What other environmental factors support professional practice?

I like to say that the nurse manager's job is to "provide an environment for professional practice to occur." That includes empowering staff to make decisions in the best interest of patients and about their own work. It includes providing supplies, equipment, and people to help. Most important is providing effective systems and efficient processes for getting the work done as simply and safely as possible. What other environmental factors support professional practice?

2 questions about managers

"The performance of nursing units is highly dependent on the effectiveness of the nursing managers, and effective managers use a broad repertoire of leadership styles to create high-performance work climates… They spent more time creating a vision for the group and gaining buy-in, were more democratic, and tried to maintain harmony through an affiliative style of leadership. At the same time, they were less coercive. They engaged their nurses to perform better by providing them with increased opportunities for meaningful work and for growth and development." What kind of personality characteristics would this type of manager need to have? What are some specific tasks that managers can ... click for more

Leadership Style

As you read the following passage, think about leadership in general. What style of leadership seems to be prevalent in orchestras? Now substitute “physicians and nurses” for “conductor and orchestra.” Remember when nurses talked to physicians this way? Do we still? "The conductor, a magical figure for the audience, enjoys a leadership mystique of significant magnitude…But vanity and tyranny are prevalent in the music world even in these enlightened times, and the picture of orchestral musicians as infantile and submissive, caught between willful conductors, insensitive management, and hypervigilant unions is not as rare as one would hope…Traditionally, all verbal communicati... click for more

See Question in Full Description: Leadership

"Leadership, according to Kraemer, means setting clear values and expectations, focusing on the development of people, setting and communicating a clear direction, motivating people, and having a plan that includes execution, implementation, and measurement. And all of this should take place in an environment that promotes open, respectful dialogue and emphasizes doing the right thing rather than being right." How do you feel about Mr Kraemer's definition of leadership? Did he leave anything out? Which aspect do you think would be the hardest to do?

Cynicism for a nursing leadership and management class

Here is a rather positive interpretation of cynical behavior. I always view cynicism as negative until I read this. Do you think that this quote rings true about us, our colleagues, our staff? "The player who looks least engaged may be the most committed member of the group. A cynic, after all, is a passionate person who does not want to be disappointed again…the secret is not to speak to a person's cynicism, but to speak to her passion." What do you think about that? Did you know that beneath the cynicism we might see in our staff is a passionate person who cares a lot, but just doesn't want to be disappointed at imperfection again? If that is so, how can we change our approach to... click for more