Strategies Vol. 1 No. 3 August 2001

FOR

FA S T T I P S Door ajar policy • Modify your open-door policy. Practice closing it for 30 minutes a day. • Use voice mail to screen calls, but indicate in your outgoing message that you will be returning calls at a specific time. • Let others know that you are always willing to help but encourage people to honor your need for time to concentrate. To-do list with a twist • Jot notes in the proper location the first time, not on little pieces of paper that are easily lost. • Clear your desk at the end of each day. • Be sure that you are only writing down the things you are likely to forget. Do not use the list to write down your entire job every day. • Split your list into two. Keep one list for large projects only, the other for daily tasks that you will complete in the next one or two days. • After breaking big projects into small, easy-to-accomplish steps, list those onto your daily to-do list. Source: Odette Pollar, Take Back Your Life: Smart Ways to Simplify Daily Living, 365 Ways to Simplify Your Work Life, www. smartwaystowork.com.

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NURSE MANAGERS

Conflict resolution

Thrown in a position of leadership with no management training? By Sheila Chesanow Many nurses enter positions of leadership with little or no training. Most are expected to learn as they go—thus, they often make some basic mistakes. With training and development of leadership skills, these nurses can become respected, capable, and confident leaders. Training begins with a basic understanding of their roles, responsibilities, and expectations. It is also important for nurses to understand the scope of practice of all subordinates to ensure appropriate delegation. Many nurses avoid or ignore conflict among the staff that report to them because they don’t know, how to, or don’t want to deal with staff conflict. Charge nurses must learn to deal with conflict in order to become successful leaders. Some tips for resolving conflict include the following: • Don’t speak when you are angry • Don’t use words like “you never” or “you always” • Stick to the issues • Verbal and nonverbal communication should match • Use “I” statements instead of “you” statements

• Be prepared to make concessions • Involve others in problem-solving • Balance the power Sheila Chesanow, RN, MS, NHA teaches these and other survival skills to nurses who are thrown into a position of authority without training at Quality Care Health Foundation’s course Survival Skills for Long Term Care Nurses. INSIDE . . . Morale boosters . . . . . . . . . .2 Get nurses’ attention . . . . . .3 Stress relievers . . . . . . . . . . .4 Setting goals . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Get organized . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Background checks . . . . . . .7 Employee recognition . . . .10 Retention . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Get a copy of Strategies for Nurse Managers for each of the nurse managers in your facility! Call Dell Bobier at 717/397-4480 to find out how.

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Motivating staff

Easy morale boosters for your nurses 1. Order pizza or a huge submarine sandwich for a communal lunch. 2. Designate a bulletin board as a place for employees to post favorite jokes, cartoons, etc. 3. Attach cartoons or humorous anecdotes to the more mundane memos that need to be circulated. 4. Schedule a staff meeting off-site in a congenial atmosphere. If possible, follow up with a casual social event. 5. Schedule an Ugly Tie (or Crazy Sweater or Silly Socks) Day with a joke prize for the winner. 6. Hold betting pools (if it’s legal) for such high-profile events as the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby, the Oscars, the Emmys, and the World Series. 7. Take a daily humor break; designate someone to

share a joke or a funny story with the rest of the staff. 8. During a lunch break, screen a funny film or television show in a conference room or a large office. 9. Bring a Polaroid camera to work. Take candid shots of employees and post the results throughout the office. 10. Make it a point to smile and say hello to your nurses. 11. Give everyone an opportunity to arrive an hour late or leave an hour early one day a week. 12. Never take anything too seriously. Keep reminding yourself, “This isn’t brain surgery.” (Unless, of course, it is brain surgery.) Adapted from: Bob Nelson, PhD, 1001 Ways to Reward Employees, www.nelson-motivation.com.

