Help, new Director and trying to stay above water!

ainz · Jul 30, 2003

Congratulations!!!!!

I have been an RN for 18 years and I am now an administrator (COO) of a for-profit, general acute care hospital. Here is some generic advice from an administrator-type who spent several years staff nursing.

Keep a level head in dealing with people.

Give your staff the room and freedom to be themselves.

Create an environment where educated risk-taking is OK.

Allow people to be creative and don't beat them up if their ideas don't work.

Stand up for your staff, support and defend them.

Know what is happening in your unit.

Stay out of your office as much as possible.

Walk around, be visible, be accessible, pitch in and help.

Be fair, always.

When your staff request days off, go out of your way to allow them to take it.

Don't gossip.

Don't criticize others.

Always remember this--YOUR SUCCESS DEPENDS ON EACH OF YOUR STAFF BEING SUCCESSFUL IN THEIR JOB. Looking at it like this means your job is to support your staff in their job. Make sure they have what they need to be the best nurses they can be. Look for ways to help them succeed, help them achieve their goals. You can get everything you want if you help enough other people get what they want (Zig Zeigler). I have repeatedly found this to be true.

Learn about the financial side of healthcare. Everything that is done will either generate revenue or cost money.

You can destroy your credibility and look like an idiot in the eyes of administration if you propose things in your unit and you don't know or understand the financial consequences of what you are asking for--so learn about healthcare finance--it is important. Your CFO can help you. It may be boring, but it is necessary and understanding it will help you more than you know.

renerian, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2003

AINZ great post. Good luck babyrn. I have no neonate experience to guide you.

renerian

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Jul 30, 2003

Hi Ainz,

I'm impressed with both of your most recent posts. You truly are the type of nurse that the word, "professional" means. Your workplace is blessed to have such a professional with your background.

You've earned my respect, and I'd like to get to know you a little better if possible. I too am all for co-operation, supporting your fellow staff member, etc. Maybe that's why some doctors don't treat some nurses with respect. Hmmm!

Having experienced the negative part of being an employee myself, only made me more stressed, more tired at the end of the day, and made the job itself have hang-ups.

I have always believed that what you mention in your messages is the way it should be. All nurses would then experience what the true profession of nursing is REALLY about. I believe that if nurses really worked together, as in any field of employment, things would go so much smoother, and it would be a joy to go to work the next day, because nurses would be experiencing the true field of nursing; the very thing that drove them to choose to become a nurse.

A good analogy is when driving on a highway, and you experience a traffic tie-up. The first thing the impatient driver does is ride the right shoulder to get up to the front of the line. (An activity that has always annoyed me.)

and cut in front of the person in the driving lane, therefore creating an unnecessary traffic congestion. When if that same driver remained in his former in-line position, not only would he probably get to where he is going faster, but would also keep the line moving, preventing the congestion in the first place, and all other drivers wouldn't be annoyed.:)

May you have an enjoyable day at work. You deserve it.

ainz · Jul 31, 2003

Thank you Frances LeMay.

prmenrs, RN · Jul 31, 2003

ainz sure said a lot, if you can do all that, you'll be terrific! (Not that you aren't RIGHT NOW!)

If you are going to be a Level III, plan to send all your staff and charge nurses to the best level III in the area, preferrably a teaching hospital, for ?possibly a week to get acclimated to that atmosphere. Some of the nurses may still be much more comfortable in a lower intensity setting, and you will still have those babies, so that's ok.

Respiratory Care needs the same orientation, possibly more--work w/their department to make that happen.

This will be expensive, but the people delivering the care need to be able to cope with the increased intensity.

You may want to organize some classroom time as well.