FAST TIPS Work on Weekends program results in … in happier nurses It is no secret that medical facili-ties across the country are strug-gling with a shortage of nursing staff as

hospital hires WOW nurses spe-cifically to work Friday, Saturday,and Sunday or Saturday, Sunday,and Monday.

Each shift is 12 hours, and thenurses receive full-time pay. Thenumber of nurses who participatein the program fluctuates, depend-ing on the needs of each depart-ment. On average, however,

Work on Weekends programresults in happier nurses

It is no secret that medical facili-ties across the country are strug-gling with a shortage of nursingstaff as well as with overworkednurses. Hospitals across the UnitedStates are working to implementcreative programs and solutions tohelp fight this shortage.

Tulane University Hospital andClinic in New Orleans uses a nursestaffing model that its managementbelieves will help with retentionand recruitment as well as im-proving patient safety.

Instead of having nurses workalternating weekends to fill shifts,the hospital has a core group ofnurses who are hired to workonly weekends, according to KimWilkerson, RN, the hospital’snurse recruiter.

Some of the “traditional” nursesmust also work some weekends,but the majority of slots are staffedthrough the Work on Weekends(WOW) program. The result aresteady core weekend staff with few-er absences. Therefore, this programprovides Tulane’s patients withmore consistent nursing care onthe weekends.

Under this design, a predeter-mined portion of Tulane’s nursingstaff work every weekend. The

Be a more effective manager—leave your office!Ringing phones and stacks ofpaperwork trap you in youroffice for what seems like aneternity. Key to a nurse manag-er’s job, however, is interactingwith your nurses. Follow thesetips to step away from yourdesk and spend time on yourunit:

• Make the rounds in yourfacility. Talk to patients, phy-sicians, and nurses; they willappreciate your interest. Afterall, they have wondered howyou know about operationswhen you are at your deskfor a good part of the day.

• Keep a close watch for po-tential problems. As youspeak with staff, you willfind that you can identifypossible issues with greaterease from this vantage point.Use all senses and utilizedata to improve systems.

• Find a way to observe allshifts. Even though you’recompletely booked, maketime to experience the differ-ent atmosphere of variedshifts. Save work for eveninghours to free you for a dayshift and vice versa.

Adapted from: The Nurse Man-ager’s Answer Book, pp. 22–23.Hansten, Washburn, ©1994 byAspen Publishers, Inc., www.aspenpublishers.com.

Beating the nurse shortage

INSIDE . . .

Manage seasonal stress . . . . . . . . . 3

Battling bioterrorism. . . . . . . . . . .4

RN-patient ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Solving the staffing crunch . . . . . 8

New patient safety standards. . . . 10

“Newbies”: tips fromyour peers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Get a copy of Strategies for

Nurse Managers for each

of the nurse managers in

your facility at a discounted

price! Call Dell Bobier

toll-free at 866/GO-HCPRO

(866/464-2776)

to find out how.

Vol. 1 No. 7December 2001

FAST TIPS

> p. 2

Page 2 Strategies for Nurse Managers—December 2001© 2001 Opus Communications, a division of HCPro

www.accreditinfo.com

each unit has six WOW slots to fill.

Instead of a night or weekend differential, Tulanepays the WOW nurses a flat rate for either days ornights. This pay actually works out to be slightlymore than the traditional nursing staff receives,Wilkerson says.

Program offers flexibility“A lot of nurses are going to school, and this allowsthem to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, andthey have the rest of the time for classes,” saysWilkerson.

Allowing nurses the option of a flexible schedule is also a good recruitment tool, particularly in thecompetitive New Orleans health care market. Creat-ing time for additional educational opportunities iskey in this region, where colleges are almost asplentiful as hospitals.

Having a program like this one makes it easier toattract and retain nurses, particularly those lookingfor flexible hours to spend not only in school, butwith their families. Other hospitals in the area andelsewhere have similar programs in place.

Improved patient safetyWilkerson believes that this system makes for a

Work on Weekends < p. 1

Beating the nurse shortage

safer environment for patients because weekendcoverage is better. Tulane has found that WOWnurses are less likely to call in sick than a traditionalnurse who doesn’t want to work weekends.

“You’re not going to have a WOW nurse call in[sick] . . . so your chances of being short-staffed onweekends are lessened,” she says. “You have otherRNs on the weekend, but the WOW nurses are yourcore group. You’re really using them to build.”