Communication skills

Posture says more than a thousand words The single most powerful connection between people communicating with one another in work settings is eye contact. The eyes have been called the “windows to our souls” because of that power. Be sure you use your eyes to gather information from the nonverbal messages of others and to signal to others that you are paying attention. Appropriate eye contact is sincere, but not constant. We normally look away to think about what is being said or to look at something that is being talked about. Too constant a gaze is aggressive and invasive. Find the right balance between looking at the other person most of the time while

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comfortably breaking eye contact at appropriate intervals. If you really want to pay attention, an alert posture does help. Our mind works better when our body is alert. This usually means leaning slightly forward, having good posture, and holding your head slightly forward. You may be sitting, standing, or even lying down (although usually not at work). Alertness is relative to your basic body position. An alert posture also makes it clear to the other person that you are paying attention. Source: ©1997 Wayne W. Crouch, PhD, Communicating for Management Success.

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Managing better

Communicate to get the full attention of nurses Kare Anderson, speaker, author, columnist, Emmywinner, and former Wall Street Journal reporter, offers these tips to make communication with your nurses more meaningful and productive: • A specific detail or example proves a general conclusion. A general statement is less credible and easily forgotten. Be vividly specific in your conversations, using stories, contrasts, and examples. • People will listen sooner, longer, remember more, and like you better if you address their interests first. Then discuss how that relates to what you have in common, and then go back to your interests—rather than referring to your interests first or even right after they’ve told you theirs. • Smell is the most directly emotional of the senses. The right natural scent can refresh or relax you and others in your home or work site. Vanilla, apple, and chocolate are the scents Americans

most like. • Pay attention to the staff member who is getting the least attention in a gathering. You’ll change the dynamic in the group, especially if you are the most powerful person there. You might also gain an unlikely and loyal new ally. • Praise staff members for their thoughtful actions, not just to them, but to those who are important to them. You will reinforce the behavior you most admire and build loyalty. • Stress is often caused not by the situation itself, but by your response to a situation. You always have three choices in any situation: change it, accept it, or leave. The sooner you make a choice, the less stress you will experience. Source: Kare Anderson, speaker and author, Say It Better™, www.sayitbetter.com.

Legal matters

Five items to include in your employment agreement Barry Epstein, a fair labor attorney based in Englewood, CO, provides the following five key items you should include if you are considering writing an employment agreement plan for your facility: 1. Names. Make sure you list the names of all the parties involved in the agreement. 2. Title and responsibilities. The employee’s job title as well as his or her responsibilities should be listed.

Strategies for Nurse Managers—August 2001

3. Time applicable. Be sure to list the length of the contract. 4. Other key documents. You should include key documents that stipulate conditions under which the contract is valid. This should include the employee handbook and a job description. 5. Termination provisions. Include any provisions that would lead to the employee’s termination, such as employee resignation, or the end of the contract period. Source: Health Care Staffing Alert, Opus Communications, www.hcmarketplace.com.

© 2001 Opus Communications, a division of HCPro

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Stress management

Six tips to relieve your stress The work of a nurse manager is always stressful, especially in these times of nurse shortages. Here are six tips to help you deal with your daily stress: 1. Adapt your environment

Color, lighting, and noise are all elements that engage and influence our senses. They can exacerbate stress or moderate it. So, adapt your environment in a way that soothes your emotions.

those things that other people want you to do rather than those you personally want to do? 5. Be present in the present

When you decide on an activity, don’t think about what else you could be doing or where else you could be. Focus on what you are seeing, feeling, hearing, and experiencing now. It’s the sense of “missing out” that makes us feel that life is frantic. 6. Take a bubble bath

2. Slow down

Get good at being good to yourself. Enjoy a long, soothing bubble bath (don’t forget your rubber duck!)

Try moving, talking, and behaving in a relaxed, slower manner, and let stress ebb away. For example, drive 10 mph slower or take an after-work shower.

Source: ©Trans4mation, Quick Relaxation and Stress Tips, www.trans4mation.com.

