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Tips from TSE: Charge up your charge nurses

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, October 17, 2008

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The responsibilities of a charge nurse are continually growing. This key role requires a combination of the clinical skills of the staff nurse and the leadership duties of the nurse manager, making the charge nurse a vital component of the clinical setting. As an educator, you can take steps to ensure your charge nurses are well-trained and prepared to take on their new position.

“The charge nurse role is different than other leadership ones because you have to keep your clinical skills up, always be ‘on,’ and try to remain positive no matter what,” says Sharon Pollok, RN, a 30-year nursing veteran who has been a charge nurse for 12 years at St. John Health System’s newborn and special care nursery in Tulsa, OK. During her charge nurse course at St. John, Pollok found the following elements to be particularly useful in her role development:

• Situational role-playing. Situations can include topics such as violence in the workplace and horizontal hostility.
• Group discussion. Have your charge nurses discuss their concerns and expectations relating to their new role. This will ease many of their fears and help build camaraderie.

Editor’s note: This excerpt was adapted from the October issue of The Staff Educator. Discover all the benefits of subscribing to The Staff Educator!

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