Financial savings keyIn terms of patient safety, retention, and recruitment,this program is cost-effective. It is also cheaper thanhiring an agency nurse to cover a shift. The old sys-tem may have been less costly in dollar terms, saysWilkerson, but only “if everyone showed up forwork, no one called in, and we always had fullstaffing.”

Wilkerson says you have to sell WOW to the peoplewho may want to take part in the program, as wellas to the traditional nurses. For the WOW candi-dates, the big selling points are set workdays andmore flexible schedules. But the traditional nursingstaff also benefit from WOW. They will work fewerweekends.

Source: Briefings on Patient Safety, Opus Commu-nications, www.hcmarketplace.com.

The American Nephrology Nurses’ Association(ANNA) is sponsoring a Management/Advanced

Practice Seminar to be held in San Diego January 10–13, 2002.

Please contact the ANNA National Office at856/256-2320 or [email protected]

for more information.

Save the date!

Happy holidays!

‘Tis the season for giving. So, don’t

miss our gift to you. Healthcare Terms

for the New Millennium is enclosed

with this issue of Strategies.

Page 3Strategies for Nurse Managers—December 2001 © 2001 Opus Communications, a division of HCPro


Boosting morale

Halloween candy gives wayto Thanksgiving turkeys

that usher in Christmastrees and Chanukahmenorahs. New Year’sfalls shortly after andmarks the close of

the busiest and mostchallenging time of the

year—October 31 to January 2.

While the holiday season is a time to celebrate andrejoice, many find themselves seriously stressed and,at times, depressed during this three-month period.Throughout the holiday season, consider what youcan do to lessen the pressure at work and to makethe holidays more enjoyable for your nurses.

Form a holiday committee to organize any seasonalactivities. Let the nurses on your unit create their owndecorating theme and have the committee overseethe theme and budget.

When decorating, include the reception area seen bypatients, as well as hallways, the unit station, and thebreak room. During December, be sensitive to all

faiths and holidays.

How do you usually throw your holiday party? Trysomething different to liven up the season. If youusually celebrate on the unit, move the party else-where this year—perhaps to a nice neighborhoodrestaurant. Who typically attends the festivities? Ifonly nurses usually attend, consider inviting theirfamily members as well this season.

To add festivity to your unit, allow nurses to wearholiday garb to work—a bright reindeer pin or a fluffy Santa’s hat may bring a smile to manyfaces.

Always remember that the holidays affect everyonedifferently. Some nurses will feel sad and alone,while other will be joyful but busy and over-stressed.

Try to make the holidays easier and more fun forall individuals and simultaneously increase yourunit’s productivity during this busy time of year.

Adapted from: Ann Fry, the “dean of fun,” forHumor University, an Austin, TX–based humortraining and consulting firm, www.humoru.com.

Soften seasonal stress with holiday cheer

Legal matters

Make sure that you and your nurses areindividually accountable

A good number of state nursing boards have updatedtheir rules and regulations, especially in the area of del-egation. Have you taken the time to review your statenursing practice act over the course of the past year?

If not, there’s no way to be completely sure that yourscope of practice hasn’t changed.

Put aside some time to ensure that you are delegatingin accordance with the laws and rules. Review statepractice acts online through the National Council ofState Board of Nursing’s Web site at: www.ncsbn.org.

Source: Legal Tip of the Week, Health Resources Un-limited ©2001 Shelley Cohen, RN, BS, CEN, www.hru.net.



can go to the policy. They need something theycan use in the heat of the moment.”

Staff members ask patients whether they were indirect contact with an unknownsubstance and whether theyhave any of the material onthem. Those types of questionsprovide employees with anidea of the threat, Saul says.

Nurses in Massachusetts’ Bay-state Health’s emergency de-partment dealt firsthand withan anthrax scare in October.Trained for this type of event,nurses wore face shields, water-

proof gowns, latex gloves, and N-95 respirators,explains Murray. Employees evacuated the waitingroom, but did not shut down the ventilation system.

“There was no visible [powder] contamination,”says Murray. “If there had been, we might havegone up one extra step and shut down the vent-ilation.” Test results of potentially hazardous mat-erials brought in by the concerned patient werenegative for anthrax.

While it remains to be seen what regulatory effectthe bioterrorism scares have on hospitals, Murraythinks the Joint Commission on Accreditation ofHealthcare Organizations will now have great in-terest in disaster planning.

