Solutions
According to Bridges, what are the components of transitions?
Correct Answers ~Three overlapping stages
~Endings more significant than beginnings
~Tendency to focus on benefits of the beginning
~Emotions are strongest around loss
~When endings are not addressed the repressed feelings emerge
in other ways
According to Lewin you must first unfreeze the team to create
enthusiasm for a change. What is the best way for a manager to
do that? Correct Answers A nurse manager can create
momentum for a change by providing staff with opportunities to
articulate their dissatisfaction with the current state and make
suggestions for how to improve the existing system.
According to the principals of Crisis Management, what do front
line workers need? Correct Answers Front line workers need
training, empowerment, and support after the crisis.
Describe Total Quality Management (TQM)? Correct Answers
TQM originated in the 1950's in factories as a process for
quality, which focused on doing things right the first time rather
than checking for mistakes. TQM was based on the concept that
faulty systems primarily cause failures, not people (Deming,
1989).
Due to low census you have been asked to combine your unit
with another. What are the first steps the nurse manager should
,take? Correct Answers If asked to combine units to save money
the first thing the nurse manager should do is talk to the nurse
manager whose unit is being combined and begin to develop a
transition strategy. Together they should anticipate the response
from their staff and organize a staff task force to begin to
address the issue. Ideally this task force could be a part of shared
governance.
How can a manager run an effective meeting when the staff are
too busy with patient care to leave the unit? Correct Answers In
today's environment not all staff can attend face-to-face
meetings because of work and personal responsibilities that
impact their availability. Nurse manager need to be creative in
finding other ways to deliver information including on-line
meetings, teleconferences, blogs, electronic discussion groups,
and shared governance councils.
How can a nurse manager create an environment where
creativity, innovation, and change are embraced by the staff?
Correct Answers The best way for a nurse manager to create an
environment where creativity, innovation, and change are
embraced by the staff is to form an innovation task force and
solicit suggestions. The manager must also reward staff who
demonstrate creativity and innovation in whatever way the
individual staff would appreciate it.
How can bias effect the manager when performing an employee
annual evaluation? Correct Answers Some examples of bias by
the rater during an annual evaluation would be: Allowing an
employee's positive personality to influence your scoring;
having one bad recent experience that influence your view of the
,whole year of performance; and giving credit good or bad this
year for something they did in previous years.
How can you avoid the storming stage? Correct Answers It
actually is not a good idea to try and avoid the storming stage.
Storming is a normal part of change and helps the individuals to
understand the details of the mission. The emotional intensity of
the storming dialogue can be improved by recognizing that
conflict is a healthy part of change and brings potential issues to
the forefront. Avoiding the issues could hinder long-term
success. A way to improve the dynamics is to develop ground
rules for effective dialogue with the group early on.
How do highly effective people communicate? Correct Answers
Highly effective people (Covey, 1990) seek first to understand
the other person, before they try to explain their position on the
issue.
How do you create a safe environment for a cause analysis
project? Correct Answers The way to create a safe environment
for a root cause analysis team is to have a skilled facilitator who
sets ground rules and creates a safe environment where everyone
can speak honestly. Leadership must also make a commitment
not to punish employees who give honest feedback.
How do you create a zero tolerance policy for safety related to
patient falls? Correct Answers To create a zero tolerance policy
for patient falls the nurse manager should talk to the shared
governance quality chair and ask them to explore with staff what
the issues are related to patient falls on their unit. Based on staff
feedback the approach could include evidence based practices
, related to patients falls; hiring more staff, including sitters to
watch the high risk patients; and instituting hourly rounding to
include documenting patient fall prevention checks.
How important are the words in communication. Correct
Answers Mehrabian (1981) suggested that in volatile situations
people only hear 7% of the words that are being said. The other
55% of communication is body language and 38% the tone.
How should you design a meeting to discuss a topic that
involves a lot of tension and opinions? Correct Answers When
preparing a meeting that could contain a lot of tense discussions
it is important to be sensitive to the tension regarding the topic
and ask staff for input for agenda topics. Then, create an agenda
that clearly explains the topics for the meeting, so people have
time to prepare for the discussion. It is best to hold the meeting
face-to-face and create an atmosphere where people feel safe to
express their opinions.
How should you handle a team in the storming stage? Correct
Answers In the storming stage conflict is high, so as leader your
best response would be to accept that storming is a normal stage
of development and remind the team of their mission. Then
create a safe environment for staff to share their feelings and
move toward an acceptable solution based on the common
vision.
Senior staff refusing to work night shifts because they have
seniority is an example of which stage of the change process?
Correct Answers Senior staff refusing to work night shifts
because they have seniority is an example of Storming.