Pre-Interview
I am a licensed nursing assistant and currently work at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua, NH. Throughout my time here, I have seen a lot of different nursing leaders act as charge nurse or resource nurse. This is a job that is very demanding and requires someone with great communication skills, a level head, organizational abilities, and a good work-ethic. There is one nurse that truly stands out and exhibits strong leadership skills when they are the acting charge nurse.
I choose this subject because of how right off the bat of starting my new job, they were so welcoming to the floor. They were one of the very first people I met, and they were so extremely clear and helpful during my orientation phase. When I had been working there for at least a month, it was clear to see why this person is almost always the acting charge nurse when they are there. They handle difficult situations in a professional way and always have a positive and welcoming demeanor. I think this is truly important in a leader because it sets a tone for the nurses station to be a place where problems can be addressed and resolved in a team effort. The acting charge nurse is a formal leader position because it is the individual who is responsible for patient assignments on the floor, scheduling issues, patient admission and discharges. An informal role of a leader would be more like a well-established nurse on the floor helping out a newer nurse with something they maybe have seen for the first time. It’s not something they have to do, formally, but they help out because they want to.
I am most interested to learn about how they grew into becoming so well-established as a charge nurse. Did it take long for them to feel confident in this position? Did someone help them feel more comfortable in this role as they were transitioning? I am interested to learn from this individual and learn leadership skills as I transition to becoming a new-grad nurse.
Post Interview Reflection
During this interview, I learned a lot about this nurse and their leadership position as charge nurse despite having already worked alongside them. I knew they dealt with issues that arose, but the job is a lot more than that. They deal with scheduling for the oncoming shift and sometimes the following day’s shift. They work with the nurse unit manager for projects and enforcing changes on the floor that will improve patient satisfaction regarding care being given. For example, something that was recently implemented due to this leader’s advocation were daily floor briefings. This change was brought on due to the rapid changes occurring due to COVID-19 guidelines changing often. It really helped nurses and other healthcare workers on the floor to stay on the same page. This nurse also reaches out to peers to ensure they are up to date with vaccines and licensures, along with being at the heart of medical emergencies if they occur. Some challenges this nurse faced included becoming a charge nurse and a “boss” in a way to other nurses who had been there longer and to their work-friends. However, they have adapted well to their role, and feel confident, and other nurses on the unit are comfortable having them as the charge nurse.
It surprised me to find out how much the charge nurse does during a shift and have responsibility for. Truly, the charge nurse on any nursing unit must be organized, thorough, and have excellent communication skills. I feel like as new nurse I need to keep these traits in mind in order to be successful. In my future nursing career, obtaining these skills would strengthen my patient care and inter-professional communication and staying on top of all my responsibilities. This interview also reinforced the knowledge about the importance of delegation, especially in regard to accountability and ensuring all jobs get done.