“I suspect when the Joint Commission shows upon our doorstep next May or June, it will be askedof us, ‘What were you doing last October?’ ” hesays.

Adapted from: Briefings on Hospital Safety,Opus Communications, www.hcmarketplace.com.

Management skills

Preparation and information vital to battling bioterrorism

In recent times, nurses and nurse managers, alongwith other health care professionals, have acquiredan added responsibility—dealing with the threat ofbioterrorism.

Information is key when han-dling an actual case of bioter-rorism at your facility, or ascare that nonetheless testsyour resources. You must bal-ance employees’ anxiety withappropriate preparation whilealso avoiding panic.

That’s not an easy thing to dothese days, says John MurrayJr., CHMM, CSP, CIH, safetydirector at Baystate Health System in Springfield,MA.

“Everyone is really wired about it,” says Murray,whose hospital has dealt with numerous anthraxscares since the original cases in Florida first un-folded in October.

Tensions have grown throughout the health careindustry since a supply room worker at ManhattanEye, Ear, and Throat Hospital succumbed to in-halation anthrax on October 31. The infection hasprompted public health officials to offer antibioticsto thousands of coworkers, patients, and visitorsto the facility. Facilities across the country are tak-ing note.

At Grant/Riverside Methodist Hospitals in Colum-bus, OH, staff members get fact sheets on bioter-rorism agents, and frontline workers receive boileddown disaster plan policies, says Brian Saul, di-rector of safety management services.

“Some people have 20-page policies. [Instead],make them simple,” Saul says. “Have a one-pageflowchart. If [employees] need more detail, they

Some people have 20-pagepolicies. [Instead], make them simple. Have a one-page flowchart.If [employees] need more detail,they can go to the policy.

—Brian Saul, director of safety management services

“ “



In the spirit

Let workplace humor carry you through the day

During the course of a hectic workday, tensionoften rises and tempers may flare. With the normalups and downs of the job, employees as well assupervisors can become stressed, irritable, and justplain unpleasant to be around. Add humor to yourwork environment to boost morale and lighten thespirit.

• Have “negative” people fund a positive party.Every time a nurse is caught complaining or beingnegative, have him or her contribute a dollar to the“Positive Pot.” Once you’ve collected the money,the pot buys pizza and sodas for the nursing crew.

• Add fun props to your environment. Positionupbeat humor props in out-of-the-way spots aroundthe nursing station. Stick a red clown nose on yourfax machine or set “Groucho” glasses on yourunit’s plant.

• Institute a “No-whine zone.” Hang signs in cer-tain areas at work that state “No-whine zone.”

When someone is heard complaining in theseareas, politely tell him or her that whining isstrictly prohibited in the “No-whine zone.”

• Create a “humor survival kit.” Assemble ahumor kit full of favorite jokes, cassettes, stories,and funny props. Place the kit on your unit fornurses to use when they need a lighthearted dis-traction from the workday.

• Complain to yourself instead of others. Leavemessages on your home answering machine whenthe stress of your day become too much to han-dle. “Hi Sara, this is Sara! What a terrible day! Iwas just yelled at by an anxious patient for ‘neg-lecting him,’ and haven’t even been able to eatlunch yet today. I hope the rest of the day goessmoothly!”

Adapted from: Using humor for a change: 101Clever Ideas to ‘Lighten Up’ the Workload, ©1998Scott Friedman, CSP, www.funnyscott.com.

Recruitment

Remotely located in the California desert, Hi-DesertMedical Center in Joshua Tree is attracting a surpris-ing number of new graduates, as well as experi-enced nurses from as far away as Georgia.

What’s the RN magnet? A reduction in RN-to-patientratio on the medical/surgical unit from approximate-ly 1:7 to 1:4 on the day shift and from almost 1:8 to1:5 on the second shift.

Although the hospital began the 2000–2001 fiscalyear with a 50% vacancy rate, current vacancy fig-ures are less than 1%. In addition to the obviousrecruitment benefit, nurses are also leaving workhappy and have a renewed feeling of interest and

Decreased RN-to-patient ratio attracts nurses

pride in their work, says Hi-Desert chief nurse exec-utive Martie Avels, RN, BSN, CPHQ.

Adapted from: COR Healthcare Staffing Trend Watch,issue 25, www.corhealth.com.

Tell Strategies how you did it!Do you want to share a story or a tip with yourfellow nurse managers? Tell us how you solved aproblem or handled an issue in your facility. Ifyour tip or story is published, you will be enteredinto a drawing for a $50 prize. E-mail EditorialAssistant Debbie Blumberg at [email protected] or call 781/639-1872, ext. 3425.



