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Stop setting up new managers to fail

Nurse Leader Weekly, April 8, 2005

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Hold on to them with leadership orientation and training

Getting new managers to stay in their positions is challenging. Many leave because they feel overwhelmed by the demands and stress of the job.

"The turnover rate can be just as high [for management staff] as it is at the bedside," says Teresa Eberhart, RN, BC, MS, nurse educator at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY.

Troubled by intensifying turnover rates, Eberhart developed a leadership training series to encourage new managers to stay and to help them maintain essential leadership competencies.

"Managers have to perform their mandatory competencies just like everybody else, but, in addition, they must also learn specialty competencies such as resource management," says Eberhart.

The leadership series is a training program strictly for managers that allows them to learn about topics relevant to their jobs. Keeping managers' lessons separate from those of their staff is important. "There were times, for instance, when a manager didn't want staff to know that he or she didn't know how to run a budget," Eberhart says.

The training series occurs monthly, with sessions running twice daily so managers from all shifts can participate.

However, despite these training efforts, nurse managers were still struggling to grasp new leadership concepts. "New managers were coming into [the facility], and they couldn't keep up with the leadership series. There was no foundation for them," Eberhart says.

Realizing the training wasn't enough, Eberhart added the missing piece that would help retain managers: leadership orientation.

Orienting new nursing leaders

Eberhart discovered that many new managers took their positions because they felt it was the next step in their careers, but they were unsure of their ability to perform these new roles, she says. To help new managers feel more confident, Eberhart created a three-day leadership orientation.

The leadership orientation program occurs three times per year. Although it was created for new nurse managers, experienced staff can also attend. "Incumbent staff who feel they would benefit from one or all of the topics covered are always welcome to come," says Eberhart.

Presenters at the leadership orientation include facility directors, nursing directors, and other nursing management with expertise in a given topic, says Eberhart. The CEO also presents at the beginning of each session. She discusses the history of, current status of, and future plans for the nursing department with the small group of managers, bringing to light their importance to the organization, says Eberhart.

The number of attendees for each session is limited to 20 because the sessions are interactive, Eberhart says. "They do a lot of networking, role playing, games, and discussion."

Source: Adapted from Competency Management Advisor (March 2005), published by HCPro, Inc.

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