What is an effective leader is the question for this week.  In MGT 500 we are talking about Leaders this week and what makes them effective.  One of the most important aspects I see to a good leader is honesty,  I read an article by Carol Huston (2008) that talks about Preparing nurse leaders for 2020.  One of the eight leadership competencies she noted was; Balancing authenticity and performance expectations.  Huston (2008) notes "Authentic leaders are those who are true to themselves and their values and act accordingly" (p. 909).  The article talks about the difference between "congruent leadership" and "traditional leadership".  Congruent or Authentic leadership is different from traditional leadership in that in traditional leadership the focus on the vision and goals, and the idea of external environment having to do with leading the team.  In congruent leadership it is about "the leader's principles and their conviction to act accordingly that inspires followers" (Huston, 2008, p. 909). 

In the year 2020 healthcare is going to look a lot different and this leadership competency is going to be important.  The list of competencies that Huston has identified is: 

1.      A global perspective or mindset regarding healthcare and professional nursing issues.

2.      Technology skills which facilitate mobility and portability of relationships, interactions, and operational processes.

3.      Expert decision-making skills rooted in empirical science.

4.      The ability to create organization cultures that permeate quality healthcare and patient/worker safety.

5.      Understanding and appropriately intervening in political processes.

6.      Highly developed collaborative and team building skills.

7.      The ability to balance authenticity and performance expectations.

8.      Being able to envision and proactively adapt to a healthcare system characterized by rapid change and chaos.

As a supervisor I strive to make sure I am honest/authentic in what I do.  I claim mistakes when I make them, and I don't claim to know things that I don't.  This may not be valued by all leaders but it is something that I value tremendously.  I hope my staff sees that I am authentic and I also hope that I can expect the same from them.

Reference:

Huston, C. (2008). Preparing nurse leaders for 2020. Journal Of Nursing Management, 16(8), 905-911.

 

This weeks blog is about Management by Objectives (MBO).  In MGT 500 I was asked to talk about a company that uses Management by Objectives and how successful was that company.  I chose to write about 2 companies, one was Hewlett-Packard and the others was the Educational Service Center where I work.  There were obvious differences in how each company utilized Management by Objectives, but both companies used it effectively.  So then I started thinking do hospitals and other health care setting use Management by Objectives.  I went on a library search for an article to verify if MBO was used in healthcare and came across an article entitled "Restructuring an Orientation Program for Nurses Utilizing Management by Objectives Principles" written by Judith Crockett in 1978.  I was surprised to see that the article was from that long ago, but then I remembered that Peter Drucker starting talking about this in 1954.  Crockett (1978) identified MBO as "process whereby the superior and the subordinate of an organization jointly identify common goals, define each individuals major areas of responsibility in terms of the results expected of him, and use these measures as guides for operating the unit and assessing the control of each of its members." (p. 19)  In the field of nursing Crockett mentions that objectives should be: (1) accurate in terms of the true end state sought; (2) consistent with your institution policies, nursing procedures, and plans; (3) concise, unambiguous; (4) within the abilities of the nurse to accomplish and/or learn; (5) motivating and challenging. 

After this lecture and readings I started to identify all the ways MBO can be used with companies and also I started to think about if not used correctly it could be detrimental to a company.  For instance where I currently work if we were to used the MBO process inappropriately we would have some serious consequences.  Because the programs that are ran at the Educational Service Center are mainly State or Federally funded there are specific objectives that must be met.  When we are talking to staff about objectives and goals to meet, especially time lines, there are serious consequences to not meeting those objectives or goals.  The biggest consequence is that funding is lost.  If funding is lost we all lose our jobs and the families we serve lose the valuable services that are being provided to them.  I want to focus at my job on using MBO to its maximum effectiveness. 

Reference:
Crockett, J. (1978). Restructuring an orientation program for nurses utilizing management by objectives principles. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 9(2), 19-21. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/915496937?accountid=8483

While completing this weeks assignments I started thinking about strategic planning.  I was not real familiar with the term and wanted to do some research to find out how much it was used in nursing.  I came across an article about implementing healthcare informatics in nursing education, and the authors were talking about strategic planning.  I found it interesting when the authors were talking about the differences between conventional planning and strategic planning.  Sackett, Jones, and Erdley (2009) noted that "Strategic planning takes into account the vision of long range goals for the institution and is an on-going evaluationary process.  Conventional planning tends to be more strictly focused" (p. 100).  I never really thought there was a difference, when you say planning I think that is when you make a plan to do something.  I guess am much more in the mind set of conventional planning.  The article also mentioned that the idea of strategic planning was difficult for healthcare professionals, so maybe that is why I was struggling at first with this concept. 