3. Celebrate the small things

Celebrate even before you have achieved perfection. Don’t struggle to push a large boulder up a mountain only to have to do it again the next morning. On the way home from work, tell yourself what you did right. 4. Determine how you spend your time

Think about where you spend your time over a 24-hour period. What things do you do that waste your time? How much time are you spending on Managing right

You can’t overdo praise Too often, managers harp on mistakes and shortcomings when “training” and “motivating” their teams. Valid criticism is important, to be sure, but it’s equally important to balance it with recognition of what’s being done right. It’s easy to overdo criticism, but almost impossible to overdo praise.

Don’t miss this date! Nursing Management Congress 2001—sponsored by Nursing Management, a Lippincott Williams & Wilkins publication and The Nursing Institute— Endorsed by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), and the American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA). September 9-12, 2001, Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort Hotel, Orlando, FL. For more information go to www. springnet.com/shconfer or call 800/346-7844, ext. 1257.

Source: Joe Klock, Management Tips Newsletter, www. Joeklock.com

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Strategies for Nurse Managers—August 2001

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Setting goals

Learn to set goals that are easy to achieve Looking for a way to improve your management style? Try the following “SMART” tips for setting goals for the nurses you supervise:

ees to stretch a bit to achieve them, but they aren’t extreme. That is, the goals are neither out of reach nor below standard performance. Goals that are set too high or too low become meaningless, and employees naturally come to ignore them.

Specific: Goals must be clear and unambiguous; vagaries and platitudes have no place in goal setting. When goals are specific, they tell employees exactly what is expected, when, and how much. Because the goals are specific, you can easily measure your employees’ progress toward their completion.

Relevant: Goals must be an important tool in the grand scheme of reaching your facility’s vision and mission. We’ve heard that 80% of worker productivity comes from only 20% of their activities. Relevant goals address the 20% of worker activities that has such a great impact on performance and brings your facility closer to its vision.

Measurable: What good is a goal that you can’t measure? If your goals are not measurable, you never know whether your employees are making progress toward their successful completion. Not only that, but it’s tough for your employees to stay motivated to complete their goals when they have no milestones to indicate their progress.

Time-bound: Goals must have starting points, ending points, and fixed durations. Commitment to deadlines helps employees to focus their efforts on completion of the goal on or before the due date. Goals without deadlines or schedules for completion tend to be overtaken by the day-to-day crises that inevitably arise in a facility.

Attainable: Goals must be realistic and attainable by average employees. The best goals require employ-

Source: © Bob Nelson, PhD, Managing for Dummies, www.nelson-motivation.com.

How to communicate better

Avoid barriers to become a better listener Are you sure your staff feel that you really understand their concerns? Try the following tips to become a better listener: • Use of space

Individuals differ as to how close they prefer to be to others when conversing, and people in different cultures prefer different degrees of distance. Learn to establish the right distance between yourself and others. If you are too close, other people will be uncomfortable and may interpret your behavior as aggressive or sexual. If you are too far away, they

Strategies for Nurse Managers—August 2001

may interpret it as aloof, uninvolved, or uncaring. • Use of objects

Objects can also create barriers. Avoid separating yourself from the other person across a large desk or a piece of equipment. Standing halfway out a door may suggest that you would rather be leaving than listening. Develop your sensitivity to the effect objects may have on others. Source: © 1997 Wayne W. Crouch, PhD, Communicating For Management Success.

© 2001 Opus Communications, a division of HCPro

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Managing skills

Put constructive feedback in your toolbox Giving positive and constructive feedback is the most critical skill of managers. It will make or break the motivation of an employee. Giving positive feedback reinforces behavior and performance that is desired. Most nurse managers think they are giving positive feedback all the time. In fact they will say, “I tell my staff they are doing a good job.” But it’s important to be very specific about the feedback and the positive impact on the employee’s behavior and performance. We need to describe the behavior very specifically so that the employee knows what behavior to repeat. For example, if a manager wants to give positive feedback to an employee about an interaction with

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Giving constructive feedback is the most difficult job of a manager. It’s uncomfortable to do, and there are barriers that come into play because many managers need some skill training on how to give constructive feedback. Believe it or not, nurses often cannot see their strengths and weaknesses, and we need to provide constructive feedback to help them improve. With a little practice using these feedback skills, nurse managers can be more effective and feel more comfortable in coaching and counseling their staff.

