Ask the expert: Defining accountability for your staff
Nurse Leader Weekly, October 26, 2009
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This week, Eileen Lavin Dohmann, RN, MBA, NEA-BC discusses how to set up expectations and make sure nurses are held accountable.
Q: As a nurse manager, how can I get staff members to be accountable?
A: The key to accountability is clearly communicated expectations. We need to be careful not to assume that staff nurses know what is expected of them. We need to set clear expectations and communicate them, including the consequences of not meeting the expectations.
A nurse manager needs to clearly tell staff nurses what they are accountable for, gain their commitment to meet the expectation, and then hold them to that accountability. Having staff nurses repeat the expectation back to you in their own words is an effective tool to ensure that they understand what is expected of them and what they are committing to achieve.
Click here to read the rest of the answer, including how to differentiate between accountability and responsibility.
Editor’s note: Do you have a question for our experts? E-mail your queries to Editorial Assistant Sarah Kearns at skearns@hcpro.com and see your name in print next week! In the meantime, head over to our Web site and view a growing collection of advice from our experts.
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