Professional Considerations
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This information may be related to the results of their monitoring efforts, new developments in health care, policy changes, and so forth.
Review Table 2-2, Bad Management Styles, to compare what you have just read about effective nurse managers with descriptions of some of the most common ineffective approaches to being a manager.
Conclusion
Nurse managers have complex, responsible posi- tions in health-care organizations. Ineffective man- agers may do harm to their employees, their
patients, and to the organization, while effective managers can help their staff members grow and develop as health-care professionals providing the highest quality care to their patients.
If you have wondered why there are so many conflicting and overlapping theories of leadership and management, it is because management theory is still at an immature (not fully developed) stage as well as being prone to fads (Micklethwait in Wooldridge, 2011). Even so, there is still much that is useful in the theories and much to be learned from them.
table 2-2
Bad Management Styles These are the types of managers you do not want to be and for whom you do not want to work: Know-it-all Self-appointed experts on everything, these managers do not listen to anyone else. Emotionally remote Isolated from the staff and the work going on, these managers do not know what is going on in the
workplace and cannot inspire others. Purely mean Mean, nasty, and dictatorial, these managers look for problems and reasons to criticize. They
diminish people instead of developing them. Overly nice Desperate to please everyone, these managers agree to every idea and request, causing confusion
and spending too much money on useless projects. Afraid to decide Indecisive managers may announce goals for their unit but fail to be clear about their expectations,
assign responsibility, or set deadlines for accomplishment. In the name of fairness, these managers may not distinguish between competent and incompetent, or hardworking and unproductive employees, thus creating an unfair reward system.
Source: Based on Welch, J. & Welch, S. (2007, July 23). Bosses who get it all wrong. Bloomberg Businessweek, 88; Schaffer, R.H. (2010/September). Mistakes leaders keep making. Harvard Business Review, 87–91; Wiseman, L., & McKeown, A. (2010/May). Bringing out the best in your people. Harvard Business Review, Reprint R1005K, 1–5.
Study Questions
1. Why should new graduates decline nursing management positions? At what point do you think a nurse is ready to assume managerial responsibilities?
2. Which theory, scientific management or human relations, do you believe is most useful to nurse managers? Explain your choice.
3. Compare servant leadership with scientific management. Which approach do you prefer? Why? 4. Describe your ideal nurse manager in terms of the person for whom you would most like to
work. Then describe the worst nurse manager you can imagine, and explain why this person would be very difficult to work with.
5. List 10 behaviors of nurse managers and then rank them from least to most important. What rationale(s) did you use in ranking them?