I have also found a new analysis that I like the SWOT analysis, which is the
S - strengths
W - weaknesses
O - opportunities
T - Threats

This is new to me but I think I may have to start using it with my health team.  It may not be used in the same way that you use it in big organizations, but I think we could adapt it to our small group.  I can forsee using this sort of as an evaluation tool.  They can do their own SWOT analysis on themselves.  They can look at their strengths and weaknesses.  Then they can give some opportunities they might have, like going to trainings or become part of a community group.  The threat will be looked at as what threats do they see that might hinder them from doing their job well.  I know this is not maybe how it was intended to be used, but I really think it would be a good evaluation tool. 

I know my organization performs a Self Evaluation each year, which I associate with a SWOT analysis.  They are looking at strengths, weakness, and ways to improve the programs that are offered.  I take part in this every year, but never put much stock into until now.  I think this year I will try to be much more involved and help with some of the analysis. 

Reference:
Sackett, K., Jones, J., & Erdley, W. S. (2005). Incorporating healthcare informatics into the strategic planning process in nursing education. Nursing Leadership Forum, 9(3), 98-104. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/207441903?accountid=8483

While researching Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) I ran across an article by Smith and Alexander (2013) that talked about the wording companies are using instead of CSR.  I found it interesting when it was talking about Wellness Programs, because I am the Wellness Coordinator at my workplace.  When I thought of CSR I thought of much more grandiose things that companies were doing, not really about Wellness Programs.  Wellness Programs are defined in Smith and Alexander's (2013) article as being "A wellness program is a comprehensive health program designed to maintain a high level of well-being through proper diets, light exercises, stress management, and illness prevention."  (p. 161) 

I believe Wellness Programs are vital to businesses.  Not only are they good for companies to say they have them, but it is good for employee moral.  Last year I put on my first Wellness Escape at my work.  We partnered with the local YMCA to put together some exercise classes, some health and wellness talks, BMI evaluations, and had vendors come to talk about products and services that they offered.  This event was a huge success and the employee requested we do it again this year.  It was a nice day to just get away from the stress of work and have fun. 

As a supervisor I am seeing more and more the need to help my staff have better health and wellness.  When you are feeling good physically and mentally then your work productivity is much better.  I like to have some time with my staff at meetings to just reflect on the things that have been going on with each one of them.  This sometimes becomes a complaining session, but I think it helps free people's minds so they can focus on the new things we are about to talk about.  I do have to monitor this session closely that it does not get too out of hand or off track. 

Wellness Programs are important and should be utilized by all companies.

Reference:

Smith, K., & Alexander, J. J. (2013). Which CSR-Related Headings Do Fortune 500 Companies Use on Their Websites?. Business Communication Quarterly, 76(2), 155-171. doi:10.1177/1080569912471185

  

Ethics what a dilemma.  So this week we are looking at ethics in business in MGT 500, but I want to focus on ethics in nursing.  Though it is argued that nursing is a business, I am looking more at the act of nursing.  As I nurse for the past 14 years I have had my fair share of ethical dilemmas come across my path, especially since I work in the obstetrics and pediatric fields.  I have had people ask me about abortions and experimental treatments that could be done and I always say "I can't make that decision for you."  I feel like making choices that are ethically challenging must be made by the person or people it affects most.  I don't feel that it is my place to tell someone they should have experimental treatments done, that is something they need to decide. 

An article by Ulrich, Taylor, Soeken, O'Donnell, Farrar, Danis, & Grady (2010) talks about the ethical dilemmas that nurses face every day.  The top five issues that nurses noted most were: protecting patient rights, autonomy and informed consent for treatment, staffing patterns, advanced care planning, and surrogate decision making.  All of these issues come up in nursing often, but the one that I find most challenging is the topic of end of life care.  I have had experience with this on both sides of the topic as a nurse and as a family member.  As a nurse I give the information to the family and let them make the decision, but when I had to help decide whether to put my mom in hospice that was one of the worse decisions I ever had to make.  Sometimes knowing too much can be a curse. 

A less severe look at ethics would be taking a look at things like leaving work early when the boss is not around or taking home supplies from work for your own household use.  As a manager I have to trust that those I supervise are ethically and morally able to make good decisions when it comes to things like this.  I am not with my staff all the time because they are housed in different buildings, so I don't know for sure that they come in on time and leave on time.  I have told them many of times that I just have to trust that they are doing the right things, but if I find out that they are not then there will be some changes made to the process we currently have.  Fortunately I have had no issues in the 2 years I have been supervising them and I hope I never do.  I do think it is important to let staff know that you trust them and that they are accountable for their own actions.  This may backfire one day but I am hopeful that it will not.