If you were at fault, work to change your behaviorto prevent future conflict. If you believe your treat-ment to be justified, sit with your nurse and explainwhy you acted as you did.

Finally, if you are still not sure what caused the com-plaint, ask for feedback from your nurses to

help determine the source of the problem.

Remember to be calm when askingfor your nurses’ perceptions. Listenand do not argue or try to defendyourself. You want clarification andopinions, and you will get the mostopen responses if you make yourself

open to hearing them. After listeningto your staff, reevaluate the situation to

determine whether you need to changeyour behavior.

Adapted from: Susan Gebelein, executive vice presi-dent for Personnel Decisions International Corp.(PDI), May 29, 2001.

Case study

Productivity

Problem: You arrive at work Monday morning to hearthat one of the nurses on your unit has complainedthat you treated her unfairly. Unaware that a problemexisted, you now must decide how to proceed.

Solution: As a nurse manager, you lead and interactwith your nurses to improve patient care. Thenurses who you manage are unique indi-viduals who represent a great varietyof personalities and opinions. Youshould not be surprised, therefore,to see conflict arise on your unit.

When you first learn of a complaint,says Susan Gebelein, executive vicepresident of Personnel Decisions In-ternational, curb your initial desire toconfront the individual, or your nursingstaff as a whole. Instead, take the time to con-sider the criticism and the cause behind it.

After working to comprehend the situation, proceedin one of three ways, depending on the circumstance.

How to conquer staff complaints with an open mind

When you first learn of a complaint,

curb your initial desire to confront the individual,

or your nursing staff as a whole.

Tracking time interrupters

Do you find yourself constantly interrupted through-out the course of your workday? During a given day,the average person has 50 interruptions. If each in-terruption lasts about five minutes, that means youspend an amazing four hours of your day dealingwith disruptions. Although many distractions relateto your job, others merely waste time.

To reduce wasteful interruptions, consider keepingan interruptions log. Grab a pen and paper and di-vide the paper into six columns: date, time, who,what, length, and rating. After dealing with each sit-uation, fill in the chart with the day, time, and theperson you spoke with, specify the problem and its

duration, and rate the interaction in importanceaccording to the following categories: A=crucial,B=important, C=little value, and D=no value.

Keep this log for a week or so to better understandthe interruptions in your life. Then identify and makea conscious effort to end the C and D interruptions.

You will soon find yourself with a considerableamount of time to use more productively!

Adapted from: 2001 Donald E. Wetmore, PhD,Professional speaker, Productivity Institute, www.balancetime.com.



Understand job (dis)satisfaction factors and retainyour nurses

Today’s nursing shortage breeds stressful workingconditions and hospital incentives designed to lurenurses away from other facilities. In this time of highemployee turnover, you need to have a deep under-standing of how to retain valuable nurses. Considerthese five reasons people leave their jobs and usethem to help preserve your team of nurses:

1. Things don’t feel right around here. Employ-ees are aware of the physical conditions of the work-place—safety, comfort, and convenience. People wantto work in settings that make them happy, fulfilled,and where they can enjoy their coworkers.

2. No one would miss me if I left. Although mostleaders do value their employees, few tell them oftenenough. No worker wants to stay if he or she doesnot feel important. If nurses feel under-appreciated,they may leave for a facility where they feel morevalued. In today’s competitive market, nurses don’thave to put forth much effort to find a new position;recruiters will come to them.

3. I don’t get the support that I need to do myjob. Employees genuinely want to perform well onthe job. When roadblocks such as inept coworkersand excessive rules irritate them, nurses may consid-er looking elsewhere. Be sure to give your employ-ees the tools to get the job done and the space toexcel.

4. I have no opportunity here for advancement.Professionals want to learn, broaden their skills, andacquire new ones. They desire training, development,and growth. If workers see no growth potential onthe job, they will seek out another facility wherethey have more opportunities.

5. I don’t make enough money—the last reasonthat people will leave. Though contrary to com-mon belief, employees are more concerned with the

Retention

first four workplace factors. If money is high andsatisfaction low, one may hear, “you can’t pay meenough to stay here!” Nonetheless, compensation isstill a factor. Increasing nurses’ pay may encouragesome to stay.

