What are the characteristics of a nurse-manager?

All care provider organizations need nurse leaders to oversee staff members. [1] The health care field grows more complex as nurse leaders brace for a mass exodus of retiring registered nurses and an influx of fresh, green talent.

Despite warnings of a health care talent shortage for the last several decades, developing new nurse leaders has been a low priority for current administrations. Today, three factors are of particular concern to nurse leaders: the growing baby boomer population, the increased demand for medical services presented by this group, and the large number of registered nurses who will soon retire.

It’s critical that current nurse leaders groom protégés to fill the void that will be left by their exodus. The lack of preparation to affect this outcome, despite years of warnings, has presented a considerable challenge for health care providers. Now is a difficult time for organizations attempting to develop a pool of qualified nurse leaders.

The retiring nurse cohort represents the biggest challenge for provider organizations who will experience a large influx of inexperienced nursing talent that will eventually comprise half the United States registered nursing pool. These circumstances make the cultivation of new nurse leaders vitally important. As a result, various nursing advocates have formed alliances to develop new leaders. With this in mind, the following nine qualities aid nursing executives in meeting the objective of fostering new leadership talent.

1. Emotional Intelligence

In clinical settings, nurse leaders work closely with trainees to help them develop emotional intelligence. [2] Such support helps peers to cope with the stressors that present during routine challenges. Nurse leaders assist trainees in managing those challenges and other counterproductive influences that can result in emotional exhaustion and poor team collaboration.

2. Integrity

Integrity for one’s self and among charges is a primary objective for nurse leaders. [1] Personal integrity aids nurse practitioners in making the right choices during critical junctures in patients’ treatment plans. Additionally, effective leaders adapt to use, and teach, ethically viable practices that enable fledgling nurse leaders to make safe and effective care decisions intrinsically.

3. Critical Thinking

Nurse leaders guide unpolished practitioners in the use of critical thinking to develop their ability to make decisions based on a complex array of factors. This skill is vital in a health care environment with increasing instances of multidisciplinary collaboration. The growing trend of autonomy for nurses also makes critical thinking a valuable professional skill for practitioners.

4. Dedication to Excellence

Nurse leaders are committed to their passion and purpose and exemplify this through their perseverance in the caregiving setting. [3] To foster this trait among new nurses, leaders may assess performances quarterly. Despite the technique used to improve nurse performance, all nurse leaders teach their charges dedication to excellence by delivering top-notch service so that trainees can learn from their examples.

5. Communication Skills

The current multidisciplinary treatment environment greatly increases the importance of collaboration in the care provider setting. To facilitate collaboration, nurse leaders arrange for trainees to attend rounds while engaging with various medical professionals, such as support staff, primary care providers, and senior executives. Some health care organizations also establish recruitment retention teams, who might engage in these rounds with trainees.

6. Professional Socialization

During training, nurse leaders gain an intense understanding of patient-nurse dynamics. [2] Nurse leaders focus on developing how trainees engage with patients after the triage process. Effective nurse leaders identify opportunities to develop new organizational leaders during this learning process.

7. Respect

Nurse leaders are passionate, dynamic influencers who inspire change in others and, in the process, win the respect and trust of their charges. To accomplish this, leaders teach communication techniques such as two-way communication and rephrasing to promote a workplace environment where stakeholders engage each other in a productive, positive manner. By understanding each other’s circumstances, trainees gain respect for their peers and nurse leaders.

8. Mentorship

Nurse leaders deploy motivational strategies that cater to the individual personalities of their trainees. By empowering trainees and guiding them toward understanding their roles as care providers, nurse leaders cultivate an environment of continual learning. While effective nurse leaders make every effort to identify learning opportunities, they give trainees enough autonomy so that they do not feel micromanaged.

9. Professionalism

Nursing is a dynamic profession that requires competent, confident leadership. As organizational leaders, these professionals represent the nursing field at nearly every professional point of contact within the organization. This will increase in significance as nurse leaders find themselves representing the field in the boardroom more frequently as time moves forward.

