Nurse Unit Managers are nurse leaders that engage in overseeing different aspects that concern operations within a healthcare facility. The primary role of the nurse unit manager entails supervising nursing units within a healthcare institution to ensure that the nursing staff work towards the provision of quality care to the patients. In a bid to capitalize on efficiency on the defined roles, the unit managers require to have adequate clinical experiences and insufficient communication and leadership skills. The following interview will engage a nurse unit manager of the Emergency Department at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. The meeting will comprise of different questions that will help in understanding factors concerning the department and the operations undertaken during the provision of care to the patients.
Please describe the nursing and inter-professional teams that operate in this facility/on this unit.
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The emergency unit in Lenox Hill Hospital comprises of different professionals that work together towards the provision of emergency care services to patients with various medical needs. The professionals present in the emergency unit include emergency room nurses, physicians, emergency doctors, lab technician, and the emergency room technicians. Considering that the emergency department engages in the provision of care in emergency cases, it is necessary to capitalize on interprofessional collaboration. Interprofessional collaboration helps in ensuring that all operations undertaken within the emergency unit are efficient and effective in a bid to save the lives of patients. As a unit manager in the emergency unit, the central role entails enhancing interprofessional collaboration among the professionals and ensure that each understands their role in the emergency department.
Can you provide an example of a nursing practice that has been changed in the last year based on current best evidence?
Considering the dynamics in the healthcare system, it is essential to engage in nursing practices that help in the provision of quality care to the patients. In the emergency department, nursing practices are crucial in a bid to protect the patients seeking emergency care. The emergency department at Lenox Hill Hospital has experienced changes concerning the nursing practice to enhance quality in the services provided. The nursing practice that has undergone changes within the department involves the aspect of nursing commination, which helps in the delivery of information regarding different operations undertaken within the department. In the past year, the department has experienced changes in communication channels and techniques that aim at transforming how information is delivered. The current best evidence for the nursing practice is depicted with the ability of interprofessional collaboration, which is an aspect that is enhanced through communication.
What do you consider your biggest challenge?
Nurse leaders face different challenges associated with their roles and responsibilities in healthcare facilities. As a unit manager of an emergency department, there are challenges associated, ensuring that the nurses and other professionals within the department engage in effective operations to provide quality care to the patients. The biggest problem that I consider to have a significant impact on the activities within the unit is a lack of collaboration and teamwork during the provision of emergency services to the patients thus leading to the death of the patients. In nursing practice, the destruction of the patients is attributed to the failure of the nurses to engage in proper measures to save the life of the patient through the provision of the required care. In that case, when the professionals in the emergency fail to collaborate in the provision of care, it becomes a significant challenge that ruins the reputation of the nurse leader in the department.
What do you love most about your job?
Although the role of a unit manager of the emergency department has different challenges, there are positive aspects concerning the job, which create a day to day motivation. The most crucial element that I love about my position in the health facility is the overseeing of patient care. Patients play an essential role in defining the future of a healthcare facility considering that the patient's outcomes following the provision of care help to determine the success and abilities of the healthcare professionals (Garth, Todd, Byers, & Kuiper, 2018). In the emergency departments, patient care is crucial, considering that the patient seeking emergency services are often on the verge of dying. In that case, overseeing the provision of quality care to the patients to ensure that they regain their health back offers excellent satisfaction.
Why did you choose this job?
When choosing a job, it is essential to focus on personal experiences and skills that would help in undertaking different roles and responsibilities effectively (Bryant‐Lukosius et al., 2016). In this case, I chose the job based on the previous experiences in leadership positions that I had in the past within different departments. The skills obtained from the earlier posts helped in creating an assurance that I would be useful in undertaking my roles and responsibilities as a unit manager in the emergency department. Secondly, I chose the job because of my passion for service and lead other people. The emergency department requires individuals that are willing to serve the patients effectively in a bid to promote the quality of care provided.
