Shawna, a new staff member, has been working from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on an infecti

Question

Shawna, a new staff member, has been working from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on an infectious disease floor since obtaining her RN license 4 months ago. Most of the staff members with whom she works with have been there since the unit opened 5 years ago. On a typical day, the staffing consists of a nu manager, two RNs, an LPN, and one technician for approximately 40 patients. Most patients are HIV positive with multisystem failure. Many are severely debilitated and need help with their activities of daily living. Although the staff members encourage family members and loved ones to help, most of them are unavailable because they work during the day. Several days a week, the nursing students from Shawna's community college program are assigned to the floor. Tina, the nurse manager, does not participate in any direct patient care, saying that she is "too busy at the desk." Laverne, the other RN, says the unit depresses her and that she has requested a transfer to pediatrics. Lynn, the LPN, wants to "give meds" because she is "sick of the patients' constant whining," and Sheila, the technician, is "just plain exhausted." Lately, Shawna has noticed that the other staff members seem to avoid the nursing students and reply to their questions with annoyed, short answers. Shawna is feeling alone and overwhelmed and goes home at night worrying about the patients, who need more care and attention. She is afraid to ask Tina for more help because she does not want to be considered incompetent or a complainer. When she confided in Lynn about her concerns, Lynn replied, "Get real-no one here cares about the patients or us. All they care about is the bottom line! Why did a smart girl like you choose nursing in the first place?" 1. What is happening on this unit in leadership terms? 2. Identify the major problems and the factors that contributed to these problems. 3. What factors might have contributed to the behaviors exhibited by Tina, Lynn, and Sheila? How would you feel if you were Shawna? 5. Is there anything Shawna can do for herself, for the patients, and for the staff members? 6. What do you think Tina, the nurse manager, should do? 7. How is the nurse manager reacting to the changes in her staff members?

Explanation / Answer

1.In leardership term tina the nursing manager is not taking her responsibility seriously, she should design the work schedule for the staff members and allotted them to work and manage the team members.

2. Major problems associated with these issues is the unity among nursing staffs and lack of manpower for handling 40 patients together at a time. Even nurses were taking responsibility casually due to their own reasons.

3. Factors that maybe associated with the above mentioned staff behaviours is the lack of motivation to work as a team and come up with a solution that might have helped the patients.

4. On the position of shawna I would have felt bad due to not able to help the patients and control the situation.

5. Yes she can speak to the staff members or nursing manager to take some action for the current situation as at the end patients are suffering due to negligence of healthcare member.

6. Tina the nurse manager should have conducted a meeting and should have assigned everyone their responsibility. She should have given motivational support to teammates and she should herself have helped in order to help patients.

7. She is not taking any action for the behaviour of her staff members. Practically she should have encourage team members by taking responsibility for their action.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse S
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.