Nursing leadership will change hands to a new generation of nursing talent over the next decade. [1] These professionals will play a vital role in liaising between nurses and executive leaders in the evolving health care environment. Therefore, it is critical that nurse leaders start cultivating their replacements now and that the new generation of nurses pursue advanced training, such as Doctor of Nursing Practice accreditation, that will allow them to practice to the full extent of their capabilities.

Learn More

Across the country, a national shortage of primary care providers has set the stage for RNs to advance. As more states certify nurse practitioners as primary care providers, you can pursue a new avenue of nursing to fill meaningful voids in today’s health systems. At Regis, you can earn an online post-master’s certificate to not just prepare for advancement in nursing, but to also expand services as a primary care provider.

Recommended Readings:

5 Resources for Nurse Practitioners for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

The Importance of Health Promotion for Family Nurse Practitioners

Best Practices to Promote Cultural Awareness

Sources:

[1]The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing

[2]The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing – Growing Nurse Leaders

We asked Bob Dent, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, CENP, FACHE, FAAN, president of the American Organization of Nurse Executives, about essential traits of good nurse managers and how they can develop a culture of teamwork.

Dent has been the recipient of several management awards, including Nursing Management’s 2016 Richard Hader Visionary Leader Award, the Texas Organization of Nurse Executives Excellence in Leadership Award and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Distinguished Alumni Award.

Bob Dent, RN

Dent is the senior vice president, chief operating officer and CNO at Midland Health in Midland, Texas. He maintains academic appointments with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

What are the essential traits good nurse managers should possess when developing teamwork skills with their staff?

Developing trusting relationships is critical to effectively leading a team. To establish trust, leaders need to be accessible, honest, confident and respectful.

As an effective nurse manager, learn how to talk and listen to your staff. Without trust, you cannot successfully influence others, lead your team through conflict or manage a crisis.

Like any relationship, it takes time, communication and effort to build trust. Once trust is broken, it causes stress for you and your staff and it takes a lot of time and effort to rebuild. Effective communication is essential to conflict and relationship management — two key skills outlined in the AONE Nurse Manager Competencies.

How do you suggest new nurse managers develop these essential traits within themselves?

To build these trusting relationships, it is important nurse managers are highly visible and accessible to their nursing teams.

I recommend as a good nurse manager you make yourself known to your team. Do not just send emails and memos, but rather talk to your team in person and be fully engaged in the conversation. This helps to ensure they understand what you are saying and shows you are a real person. By taking the time to round with your team, you show them you are there for them and care about their work.

When you cannot be physically visible to your team, it is important you remain accessible. One of the things my hospital created was a department Facebook page visible to only members of the team. It is a great tool to stay in touch while I am traveling. It also is a great way to celebrate milestones like birthdays and team successes.

What do you see as the positives and challenges of developing and improving a teamwork culture?

Changing a culture can be difficult. It requires effective communication, as well as intention, commitment and collaboration from everyone in the organization. Every member of the team must understand the organization’s mission, vision, core values and strategic priorities, but also their own role in achieving them.

As a nurse manager, you set the tone for the unit and create a sense of community. You need to be consistent and support your team in staying focused, despite challenges. Help team members stay engaged and empowered in their work. A positive and healthy workplace environment improves communication and teamwork, which then leads to improved outcomes such as quality, safety, patient satisfaction and nurse satisfaction.

How do nurse managers foster wins and overcome or downplay difficulties?

Creating a shared vision and focusing on meeting that vision helps overcome many challenges. A nurse manager leads by example.

As a good nurse manager, it is important to remain calm and focused, as well as communicative with your team. Foster positive, creative behavior and create a sense of curiosity. If something is not working, challenge the current process and encourage team members to find innovative solutions.

Set people up to ask questions and let them find the answers. In a Culture of Excellence, employees develop the flexibility and resilience to deal with change, challenge and uncertainty.

