Team leader assignment

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Final semester. We are each going to be assigned a day (actually I think 2 days) during clinical to practice the "team leader" role. This is for a grade. There's a whole long list of objectives to meet, but the gist of it is that the team leader student is to get there early, make the pt assignments for each fellow student, make morning rounds on all the patients who will have a student, make rounds again later to make sure that each patient's needs are being met, troubleshoot, etc., probably a bunch of stuff I forgot.

Er, I'm scared! I'm not a very assertive or confident person to begin with and have no idea how to project myself as a halfway decent leader, even if it's in an environment with instructor backup. No idea how to make pt assignments. We're supposed to get there a half hour early...I would think I would need to be there MUCH earlier to have a chance to look over the patient census and make determinations. I realize I will probably find out more about what this will be like when the time comes, but it's just kind of scary. I want to do a good job, but this is just 101% out of my comfort zone. Anybody had this experience and what was it like?

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I have leadership experience, just not in Nursing. I can say that everyone has their own style and it takes experience to develop your style. The best advice I can give you is to go out there and be yourself, with experience and mentor ship from the senior nurses you will eventually find your groove.

Don't beat yourself up if you don't do perfectly, leadership does not come naturally for everyone. It doesn't for me, especially when I am out of my element.

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I had the chance to do this last semester and it's not too bad. Hopefully your classmates will be okay with it since you will each have a turn at it. I agree with the post above, leadership does not come naturally to most humans, in fact, it's really hard to be a good leader and manager. You will do fine though! Good luck!

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This is the aspect of nursing that I least look forward to. I'm like you and I really don't want to be the leader. I'm glad to hear they teach this kind of thing in programs though. Good luck with your assignment and I would love to hear how it goes.

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The only thing that I do not completely understand is why the student is creating pt. assignments. I don't feel that as a student I would be able to evaluate my fellow students well/fairly enough to assign patients based on each student's strengths and weaknesses.

Aside from that it seems as though as mentioned above it is an exercise in delegation and time management.

Good luck!

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This is the aspect of nursing that I least look forward to. I'm like you and I really don't want to be the leader. I'm glad to hear they teach this kind of thing in programs though. Good luck with your assignment and I would love to hear how it goes.

Thank you. I'll try to get back and post about this again. I'm always on here, LOL. At least lurking.

The only thing that I do not completely understand is why the student is creating pt. assignments. I don't feel that as a student I would be able to evaluate my fellow students well/fairly enough to assign patients based on each student's strengths and weaknesses.

Aside from that it seems as though as mentioned above it is an exercise in delegation and time management.

Good luck!

Thanks. Yeah, you bring up an interesting point that I thought of as well. The objectives specifically state to assign patients based on each student's ability level - well, how do I know what that is, exactly? As a student myself, I don't feel I'm really in a position to know the ability level of other students, for the most part.

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Thank you. I'll try to get back and post about this again. I'm always on here, LOL. At least lurking.

Thanks. Yeah, you bring up an interesting point that I thought of as well. The objectives specifically state to assign patients based on each student's ability level - well, how do I know what that is, exactly? As a student myself, I don't feel I'm really in a position to know the ability level of other students, for the most part.

Depending on your clinical instructor, you may be able to talk with the students prior to doing the assigning for their input. I'm a totally hands-off manager, for the most part, and like to treat everyone like an adult (since that's what we are). So, when I was assigning patients, I did it in pre-conference and would ask the students as they came in to pre-conference which patients they would like to have in the pod they were assigned to. I also asked them at that time what time they preferred to eat lunch and I would schedule my lunch around them. It was never a problem with my clinical instructor and the other student nurses were grateful! Maybe this is something you could try?

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Depending on your clinical instructor, you may be able to talk with the students prior to doing the assigning for their input. I'm a totally hands-off manager, for the most part, and like to treat everyone like an adult (since that's what we are). So, when I was assigning patients, I did it in pre-conference and would ask the students as they came in to pre-conference which patients they would like to have in the pod they were assigned to. I also asked them at that time what time they preferred to eat lunch and I would schedule my lunch around them. It was never a problem with my clinical instructor and the other student nurses were grateful! Maybe this is something you could try?

That sounds like it would work perfectly. Unless my instructor says otherwise, I think I will try this.

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Be self-confident (not arrogant), assertive, fair, and communicate to your "staff." Make rounds to see what they're doing, pitch in and help if they need it, and monitor progress.

Regarding patient assignments, I would randomly select five patients, look them over to see if there's anything you don't know then learn about it, and then randomly give them to your "staff."

From a managerial standpoint, when I worked for the state, I merely made sure I had good people working for me that were fully aware of their job. I monitored progress, communicated expectations, provided counseling and/or discipline as needed and as fairly as I knowingly could, was there to help when they needed it or when I knew they'd need it, and beyond that I stayed out of their hair. I can't see how this wouldn't apply to your class.

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Okay, this coming week is our last week on this floor and it's finally my turn to be the team leader. I will update when it is done. It's looking like I will *have* to actually assign the patients and not let the other students take their pick. I will have 4 students with 2 patients each on Monday, then on Tuesday I will have 1 patient myself and each of "my" 4 students will have 3 patients. :uhoh3: Funny I am not as nervous about it now as I was when I first heard about this assignment, but that may change come Monday morning! I have had a lot of time to see how the other students have been doing the assignment (since I'm last).

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Okay, this coming week is our last week on this floor and it's finally my turn to be the team leader. I will update when it is done. It's looking like I will *have* to actually assign the patients and not let the other students take their pick. I will have 4 students with 2 patients each on Monday, then on Tuesday I will have 1 patient myself and each of "my" 4 students will have 3 patients. :uhoh3: Funny I am not as nervous about it now as I was when I first heard about this assignment, but that may change come Monday morning! I have had a lot of time to see how the other students have been doing the assignment (since I'm last).

You will be okay. Remember that the other students have already given you assignments so it's your turn now. If you gratefully took your assignments from your other classmates, they should gratefully accept theirs (hopefully). Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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Anybody had this experience and what was it like?

Yeah, I was team leader for a day and it was the most boring clinical day. I tried to keep busy, but most of the time I was just standing around not doing anything. I would undoubtedly have learned more if I'd had my own patients to take care of.

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