Description
I believethat Nursing is a work of Art, therefore I feel that the art is the mostimportant competency for a successful nurse manager. A nurse manager requires askill set that is not learned immediately, it is learned over time and requirespatience, education, and hard work to maintain, keep up and enhance theseskills. AONL identified several competencies ranging from the science, which includesfinancial management, human resource management, performance improvement,foundational thinking skills, technology, strategic management, and appropriateclinical practice knowledge. These competencies are important for a role thatis behind the scenes and more appropriate for managing the business.
The competenciesof art to me are the most important, especially when you are leading a team andmanaging a unit. This is the front-line manager, and the skills is aimed atleading the people and your team. The competencies include human resource,leadership skills, relationship management and influencing behaviors, diversity,and shared decision making. Human resource leadership skills are important tomonitor performance management, provide staff development and staff retentionin the team. This includes conducting staff evaluations, setting, and reviewinggoals with staff and implementing performance development on a continuous basis.I have experienced these competencies in my previous position as unit managerwhen reviewing annual performance evaluations for my team. Staff development iscrucial to facilitate staff education and ensure that staff is competent in theskills that they are performing to safely perform their duties. Staff retentionis necessary and an ongoing competency for a nursing manager. Its important tocontinuously assess staff satisfaction and develop methods to reward, recognize,thank, and show your appreciation to staff. We perform staff satisfaction surveysevery six months called Rounding for Relationships. This allows staff to expresstheir concerns with a manager, even if from a different department and allowstheir input on what operations could be better as anything that may need improvementwithin their department.
Relationshipmanagement includes conflict, situation, and relationship management,influencing others, and promoting professional development. As a nurse leader itsimportant to identify and deal with issues that require immediate attentionwhether it be staffing, patient, safety, or family related. I have an open-doorpolicy with my staff which allows them access to me at all times in the event thereis an emergent issue that needs to be dealt with from a nursing aspect.Promoting team dynamics improves employee morale and can help reduce poorpatient outcomes. Fostering a healthy work environment is not only good forstaff and your team, but also good for patient care and positive outcomes relatedto patient care. Promoting stress management and teaching stress managementtechniques is key to help alleviate staff burnout out.
Diversityincludes the nurse manager being culturally competent and sensitive. We haveemployees from all over the work, especially now with travel agencies. Itsimportant to have a conversation with your employees to discuss their culturalbehaviors and preferences. This is important to show respect and support toyour staff. We have a few female CNAs on board who are from overseas and theirwork schedule varies based on hours that they can work and transportation thatis provided to them. They cant work after dark, and they can only ride with otherfemales. We remain culturally sensitive and respect their cultural differences.Social justice is important in the aspect that all staff should be treatedequally and fairly.
There areseveral resources available to help the nurse manager including AmericanOrganization for Nursing Leadership, American Journal of Nursing, andorganizations such as American Nurses Association. Resources that are availablethat are easily accessible by nurse managers are important. As nurses we are onthe computer for extended periods of time and have the capability to provide awide variety of research on websites that are available. These are of greatvalue because they help provide information and access to education onleadership skills that are beneficial to our growth.
AONL nurse manager competencies.(n.d.). Retrieved August 11, 2022, fromhttps://www.aonl.org/system/files/media/file/2019/06/nurse-manager-competencies.pdf
