Nurse managers are also called directors of nursing, hospital administrators, and directors of patient care. The responsibilities of a nurse manager can include everything from scheduling to managing finances and managing staff.
The qualities that make up the most successful nurse managers are ones that demand interpersonal skills.
It takes courage, empathy, loyalty, integrity, and optimism to be considered one of the best nurses in the business; qualities like these will definitely trickle down into every aspect of your life no matter what you do or where you go.
How To Be a Great Nurse Manager
Even though most hospitals are structured to follow standard operating procedures, there are still some unstructured situations that can take place which should be avoided or carefully dealt with. For example, if you have an unstructured shift, this can create issues with your nurses. They may feel threatened by your leadership and will not want to work under you.
What You Should Do
1. Build Relationships
A great nurse manager is able to build relationships with the nurses working for them and is able to build a strong trust between themselves and their staff.
They do this by leading by example and from the top of the corporation; by making sure that everybody follows the rules.
2. Employ Great Administrators
If there’s one thing that makes a huge difference to a well-organized hospital or healthcare setting, it’s a great nursing administration team. The nurse manager is the head of all nursing administrators, so they must demonstrate this leadership through consistency, communication, trust, and integrity.
Taking the time to spot potential is a great little piece of advice from one of the foremost nurse leaders in America.
Nurse managers should be able to read people’s personalities and hire accordingly. In other words: hire smart people who know how to follow rules – a characteristic shared by most good employees.
3. Develop Organization
All organizations should adhere to standard operating procedures and a clear organizational structure. This is especially relevant if the establishment houses hundreds of workers on a daily basis.
The structure could be in the form of a pyramid hierarchy with layers upon layers of head nurses, assistant nurses, and nurse practitioners.
If managed well, this will make the job of tracking down crucial patients and monitoring progress around-the-clock a breeze.
4. Collaborate with Others
A nurse manager should be able to work with others in order to make the going easier.
This can include collaborating with other nurses or administrators, working alongside public health professionals and surgeons, and collaborating with the doctors and nurses at their practices.
5. Communicate Effectively
A great nurse manager needs to be good at communicating. This means that they are able to clearly explain the details of their organization and how it will benefit patients.
It can also mean giving a full and proper explanation of the standards that are expected to be practiced by the nurses under them.
6. Know Your Limits
A nurse manager needs to know their own limits and not overwork themselves.
This means being able to recognize when they need time off and taking that time off in order to get some rest and keep positive energy flowing within their department.