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a patient she would say something like this: “Sally, your manner of dealing with patients is ideal—eye contact, smiling, using their names, and showing respect are always there. In fact, Mr. Smith commented to me about your wonderful manner.” The specific behavior that we want reinforced is described, and we have also commented on the impact of the behavior on the customers. This is more powerful than just saying, “Good job Sally.” which can be received as backslapping, glad-handling, or even phony.

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Source: Susan Romero, Susan Romero Consulting, www.romeroconsulting.com.

Get organized

Drowning in paperwork? • Get into the habit of deciding immediately where each piece of paper goes and what your next step will be. Do not set it aside in a pile for a later decision. • After working with a file, put it away before starting another project. • Be very selective about what you save. Refile things quickly. Source: Odette Pollar, Take Back Your Life: Smart Ways to Simplify Daily Living, 365 Ways to Simplify Your Work Life, www.smartwaystowork.com.

Strategies for Nurse Managers—August 2001

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Morale

Loyalty: Here’s how to get it By taking a proactive stance now, you can better avoid the damage caused by disloyalty in your workplace. To encourage loyalty from your nurses and other employees, keep the following tips in mind: • Some major causes of disloyalty among employees are low morale, feelings of under-appreciation, the belief that complaints aren’t taken seriously, and the like. Consider conducting an anonymous employee survey to find out what issues, if any, are causing your workers consternation. • When including disloyalty in a list of offenses for which employees may be terminated, give examples. But be sure to emphasize that the list is not all-inclusive.

• Before terminating an employee for an act of disloyalty, determine whether it has had a negative effect on your workplace, the facility, or the employee’s performance. If so, make sure you have the objective evidence to back it up. If not, consider issuing an oral or written warning instead. • If at all possible, avoid making counteroffers to employees who seek to leave your employ. It may actually encourage disloyalty among the ranks. That’s because such counteroffers may send the message that employees who actively look for new jobs can get rewarded with more money or better perks. Source: HR Soapbox, a free e-mail newsletter. ©2001 by Alexander Hamilton Institute, Inc. www.ahipubs.com.

Background checks

Know whom you hire so you don’t have to fire Make sure you get the people you want in your facility by conducting background checks and drug testing on all new employees, and perhaps even on the current staff too. Sue Gladh, human resource analyst for the Brown County Mental Health Center in Green Bay, and Linda Mansfield, assistant director of human resources at St. Vincent Hospital, also in Green Bay, WI, suggest the following four tips for a background check program: • Check out programs from facilities in other states. Doing this will give you a sense of how things are run, and will give you a chance to see how programs differ in states that have no laws regarding background checks or that have closed records. • Find out what is going on in your area. Is

Strategies for Nurse Managers—August 2001

your facility the only one that doesn’t do background checks? Is your facility the only one considering doing them? Figure out what other programs are out there so you know where you stand. • Who is the guru you can work with? Police departments or agencies that perform background checks can help you start up a program. Find out who is the local authority on the subject and seek his or her knowledge. • Keep legal advice nearby. Consult with legal counsel to get a program going, and keep in touch to be ready for situations that can arise quickly and escalate out of control. Adapted from: Health Care Staffing Alert, Opus Communications, www.hcmarketplace.com.