References:
Ulrich, C., Taylor, C., Soeken, K., O'Donnell, P., Farrar, A., Danis, M., & Grady, C. (2010). Everyday ethics: ethical issues and stress in nursing practice. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 66(11), 2510-2519. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05425.x

While reading Jim Collins book Good to Great I was struck by the idea of passion.  Collins talks about how companies need to have passion, and their employees need to have passion about the company.  It made me start thinking about my passions for what I do and where I work.  I am truly passionate about being a nurse.  There is no other job I would rather do than be a nurse!  I have known since I was young that I wanted to be a nurse, and even though I changed the type of clients I wanted to take care of I still wanted to be a nurse. 

Working now with the Early Childhood population (Head Start, Early Head Start, and Preschools) I have gotten to see other peoples passions.  Working in a hospital you get to see the healthcare passion, but there is a whole other passion in early childhood.  The teachers are passionate about teaching and having the children learn new things.  As the Health Coordinator I am excited to see the kids and families be healthier and make good healthcare choices.  Everyone I work with has a passion for what they are doing, and it is not the money.  The Early Childhood programs don't pay much, but everyone is there because they love what they do. 

An article by Vallerand, Paquet, Philippe, & Charest, (2010) discussed the difference between obsessive passion and harmonious passion.  The suggested that obsessive passion would cause conflict between work and other parts of a persons life.  Where harmonious passion would indicate work satisfaction.  The study showed that it is true, if a person is obsessive about their passion especially at work there may be a conflict between work responsibilities and other life responsibilities, it also leads to more burnout.  Harmonious passion did prove to lead to better work satisfaction, with people being excited to go to work.  I would hope that everyone stays in harmonious passion.

As a supervisor in the early childhood realm I hope that my passion is visible to those I work with and supervise.  I also hope that they are passionate about their work.  We sometimes find people that we say "have quit but are still working" meaning they no longer have passion for the job, it is just a job.  I hope this never happens to me and if it does I hope someone points it out.  I think the best way to stay passionate is to learn new things and take the initiative to keep yourself passionate.  Without passion you will never truly be happy.

Reference:
Collins, J. (2001) Good to Great. HarperCollins Publisher Inc. New York, NY

Vallerand, R., Paquet, Y., Philippe, F., & Charest, J. (2010). On the role of passion for work in burnout: a process model. Journal Of Personality, 78(1), 289-312. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00616.

Personality is defined as the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character.(Google definition)  I recently took a personality assessment, and was not surprised by what it said.  My results showed traits like being altruistic and supportive, rarely siting ideal, going above and beyond, understating achievements, loyalty, commitment, patience, and puts family first.  I would say all of these things describe me fairly well, but what does that mean for my management style?  I am finding that these traits can be both good and bad when you are a supervisor.  Being supportive, going above and beyond, and being committed to work are great qualities to have, but sometimes can get you walked on at work.  I find myself doing tasks that should be delegated because I don't want to upset or put too much work on those I supervise.  This leads to me becoming overwhelmed and anxious.

I read an article by Eley, Elye, Bertello, & Rogers-Clark (2012) that was entitled "Why did I become a nurse?  Personality traits and reasons for entering nursing.  The study was done to see what the reasons were that people got into nursing.  The authors interviewed nurses and nursing students to find out why they chose nursing.  The two main themes that they found were "opportunity for caring" and "my vocation in life" (Eley, 2012, p. 1546).  I feel like these are true statements for myself and most of the nurses I have worked with.  I know I got into nursing because I just knew that is what I wanted to do with my life. 

I think it is important as a supervisor to know the personalities of those you supervise, this can help make your life easier.  I supervise 3 women and all their personalities are different, extremely different.  One is go with the flow and does whatever is asked of her with very little complaint or push back.  One is not as easy going and tends to find reasons why she doesn't think she can do the task asked of her.  And the other is reactive and get upset at any extra work or change that is presented to her.  Knowing the personalities of these 3 have helped me be better at presenting tasks and changes to them.  I know that the first person I can just explain what I need and how it needs to be done and they will do it.  The other 2 I have to be a little more delicate about the way I ask.  This has made a huge difference in how I supervise.  When I started supervising them I thought that everyone would be willing to pitch in and help like I would, but I found out quickly that was not the case.

Working in healthcare and early childhood education I have found many different personalities.  Between trying to figure out the personalities of the staff there is also the parents we work with.  This can be a challenge for everyone, trying to figure out who needs what and how they need to get it. 

I would love to have my staff take the personality assessment and have us talk about it.  I might look at implementing this close to the time of yearly evaluations, that way we can look at strengths and weaknesses and they can help identify some things they need to improve on.  I want to state that my staff is Wonderful and even though dealing with their personalities can be a challenge these women are great people and they are dedicated to their jobs, so I will work around the challenge. 

Reference:

Eley, D., Eley, R., Bertello, M., & Rogers-Clark, C. (2012). Why did I become a nurse? Personality traits and reasons for entering nursing. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 68(7), 1546-1555. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2012.05955.x