Reflections on Nursing

This week we covered risk management and legal responsibilities of the nurse leader.  Honestly, this is one of the parts of being a nurse leader that terrifies me the most.  I don't want to have to make these kinds of difficult decisions regarding risk management, and legal stuff is so far from my thing, it's actually kind of funny to imagine myself dealing with much of it. For our discussion this week, we were given this case study (modified from Nurses Service Organization (NSO)): A 27 year old male patient was brought to the emergency department (ED) by paramedics.  The patient was intoxicated, agitated, and aggressive.  The patient was a frequent flyer in the ED.  The patient's behavior limited the RN and ED staff from completing a comprehensive initial assessment.  For the patient's safety, four point physical restraints were ordered by the ED physician.  The RN requested that ED security apply the restraints, in accordance with hospital polic...

This week we mostly talked about motivation.  Our lecture this week was on finding ways to motivate staff members. Something I hadn't really considered before is that money is not the best motivator.  While it might be great for a short period of time, it's not very effective long term.  I mean, it makes sense when I think about it.  When you get a raise, it's great!  But pretty soon, you get used to your new paycheck.  Suddenly, you're back to where you were before.  The novelty of an extra $1 an hour has worn off.  You don't have "extra" money anymore.  One thing that the lecture for this week mentioned is the idea of writing personalized thank you notes when staff members go above an beyond.  But the catch is that you write the thank you note to a family member of the staff.  Maybe the staff member's spouse, or one of their children.  The idea is that it really shows the staff member, and their family, that you care abou...

This week we talked a lot about conflict resolution.   One of our assignments was to watch the 2006 movie The Guardian , starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher.  Honestly?  I didn't know I would ever have so many feelings about the U.S. Coast Guard.  This movie was very powerful, and I'm glad we were required to watch it this week.  I had honestly never heard of it, and I knew nothing about it. There were several different types of conflict in this film, and it was good to be able to look at all the different types, as well as how the characters attempted to resolve them. One of the most ineffective types of conflict resolution that we were able to observe was the conflict shown between the Coast Guard and the Navy.  In the film, two of the characters go to a predominantly "Navy" bar.  One of the characters, Billy, gets drunk and starts boasting about how great the Coast Guard is and how much the Navy needs them.  Now obviously, the Na...

This week we focused on strategic planning.  For our team activity this week we had to compete against another team, which, for me, added a new element to the activity.  I feel like in a way it motivated me more because I wanted my designs to be better than the other teams'.  This was the assignment we were given: Welcome to the Mega Block Region.  At the heart of this region are two communities (Bionicle Town and Legoville) which share a common border.  The population of each of these two (2) communities is approximately 110,000.  A 50,000 student university (which is not included in the population numbers) is in Bionicle Town.  The regional airport is in Legoville.  Both communities are rapidly growing. Each community has its own healthcare system and a hospital.  The Regional Trauma Center has 250 beds and is in Bionicle Town.  A 100 bed Community Hospital is located in Legoville. Both healthcare systems (Bionicle and Lego) hav...

This week we talked about change.   We were tasked with reading Who Moved My Cheese  by Dr. Spencer Johnson.  I had never heard of this short story before, but I really enjoyed the message from it. The story describes two small people, Hem and Haw, and two mice, Sniff and Scurry, who live in a maze.  Everyday, they put on their running shoes and set off into the maze in search of cheese.  Each of them have a different idea of what the cheese represents to them.  It could be wealth or material things, or it could be having good health, or it could be finding love and having a family.   One day they find a whole bunch of cheese.  The little people believe the cheese will always be there, and settle in to enjoy it.  They put aside their running shoes and make themselves comfortable.  The mice still come to the station and sniff and scratch and scurry around the cheese station, looking to see if there are any changes from the...

This week, one of our assignments was to conduct a budgeting interview with a leader who is responsible for budgeting outside of healthcare.  I interviewed Evelyn M., my friend who works at a pretty small, local software company (which I can't remember the name of right now). Q:  What information and data do you look at to create a budget? A:  I always look at our anticipated costs and expenses, including anticipated marketing costs.  I also especially like to look at a projection of income based on our prior years. Q:  When needing to make budget cuts, what are the first things you look to cut out? A:  When I am looking at cutting our budget, I like to look at expenses that aren't necessary, or "luxury" expenses, such as items for the breakroom.  I also look at where we can cut down hours in each department, and will start offering voluntary time off.  Some employees are more than willing to take a little time off.  It's also good to...