© 2001 Opus Communications, a division of HCPro

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Laughing matter

Brighten your nurses’ day with a story By Elaine Stallman, RN As Mercy Hospital’s 3-11 nursing supervisor for 40 years, I experienced just about every medical emergency. I donned my administrative hat when needed, but loved it most when I donned my nursing one. Late one evening I was paged by the understaffed Emergency Department saying a mom was threatening to deliver her fourth child while en route to the hospital. I hustled to the emergency room driveway just as a frantic husband sped their car into the ambulance driveway. He jumped out screaming, “The baby is

coming! It’s coming!” I opened the door to the passenger’s side to find the young mom leaning back in the seat, groaning and pushing—with three little boys gawking over her shoulder from the back seat. I raised her skirt. There was the baby’s head. With one more groan and push, the infant was in my hands. ER staff raced to the car with emergency supplies as I heard one little boy gasp, “Now I know where babies come from!” His little brother responded, “Yeh! From under the car seat!” Source: LeAnn Thieman, Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul, due out in August, www.leannthieman.com.

Case study

How to combat fatigue for safety’s sake Problem: Sarah is a wonderful nurse, but she has a hard time staying alert in the early hours of the morning. Her body cries for sleep, but there is still another three hours of work to be done. How can she cope with her fatigue to reduce the possibility of becoming a risk factor in your facility? Solution: Mark R. Rosekind, PhD, president and chief scientist at Alertness Solutions in Cupertino, CA, gave health care professionals attending the Third Annenberg Conference in St. Paul, MN, the following tips about staying safe and alert: • Naps. “A-40 minute nap can improve performance and alertness by 100%,” Rosekind said.

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• Physical activity. Movement is the best way to increase alertness. • Lighting. Brightly lit rooms decrease fatigue. • Analyze scheduling factors. “When looking at scheduling factors you need to figure in how much sleep your nurses are getting,” Rosekind said. • Develop policies. Rosekind suggested documenting principles and guidelines. “Put a cap on the number of hours each staff member works,” he advised. Adapted from: Briefings on Patient Safety, Opus Communications, www.hcmarketplace.com.

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Getting it done

Create a smooth sailing department Even if you can’t afford to hire a consultant to improve your management skills, you can still become a better supervisor by following tips from Rose Hollister, MA, MEd, principal at Perrone-Ambrose Associates.

3. Empower the staff

Figure out whether you’re helping employees help themselves. • How well do I prepare my staff for changes? • Do I recognize when it’s appropriate to step out of the way and let the employees take control? 4. Look for patterns

Really think about how you act on a daily basis, Hollister says. “Most of us think we already do these things, but we actually take them for granted.” For smooth sailing in your department, make sure you apply the following management techniques and ask yourself these questions:

Determine patterns that arise and ways to prevent the problem from happening again. “The danger is that we don’t spend enough time looking at patterns,” she says, “Most people will tell you what others did, yet what is most important is determining how you fit into the problem. In almost all cases, you might contribute to the problem in some way.”

1. Support your staff

Determine whether you are a supportive manager who is available and makes time for nurses. • How often do I praise nurses for good work? • Do I understand the importance of complimenting employees for a job well done? 2. Challenge the nurses

Assess whether you are challenging employees and if so, in what ways.

• Am I putting band-aids on problems instead of solving them? • Am I taking the time to go back and look at past problems—such as a patient becoming angry—to figure out patterns and determine the root cause of those problems? Adapted from: Respiratory Care Management, Opus Communications, www.hcmarketplace.com.

Illustration by Dave Harbaugh

• Am I willing to your help nurses continue to learn and grow at the facility? • Am I balancing corrective feedback with new, exciting opportunities?

When nurses are not toeing the line, consider posting this quote on the bulletin board: “Losers tend to give up when they’re behind and slack off when they’re ahead. Winners give all they’ve got, regardless of their position in the pack.” Source: Joe Klock, Management Tips Newsletter, www.Joeklock.com.

Strategies for Nurse Managers—August 2001

“If you’re hired, you’ll be dealing with the PPS and MDS. In six months, you’ll be eligible for herbal supplements.”

