Huston_Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing,

Unit V Roles and Functions in Staffing

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efforts to promote the self-esteem of these nurses as they learn the skills necessary for their new role.

The managers of departments that receive frequent transfers should prepare a special orientation for experienced nurses transferring to the department.

Transitioning into a new job would cause less role strain if programs were designed to facilitate role modification and role expansion. For example, when a nurse transfers from a medical floor to labor and delivery, the nurse does not know the group norms, is unsure of expected values and behaviors, and may go from being an expert to a novice. All of this creates a great deal of role strain . This same type of role stress occurs when experienced nurses move from one organization to another or from an inpatient setting to a community setting. Often, nurses feel powerless during role transitions, which may culminate in anger and frustration as they seek socialization to a different role. Programs to assist nurses with the transition to a new position should do more than just pro vide an orientation to the new position; they also should address specific values and behaviors necessary for the new roles. The values and attitudes expected in a hospice nursing role may be quite different from those expected of a trauma nurse. Managers should not assume that the experienced nurse is aware of the new role’s expected attitudes. In addition, employees adopting new values often experience role strain, and managers need to support employees during this value resocialization. Members of the reference group may use negative sanctions, saying things such as “Well, we don’t believe in doing that here.” This can make new, experienced employees feel as though the values held in other nursing roles were bad or wrong. Therefore, the manager should make efforts to see that formerly held values are not belittled. Excellent companies have leaders who take responsibility for shaping the values of new employees. By instilling and clarifying organizational values, managers promote a homogeneous staff that functions as a team.

Values and attitudes may be a source of conflict as nurses learn new roles.

The Socialization and Orientation of New Managers Probably no other aspect of an employee’s work life has as great an influence on productivity and retention as the quality of supervision exhibited by the immediate manager. Unfortunately, the orientation and socialization of new managers is often neglected by organizations. In addition, many restructured hospital organizational designs have created different and expanded roles for existing managers without ensuring that managers are adequately prepared for these new roles.

There is a growing recognition that good managers do not emerge from the workforce without a great deal of conscious planning on the part of the organization.

A management development program should be ongoing, and individuals should receive some management development instruction before their appointment to a management posi tion. When an individual is filling a position where the previous manager is still available for orientation, the orientation period should be relatively short. The previous manager usually spends no longer than 1 week working directly with the new manager, especially when the new manager is familiar with the organization. A short orientation by the outgoing manager allows the newly appointed manager to gain control of the unit quickly and establish a per sonal management style. If the new manager has been recruited from outside the organization, the orientation period may need to be extended.