A final vital factor to employee retention is the em-ployee-supervisor relationship. Research indicatesthat another compelling reason that workers leavetheir jobs relates to the behavior and performance oftheir boss. To keep valued employees, supervisorsmust be actively aware of and sensitive to how theytreat their nurses.

Adapted from: Roger E. Herman, The HermanGroup, Greensboro, NC. 800/227-3566 or www.hermangroup.com.

Apply now!The Robert Wood Johnson Executive NurseFellows Program is an advanced leadership pro-gram for nurses in senior executive roles in publichealth, health services, and nursing education.

The fellowships are intended to offer participatingnurses the experiences, insights, competencies, andskills necessary to achieve or advance in executiveleadership positions in a health care system under-going unprecedented change. The three-year fel-lowships are designed for Fellows to remain intheir current positions. Each fellow is awarded a$15,000 leadership account to support self-selectedlearning activities, independent study, and accessto an electronic communications network. Theapplication for the 2002 RWJ Executive Nurse Fel-lows Program is due February 1, 2002.

For more information see http://futurehealth.ucsf.edu/rwj.html.



Solving the staffing crunch

New nursing contract aspires to improve the work environment

Intolerable working conditions, such as mandatoryovertime and exhausting double shifts, have made hir-ing and retention almost impossible. Sound familiar?

In an effort to address this difficult situation, nursesat Staten Island University Hospital have approved a new three-year contract that aims to improve thenursing environment. Officials blamed an unbearablework setting for the hospital’s failure to hire evenone nurse over the course of the last three months,but nurses are now hopeful.

Staten Island’s 840 registered nurses (RNs) no longerhave to work overtime, according to the new con-tract, except during severe weather conditions anddisasters, thanks to the New York State Nurses Asso-ciation (NYSNA). After February 1, 2002, hospitalswill no longer force nurses to work tiring doubleshifts, and third-party arbitration will maintain safeRN-to-patient staffing.

The new contract also attempts to improve the con-ditions that have caused veteran nurses to leave andprevented new graduates from applying. These pro-visions include the following:

• The RNs’ base salary will increase by 16% and

they will receive additional increases in pay forearning certifications and longevity.

• To keep more experienced RNs, the hospital willprovide them up to $4,000 per year to pay forhealth care coverage after retirement. Part-timeRNs who work more days than they are initiallyhired for will receive bonus pay.

• To be exempt from rotating from day to nightshifts, an RN must now work five years instead ofseven. Also, the contract has eliminated the hospi-tal’s requirement that experienced RNs who trans-fer to new units lose this exemption for a year.

• Finally, RNs working in home care will no longerhave to work through an extensive amount ofpaperwork on their own time; they will now re-ceive 7.5 hours per week for such tasks.

According to NYSNA Labor representative ElaineCharpentier, hospital administration has indicatedfor months its desire to become a leading employerfor RNs. The new contract is definitely a step in theright direction, she says.

Adapted from: “Staten Island University Hospital Nurs-es Approve New Contract,” www.nurses.com.

Illustration by Dave HarbaughTalk, talk, talk . . .

Ever wish for a way to converse withfellow nurse managers? Your chance is now here!NurseManager Talk is a newly established talkgroup designed to provide Strategies for NurseManagers newsletter subscribers with a forum tonetwork, share ideas, and solve problems. To sub-scribe send an e-mail to [email protected]. Please note in the body of your mes-sage that you want to subscribe to NurseManagerTalk.

“Well, we can have a therapist regress you with hypnotism to a time when nurses only worked eight-hour shifts. But only for five minutes.”



Slow down your morningsWhile you may have trouble tearing yourself frombed at first, try to give yourself an extra 10 minutesof unscheduled morning time. Occasionally, yourmorning routine will take longer than expected. Youshould be prepared. Do not answer the phone or gettrapped into talking with a chatty neighbor unlessabsolutely necessary.

Keep focused to avoid distractionsAs you rush out the door, avoid predeparture tasks thattake “just one sec.” Chores such as emptying the trashor re-loading the dishwasher eat considerable chunksof your time and will make you late. If you must leaveby 8 a.m., walk out the front door at 8 a.m.

Adapted from: Odette Pollar, president of Smart Ways toWork in Oakland, CA, www.smartwaystowork.com.