© 2001 Opus Communications, a division of HCPro

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Staff relations

Managers: You have to give respect to get it By Tom Terez If you want to get respect, you have to give it. If you’re sorting people into mental file folders labeled “important, not-so-important, totally worthless,” and so forth, you’re setting yourself up to be an accessory to disrespect. Ditch the file folders and start thinking and doing anew. But how? Try the following ideas: • Start conversations with some of the people you’ve filed away into one of the less desirable folders. Perhaps there’s a functional area, office, Employee recognition

Experiment to find meaningful rewards To ensure you have effective rewards for your employees, take the following three steps: 1. Remember that one size does not fit all. An effective way to motivate your employees today may not work tomorrow. Employees’ preferences will change with time and circumstances, so it’s important to keep abreast of what they like. 2. Ask your employees what they like and don’t be afraid to experiment. Discuss with your employees what they value and make sure they’re involved in organizing recognition efforts. Try to keep programs fresh and exciting and be open to doing things you have never done before. 3. Learn from and leverage your successes. Evaluate often what is working and what is not to see whether a new program is needed. Build upon and expand what worked and eliminate recognition programs that were poorly received by employees. Source: Health Care Staffing Alert, Opus Communications, www.hcmarketplace.com.

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or section of your facility you’ve tended to hold in low regard. Or maybe it’s an individual. Take the initiative and engage them in dialogue. • Organize a conversation with colleagues on the topic of respect. What does it mean to each of you? How do you know when it’s thriving? What are the warning signs when respect is waning? Questions like these will prompt people to share their respect-related stories from past and present work situations. All of this will give life, meaning, and a remarkable degree of tangibility to an otherwise hazy concept. • As one of your general working principles, apply the equivalent of “due process” in the workplace. When negative situations arise and the fingers of blame start pointing, operate under the assumption that people are innocent until proven otherwise. • Look for opportunities to address respect in any formal or informal conversations regarding vision, mission, values, goals, or working principles. Somewhere in there, respect should be strongly implied or better yet, explicitly stated and defined. • Take a visible, vocal stand against disrespect whenever it rears its ugly head. If you’re in a meeting where people are unfairly disparaging someone’s hard work, speak up in his or her defense. If another session finds someone strategizing on how to sneak a new policy by the employees, speak up in favor of openness and honesty. And when you’re in a one-on-one situation where someone’s comments or behavior strikes you as disrespectful, again, take a deep breath and give them a diplomatic piece of your mind. Source: Tom Terez is a speaker, consultant and author of the new book , 22 Keys to Creating a Meaningful Workplace, www.MeaningfulWorkplace.com.

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Where to find . . . Anderson, Kare Say It Better Center: The Compelling Communications Group Web site: www.sayitbetter.com E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: 415/331-6336 Chesanow, Sheila Telephone: 800-762-2595 E-mail: [email protected] Survival Skills for Long Term Care Nurses Quality Health Care Foundation 916/441-6500 Web Site: www.cahf.org Cotter, Nick Trans4mation Training Ltd Web site: www.trans4mation.com E-mail: [email protected] Crouch, Wayne W. PhD Crouch Associates Telephone: 413/549-5388 E-mail: [email protected] Dr. Gloria “Jo” Floyd, NCEHS, 23640 Scenic Loop Road, Building 2, San Antonio, TX 78255 Web site: www.ncehs.com/briefart.htm HR Soapbox Alexander Hamilton Institute Telephone: 800/879-2441 Web site: www.ahipubs.com Klock, Joe Management Tips Newsletters The KlockWorks, Inc. Telephone: 305/451-0079 E-mail: [email protected] Nelson, Bob 1001 Ways to Reward Employees Managing for Dummies Telephone: 800/575-5521 Web site: www.nelson-motivation.com Opus Communications Health Care Staffing Alert Briefings on Patient Safety Reparatory Care Management Telephone: 800/650-6787 Web site: www.hcpro.com Pollar, Odette Take Back Your Life: Smart Ways to Simplify > p. 12