What other kinds of nursing/other jobs did you ever do?
Considering that I am registered, I have engaged in different nursing jobs in various healthcare facilities, thereby increasing my clinical experiences with dealing with different kinds of patients. My first experience in nursing jobs involved, monitoring, and reporting different aspects concerning the condition of the patient. The experience helped in creating insights regarding a wide range of conditions, thus providing knowledge of the manifestations of the condition in different forms. Other roles I have undertaken within the nursing profession entails preparing patients for treatment and performing diagnostic tests to the patients. Lastly, I worked as an emergency room nurse in the hospital before obtaining the position of a unit manager at the department.
How would you describe your company’s culture?
Company culture involves elements such as mission, expectations, goals, ethics, among other factors that make an organization to be unique in a given industry. Lenox Hill Hospital has capitalized on the culture of promoting communication within the facility to ensure that all the stakeholders have access to information concerning the patient and the operations undertaken in different departments. Secondly, the healthcare organization has capitalized on creating measures to improve nurse-patient relations in a bid to help in the provision of quality and effective care. The company has established a department that focuses on the issues of ethics among all the healthcare professionals and capitalizes on handling issues concerning the patients. As part of its culture, the organization has established a guidance and counseling department to deal with the psychological needs of the patients and healthcare professionals in order to foster interactions.
How would you describe your role in admission and staffing decisions?
Admission and staffing decision is crucial in the running of a healthcare organization considering that a healthcare facility requires to have skilled and qualified personnel that have the ability to provide quality care to the patients. In the emergency department at Lenox Hill Hospital, admission is crucial, and therefore, approval from different individuals is necessary. As a unit manager for the department, I have a significant role in approving donations and ensuring that proper procedures are implemented to capitalize on enhancing care to the patients. Additionally, I have a substantial role in the staffing decisions considering that it is within my mandate to identify positions in the department that require professionals.
What is your leadership style?
Nurse leaders engage in the implementation of different leadership styles in a bid to capitalize on enhancing the performance and interactions with other employees in a healthcare organization. When participating in my roles and responsibilities, I have obtained on the use of a transformational leadership style, which involves transforming different aspects in the unit in a bid to achieve the overall goals and objectives of the healthcare organization. Considering that the main aim of the department is to provide emergency care to the patients, the leadership style helps in ensuring that all the stakeholders in the department engage in collaborations to achieve the set objective. Transformational leadership style helps in providing the nurses and other professionals within the department to engage in measures and strategies that improve operations concerning the provision of emergency care to the patients (Connolly, Jacobs, & Scott, 2018).
Conclusion
The aspects addressed in the interview act as an indicator that nurse leaders have an essential role in enhancing the service delivery mechanism within a healthcare organization. In this case, the unit manager of the Emergency Department at Lenox Hill Hospital has a significant role in supervising and overseeing different operations that concern the provision of care to the patients. Although the role of a unit manager of the emergency department has different challenges, there are positive aspects concerning the job, which create a day to day motivation. When choosing a career, it is essential to focus on personal experiences and skills that would help in undertaking different roles and responsibilities effectively. Nurse leaders engage in the implementation of varying leadership styles in a bid to capitalize on enhancing the performance and interactions with other employees in a healthcare organization.
References
Bryant‐Lukosius, D., Spichiger, E., Martin, J., Stoll, H., Kellerhals, S. D., Fliedner, M., ... & Schwendimann, R. (2016). Framework for evaluating the impact of advanced practice nursing roles. Journal of Nursing Scholarship , 48 (2), 201-209.
Connolly, M., Jacobs, S., & Scott, K. (2018). Clinical leadership, structural empowerment, and psychological empowerment of registered nurses working in an emergency department. Journal of nursing management , 26 (7), 881-887.
Garth, K., Todd, D., Byers, D., & Kuiper, B. (2018). Incivility in the emergency department: Implications for nurse leaders. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration , 48 (1), 8-10.