How does the AONE support nurse managers in developing a teamwork culture, such as resources, programs, etc.?

AONE has educational programming and leadership development resources to help nurse managers find the leader within themselves. The Emerging Nurse Leader Institute teaches transformational leadership behaviors, strategies for maximizing accountability and decision-making and effective communication.

Through the Nurse Manager Institute or more intensive Nurse Manager Fellowship, nurse managers learn relationship management, leadership skills and their role in the future of nursing. AONE’s Dynamic Leadership in Shared Governance course teaches nurse leaders, at all levels, how to build a Culture of Excellence, where nurses have accountability and responsibility for nursing care.

AONE’s annual meeting includes educational programming and networking opportunities for nurse managers. In addition to in-person programming, AONE offers webinars, guiding principles, tool kits and a weekly newsletter to keep nurse leaders updated on happenings and best practices.

A great way to stay connected is through AONE’s Leader2Leader networking site. Here, nurse managers can ask questions and receive answers from nurse leaders everywhere.

What would you say to new nurse managers who are trying to develop their staff’s teamwork skills?

Be confident in yourself and patient with your team. It takes time to create a culture change. Take the time to focus on culture. Be repetitive and really understand your team.

A few years ago, I created “Breakfast with Bob” where I meet with a small group of managers each month for breakfast. Each month, it is a different set of managers. My aim is to meet with all managers in the organization a few times per year informally to hear what is going well and challenges they are having.

I connect the dots with mission, vision, core values, strategic priorities and our culture as we visit. I let them know I do not expect them to be an expert right away. Research shows it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert. We talk about developing and applying skills and learning from mistakes. My managers feel liberated.

My other advice is do not expect perfection. Do not be afraid to ask for help. No one can do everything alone. Ask yourself, what can someone do to help me? Finally, identify and use a mentor.

Courses related to ‘successful leadership’

60106: Developing Your Leadership Potential
(6.80 contact hrs)
As the largest healthcare profession in the U.S. and the profession positioned on the front line of patient care, nurses are crucial for leading change and advancing health. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute of Medicine made recommendations to transform the nursing profession in their report, “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.” A key message from the report is the recommendation that nurses be full partners together with physicians and other healthcare professionals in redesigning the country’s healthcare system. This activity will provide practical strategies to help you develop your personal plan for developing your leadership potential regardless of your chosen career path.

CE112-60: Surviving and Thriving with Conflict on the Job
(1 contact hr)
Conflict is part of every work environment, including healthcare organizations. In the past, conflict in the workplace was regarded as dysfunctional, representing a breakdown in communication that would either go away by itself or be resolved with someone winning and someone losing. Conflict should be an expectation in a dynamic organizational environment that when handled correctly, can be managed in order to achieve beneficial outcomes. Conflict can be a motivator for change and growth, a medium for airing problems, and a dynamic force to prevent stagnation. Conflict resolution is considered a necessary element in a healthy work environment and requires good communication and leadership skills to successfully navigate workplace conflict.

CE622: Succession Planning in Nursing
(1 contact hr)
To ensure a pool of qualified internal candidates, succession planning is a necessary business strategy. Succession planning encompasses the focused, formal assessment and development of individuals for future positions in leadership. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists registered nursing as the occupation with the highest probability of job growth through 2022 with a probable growth increase from 2.71 million in 2012 to 3.4 million in 2022. There will be a need for 525,000 replacement nurses due to those leaving the workforce. When coupled with the total projected growth, 2022 promises to demonstrate a shortage of 1.05 million registered nurses. According to a 2013 survey, 55% of the nursing workforce is 50 years of age or older. With baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) moving into retirement, healthcare facilities need to hire and retain qualified leadership personnel in a competitive market.

Prepare for the CNML exam with the Nurse Manager and Leader Certification Review Course.

Nurse.com offers a fully online self-paced prep course.