Reflections on Nursing

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...

This week, our focus was on staffing and career development. For our team activity this week, we had a staffing assignment where we had to staff a hospital unit for 2 weeks. Proper staffing is key to a successful unit. You are creating a schedule for a busy 24 bed surgical unit. Any nurse looking at the schedule you create, will be able to see what shifts he/she is working and who they will be working with for the next 2 weeks. You have been given the staffing ratios for the unit below. Staff the unit as if all 24 beds may be filled daily. Information for the schedule: A 24 bed surgical unit Schedule is for the next 2 weeks (14 days) Nurse to patient ratios: 5:1 day shift 6:1 night shift Charge nurse takes no patients 1 LPN works every shift. CNA's are on every shift (8:1 ratio) 1 Health Unit Coordinator (HUC) per shift 3 nurses on vacation 2 CNA's in educational training  Good Luck! It was difficult to do this assignment with multiple people tryin...

This week we were able to talk about the future of nursing.  We watched an interesting TED Talk on where the future of nursing is heading, as well as some of the goals for the future. The TED Talk discussed the future of nursing heading towards an increased focus on leadership, as well as understanding and educating the community on the value of nurses. Some of the goals that I pulled from the talk included: Ensure that nurses are used to their full capacity Become lifelong learners - obtain a graduate education Leadership in practice, research, education, administration, and service Educate the public about the value of nursing I'm just going to briefly focus on each one of these, including my thoughts on each goal. Ensure that nurses are used to their full capacity. So I both agree and disagree with this goal.  While I do feel that nurses are often under utilized and could definitely be put to better use, I am not sure how I feel about nurse practitione...

This week, we talked about budgeting.  It was not my favorite week...  It's horrible, but I get so bored talking about money and finances.  My financial lit class in high school is one of my worst high school memories, no joke. Overall, I'm glad that we talked about this, because I know that budgeting IS an important part of leadership, but man, if it isn't one of the things that drives me away from leadership, I don't know what is. For one of our assignments this week, we had to look at a Med/Surg budget and decide what areas we could make cuts to: The hospital administration has called you (as a nurse leader) to the boardroom for a sensitive meeting. The hospital has not met budget for the 3rd month in a row. Potential layoff are discussed, as well as possible closure of departments and services. A bold department leader asks, how much the hospital is behind in revenue. The answer is 10%. The same leader asks the administration to allow each department to deter...

This week for one of our assignments, we had to interview someone (outside of healthcare, like usual), who is responsible for firing and disciplining employees.  I interviewed my friend, Lisa M., who is a manager at Maceys. Q:  Before taking disciplinary action, do you role play what you will say? A:  No, not really.  If I am taking disciplinary action, the employee is doing something to violate our company policy or they are not meeting expectations.  We make our expectations very clear, so it's not difficult to tell them what they are doing wrong. Q:  How many warnings do you give your employees before termination? A:  Our employees are allowed 1 verbal warning, then 3 written warnings before termination. Q:  What types of situations would warrant immediate termination without warning? A:  I don't think I, personally, have ever had a situation where I was going to immediately terminate an employee for their actions.  What I...