Strategies for Nurse Managers—August 2001

Getting along

Get in with a fun crowd to lift your spirits You could be hanging out with the wrong nursing crowd. Get focused on problem resolution instead of problem-bashing. Try the following simple steps: • Associate with nurses and team members throughout the day who have an upbeat attitude • Identify some problem-solving buddies and spend your time at meals solving v. complaining about problems • Search through your nursing and health care team for some fun loving peers • Plan some fun activities for bonding, morale, and team-building on the job Work can be fun and refreshing. Be a role model of the fun-loving and problem-solving behavior you want to see in your nursing team, and you will be pleasantly surprised at what you see. Adapted from: Dr. Gloria “Jo” Floyd, (c)2000, Nursing, Consultant, Educational and Health Services, reprinted with permission. www.ncehs.com.

Lighten up

Can you identify the cute baby? Ask your nurses to bring in pictures of themselves as babies or toddlers, then post them on the bulletin board, numbered, but not named. Provide forms for matching the photos with current personnel, offering prizes for the best guesses. To add some spice, throw in a couple of “ringers” (maybe a doctor or a local celebrity); make it known that there are “outsiders” included and require that they, too, be identified as such. Source: Joe Klock, Management Tips Newsletter, www. Joeklock.com

© 2001 Opus Communications, a division of HCPro

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Where to find

< p. 11

Daily Living 365 Ways to Simplify Your Work Life Smart Ways to Work E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.smartwaystowork.com Romero, Susan Susan Romero Consulting Telephone: 303/741-9275 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.romeroconsulting.com Terez, Tom 22 Keys to Creating a Meaningful Workplace Telephone: 614/571-9529 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.MeaningfulWorkplace.com Thieman, LeAnn Motivational Speaker, Author Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul Telephone: 877/THIEMAN Web site: www.leannthieman.com

Tell Strategies how you did it! Do you want to share a story or a tip with your fellow nurse managers? Tell us how you solved a problem or handled an issue in your facility. E-mail Editorial Assistant Mona Hersey at [email protected] or call 781/639-1872, ext.3215.

Strategies for Nurse Managers Editorial Advisory Board Sue Fitzsimons Senior Vice President Patient Services Yale-New Haven Hospital New Haven, CT Jorie Monk Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Providence Hospital Columbia, SC

David Moon Executive Vice President Modern Management Inc. Lake Bluff, IL Bob Nelson, PhD President of Nelson Motivation Inc. San Diego, CA Carole Siegfried Vice President, Nursing King’s Daughter Medical Center Ashland, KY

Staff retention

Clear rules help retain staff If you want to keep new employees in your facility, you should establish rules. “You really have to have everybody clear about the new employee rules,” said Lou Ann Brubaker, president and founder of Brubaker Professional Development Seminars, a company out of Laurel, MD. Consider the rules below: • New employees should never have to eat lunch or dinner alone in the first two weeks on the job. • It should be made clear to new employees when they can take their breaks. They never should be left guessing. • New employees should always know whom to direct their questions to. • When a new employee does not know where something is, a current staff member should take the time to walk with the employee to show them where it is. Source: Health Care Staffing Alert, Opus Communications, www.hcmarketplace.com.

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Strategies for Nurse Managers is published monthly by Opus Communications, Inc., a division of HCPro, 200 Hoods Lane, Marblehead, MA 01945. Subscription rate: $147 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 of HCPro. 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 of Opus 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, call 781/639-1872 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]. • Visit our 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 the Marketing Department at the address above. • Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Strategies for Nurse Managers. Mention of products and services does not constitute endorsement. Advice given is general, and readers should consult professional counsel for specific legal, ethical, or clinical questions.

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© 2001 Opus Communications, a division of HCPro

Strategies for Nurse Managers—August 2001