Five Areas of Competency
AONE BELIEVES THAT MANAGERS AT ALL LEVELS MUST BE COMPETENT IN THE FOLLOWING:
COMMUNICATION AND RELATIONSHIPS-BUILDING COMPETENCIES INCLUDE: ● Effective communication ● Relationship management ● Influence of behaviors ● Ability to work with diversity ● Shared decision making ● Community involvement ● Medical staff relationships ● Academic relationships
KNOWLEDGE OF THE HEALTH CARE ENVIRONMENT INCLUDES: ● Clinical practice knowledge ● Patient care delivery models and work design knowledge ● Health care economics knowledge ● Health care policy knowledge ● Understanding of governance ● Understanding of evidence-based practice ● Outcome measurement ● Knowledge of and dedication to patient safety ● Understanding of utilization/case management ● Knowledge of quality improvement and metrics ● Knowledge of risk management
LEADERSHIP SKILLS INCLUDE: ● Foundational thinking skills ● Personal journey disciplines ● The ability to use systems thinking ● Succession planning ● Change management
PROFESSIONALISM INCLUDES: ● Personal and professional accountability ● Career planning ● Ethics ● Evidence-based clinical and management practice ● Advocacy for the clinical enterprise and for nursing practice ● Active membership in professional organizations
BUSINESS SKILLS INCLUDE: ● Understanding of health care financing ● Human resource management and development ● Strategic management ● Marketing ● Information management and technology
Copyright © 2005 by the American Organization of Nurse Executives. Address reprint permission requests to [email protected].
Traditional Management Functions In 1916, French industrialist Henri Fayol first described the functions of management as planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. These are still relevant today, however, the complexity of today’s health care systems make these functions more difficult and less certain (Clancy, 2008).
46 PART 1 • UNDERSTANDING NURSING MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS
Planning Planning is a four-stage process to:
● Establish objectives (goals) ● Evaluate the present situation and predict future trends and events ● Formulate a planning statement (means) ● Convert the plan into an action statement
Planning is important on both an organizational and a personal level and may be an in- dividual or group process that addresses the questions of what, why, where, when, how, and by whom. Decision making and problem solving are inherent in planning. Numerous computer software programs and databases are available to help facilitate planning.
Organization-level plans, such as determining organizational structure and staffing or operational budgets, evolve from the mission, philosophy, and goals of the organization. The nurse manager plans and develops specific goals and objectives for her or his area of responsibility.
Antonio, the nurse manager of a home care agency, plans to establish an in-home photo- therapy program, knowing that part of the agency’s mission is to meet the health care needs of the child-rearing family. To effectively implement this program, he would need to address:
• How the program supports the organization’s mission
• Why the service would benefit the community and the organization
• Who would be candidates for the program
• Who would provide the service
• How staffing would be accomplished
• How charges would be generated
• What those charges should be
Planning can be contingent or strategic. Using contingency planning, the manager identifies and manages the many problems that interfere with getting work done. Contingency planning may be re- active, in response to a crisis, or proactive, in anticipation of problems or in response to opportunities.