ratios and the amount of workload nursing staff has. It is their responsibility to make sure that nursing staff is productive and well balanced between their work and personal lives.
The nursing profession has changed drastically over time. The roles and responsibilities that nurses take on have increased and become far more complicated. Nurses are managers, leaders, supervisors and have become experts in many areas of care. Every day nurses are faced with the task of improving and strengthening professional leadership within their work environment. Managing good quality and eliminating risk is the major challenge in health care. All members of the team must work together to accomplish outstanding patient care. Budget cuts and nursing shortage in all areas of health care leads to less licensed staff, where use of unlicensed personnel have been used widely, where delegation is not an option, but a necessity. Nurses must be aware of delegation guidelines, what tasks to delegate,when to delegate for the safety of patients, liability of nurses and the facility.
Consequently, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), an avid advocate for the evidence-based recommendations for change and advancement of health care and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in recognizing these challenges in 2008, partnered to establish a two-year Initiative on the Future of Nursing. The committee was tasked with producing a comprehensive report with recommendations for action-based blueprint for the future of nursing, redesigning the role of nurses, expansion of nursing faculty besides attraction and retention of well-prepared and qualified nurses in various care settings capable of handling present and future the nation’s health care needs..(IoM.edu, 2015). After two years of vigorously working, the committee formulated four key messages that formed the basis of their recommendations which