Time management

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Your hand reaches out to hit your blaring alarmclock, already on its third snooze. You jump out ofbed rushing to get ready and almost always forget tobring your lunch. To more smoothly manage yourmornings, follow these early planning suggestions:

Plan at nightAlthough you may be worn out from a full day ofwork, make an effort before bed to organize yourselffor the following day. Arrange all items that you willtake to work in the same place each day. If you livewith a partner, decide on responsibilities in the even-ings when times are less hectic.

Establish a routine for who does what in the mornings;perhaps you can dress the children while your partnerprepares breakfast. Check your calendar at night for thenext day’s activities and peek into the fridge to considerthe following day’s dinner.

Start your day right!

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your questions in a broad manner. For example, askhow it happened that a physician operated on thewrong body part.

Focus on what your facility did as a system to en-hance the likelihood of failure and how you canchange that. If you get down to the root cause, youcan find things to fix. You perform the RCA as ateam to ensure a balanced approach. One personmay overreact, but not the entire team.

Adapted from: Briefings on JCAHO, Opus Commu-nications, www.hcmarketplace.com.

JCAHO requirements

Heading into the fifth month of compliance withthe Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health-care Organizations’ (JCAHO) new patient safetystandards, many hospitals still find themselvesadapting to the new rules.

Questions continue to arise on the nuances of ef-fecting a culture change, disclosing medical errorinformation to patients, and performing proactiverisk assessments.

Review the following suggestions from a question-and-answer audio conference about patient safety.A panel of patient safety experts offers tips on stan-dard compliance.

Q: We need more information about how todefine what kinds of errors are appropriate todisclose to patients. For example, if a patientreceives his or her medication 30 minutes late,do we disclose that information?

A: You definitely want to relay unanticipated out-comes, such as something that may not cause seri-ous harm to the patient but may result in somechange in his or her treatment plan.

To implement a usable policy for staff, you need todefine what items staff should and should not dis-close. Certainly you don’t need to disclose some-thing like late medications, but you should tellpatients about unexpected outcomes that are theresults of an error.

Q: How do you prevent changing entire sys-tems due to one incident? In other words, howdo we prevent staff from overreacting?

A: The first step is to make sure your facility or-ganizes a team to perform a root-cause analysis(RCA) to get to the underlying factors. Approach

Struggling with issues surrounding JCAHO’s new patient safety standards? We have answers!

Hot tip of the month

Looking for ways to reward employeeswithout busting your budget? Try taking

an interest in their professional development.

When one of your nurses makes an especiallypositive contribution to the unit, promptly letthe nurse know that his or her work is valued.

Pay the nurse’s membership dues for a certainprofessional organization, such as the AmericanNursing Association, or cover the fees for a sub-scription to a particular nursing magazine orpublication.

The next time an issue arises in which the nursehas shown interest, give him or her a leadingrole in the analysis, discussion, and develop-ment of solutions.

Adapted from: 1001 Ways to Reward Employ-ees (Workman), ©2001 Bob Nelson, PhD,www.nelson-motivation.com.



care of your patient.

The general rule of thumb: If someone in your facili-ty asks for information about a patient’s case, ask whyit’s needed and disclose only the minimum necessa-ry for the person to do his or her job.

Adapted from: HIPAA Compliance for PhysicianPractices: Changing how we work in the privacyera, Opus Communications, www.hcmarketplace.com.

April 2003 marks the starting date for the enforcementof the Health Insurance Portability and AccountabilityAct of 1996 (HIPAA) privacy regulations. Facilitiesand their employees could face fines, or even jailtime, for violation of these rules.

Nurse managers and nurses who are directly involvedin a patient’s care have access to private medical in-formation. You must be careful, however, about whatyou disclose to other staff members, such as billingdepartment workers or providers not involved in the

Federal regulations

Don’t become a poster child for privacy reg

Sources in this issue

Aspen Publishers, Inc. (p. 1)The Nurse Manager’s Answer BookTelephone: 301/417-7500Web site: www.aspenpublishers.com

Cohen, Shelley, RN, BS, CEN (p. 3)Health Resources UnlimitedTelephone: 888/654-3363E-mail: [email protected] site: www.hru.net

COR Healthcare Staffing TrendWatch (p. 5)COR HealthTelephone: 805/564-2177Web site: www.corhealth.com

Friedman, Scott CSP (p. 5)Denver, CO Telephone: 303/671-7222E-mail: [email protected] site: www.funnyscott.com

Fry, Ann (p. 3)Humor UniversityAustin, TX

Telephone: 512/472-1855E-mail: [email protected] site: www.humoru.com

Gebelein, Susan (p. 6)Personnel Decisions International Corp.Telephone: 800/633-4410Web site: www.personneldecisions.com

Herman, Roger E. (p. 7)The Herman GroupGreensboro, NCTelephone: 800/227-3566Web site: www.hermangroup.com

Nelson, Bob (p. 10)1001 Ways to Reward EmployeesManaging for DummiesTelephone: 800/575-5521Web site: www.nelson-motivation.com

Nurses—a VerticalNet® Marketplacefor Industry Professionals (p. 8)E-mail: [email protected] site: www.nurses.com

Nursing Spectrum, Inc. (p. 12)2353 Hassell Road Suite 110Hoffman Estates, IL 60195Web site: www.nursingspectrum.com

Opus Communications (pp. 1, 2,10, 11)Briefings on Patient SafetyHIPAA Compliance for Physi-cian PracticesBriefings on JCAHOTelephone: 800/650-6787Web site: www.hcmarketplace.com

Pollar, Odette (p. 9)365 Ways to Simplify Your Work LifeSmart Ways to WorkE-mail: [email protected] site: www.smartwaystowork.com

Wetmore, Donald E. PhD (p. 6)Productivity InstituteTelephone: 800/969-3773E-mail: [email protected] site: www.balancetime.com



should be based on the needs of the unit and, whereyou can, incorporate staff wishes. The bottom line—treat all staff fairly.”

When faced with a problem, Reinette Schneider,RNC, from Ijamsville, MD, advised,

“Be fair. Investigate both sides of [a] concern beforeacting.” Shari Froelich, RN, MSN, MSBA, director,Hospice of St. Mary’s, stressed the importance of staffinput, especially when a difficult decision is at hand.

Probably one of the toughest decisions a manager everhas to make is when to terminate an employee. DennisJones, RN, MS, in Baltimore, said, “Never get used toterminating an employee. If you have to terminatesomeone, always have a third person present and doall you can to preserve the employee’s dignity.”

Adapted from: Nursing Spectrum, www.nursingspectrum.com.

Strategies for Nurse Managers

Editorial Advisory Board

Shelley Cohen, RN, BS, CENPresident of Heath Resources UnlimitedSpringfield, TN

Sue FitzsimonsSenior Vice PresidentPatient ServicesYale-New Haven HospitalNew Haven, CT

Jorie MonkVice President and Chief Nursing OfficerProvidence HospitalColumbia, SC

David MoonExecutive Vice PresidentModern Management Inc.Lake Bluff, IL

Bob Nelson, PhDPresident, Nelson Motivation Inc. San Diego, CA

Carole SiegfriedVice President, NursingKing’s Daughter Medical CenterAshland, KY

Strategies for Nurse Managers (ISSN 1535-847X) is published monthly by Opus Communications, Inc., a division of HCPro, 200 Hoods Lane, Marblehead, MA 01945. Subscription rate:$149 per year. • Postmaster: Send address changes to Strategies for Nurse Managers, P.O. Box 1168, Marblehead, MA 01945. • Copyright 2001 Opus Communications, Inc., a division ofHCPro. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. Except where specifically encouraged, no part of this publication may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, without prior written consent ofOpus Communications or the Copyright Clearance Center at 978/750-8400. Please notify us immediately if you have received an unauthorized copy. • For editorial comments or questions, call781/639-1872 or fax 781/639-2982. For renewal or subscription information, call customer service at 800/650-6787, fax 800/639-8511, or e-mail: [email protected]. • Visitour Web site at www.hcpro.com. • Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to selected companies/vendors. If you do not wish to be included on this mailing list, please write to theMarketing Department at the address above. • Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Strategies for Nurse Managers. Mention of products and services does not constitute endorse-ment. Advice given is general, and readers should consult professional counsel for specific legal, ethical, or clinical questions.

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Advice from your peers to start out right

Part three in a five-part series

Editor’s note: In a recent survey, nurse managersresponded to the question, “What advice would yougive a new nurse manager?” The following articlereveals some of the responses. See the October andNovember issues of Strategies for the first two articlesin this series.

By Cynthia Saver, RN, corporate editorial/pro-duction director for Nursing Spectrum.

Make the tough decisionsIt can be tough making the jump from staff nurse to manager. People who were your peers are nowyour subordinates.

One respondent advised, “Realize that you havemoved up the ladder, and friendship should be putaside when you handle scheduling [or any othermanagement function] for your unit. Scheduling

New nurse managers

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