EMPOWER, LEAD, TRANSFORM: YOUR GUIDE TO MODERN
NURSING LEADERSHIP
1. A nurse manager of a 20-bed medical unit finds that 80% of the patients are older adults. She
is asked to assess and adapt the unit to better meet the unique needs of the older adult patient.
Using complexity principles, what would be the best approach to take for implementation of this
change?
a. Leverage the hierarchical management position to get unit staff involved in
assessment and planning.
b. Engage involved staff at all levels in the decision-making process.
c. Focus the assessment on the unit and omit the hospital and community
environment.
d. Hire a geriatric specialist to oversee and control the project.
ANS: B
Complexity theory suggests that systems interact and adapt and that decision making occurs
throughout the systems, as opposed to being held in a hierarchy. In complexity theory, every
voice counts, and therefore, all levels of staff would be involved in decision making.
TOP: AONE competency: Communication and Relationship-Building
2. A unit manager of a 25-bed medical/surgical area receives a phone call from a nurse who has
called in sick five times in the past month. He tells the manager that he very much wants to come
to work when scheduled but must often care for his wife, who is undergoing treatment for breast
cancer. According to Maslow's need hierarchy theory, what would be the best approach to
satisfying the needs of this nurse, other staff, and patients?
a. Line up agency nurses who can be called in to work on short notice.
b. Place the nurse on unpaid leave for the remainder of his wife's treatment.
c. Sympathize with the nurse's dilemma and let the charge nurse know that this nurse may be
calling in frequently in the future.
d. Work with the nurse, staffing office, and other nurses to arrange his scheduled
days off around his wife's treatments.
, ANS: D
Placing the nurse on unpaid leave may threaten the nurse's capacity to meet physiologic needs
and demotivate the nurse. Unsatisfactory coverage of shifts on short notice could affect patient
care and threaten the needs of staff to feel competent. Arranging the schedule around the wife's
needs meets the needs of the staff and of patients while satisfying the nurse's need for affiliation.
TOP: AONE competency: Communication and Relationship-Building
3. A grievance brought by a staff nurse against the unit manager requires mediation. At the first
mediation session, the staff nurse repeatedly calls the unit manager's actions unfair, and the unit
manager continues to reiterate the reasons for the actions. What would be the best course of
action at this time?
a. Send the two disputants away to reach their own resolution.
b. Involve another staff nurse in the discussion for clarity issues.
c. Ask each party to examine their own motives and issues in the conflict.
d. Continue to listen as the parties repeat their thoughts and feelings about the
conflict.
ANS: C
For resolution of conflict, one should address the interests and involvement of participants in the
conflict by examining the real issues of all parties.
4. At a second negotiation session, the unit manager and staff nurse are unable to reach a
resolution. What is the appropriate next step?
a. Arrange another meeting in a week's time so as to allow a cooling-off period.
b. Elevate the next negation session to the next manager, one level above.
c. Insist that participants continue to talk until a resolution has been reached.
d. Back the unit manager's actions and end the dispute.
ANS: B
NURSING LEADERSHIP
1. A nurse manager of a 20-bed medical unit finds that 80% of the patients are older adults. She
is asked to assess and adapt the unit to better meet the unique needs of the older adult patient.
Using complexity principles, what would be the best approach to take for implementation of this
change?
a. Leverage the hierarchical management position to get unit staff involved in
assessment and planning.
b. Engage involved staff at all levels in the decision-making process.
c. Focus the assessment on the unit and omit the hospital and community
environment.
d. Hire a geriatric specialist to oversee and control the project.
ANS: B
Complexity theory suggests that systems interact and adapt and that decision making occurs
throughout the systems, as opposed to being held in a hierarchy. In complexity theory, every
voice counts, and therefore, all levels of staff would be involved in decision making.
TOP: AONE competency: Communication and Relationship-Building
2. A unit manager of a 25-bed medical/surgical area receives a phone call from a nurse who has
called in sick five times in the past month. He tells the manager that he very much wants to come
to work when scheduled but must often care for his wife, who is undergoing treatment for breast
cancer. According to Maslow's need hierarchy theory, what would be the best approach to
satisfying the needs of this nurse, other staff, and patients?
a. Line up agency nurses who can be called in to work on short notice.
b. Place the nurse on unpaid leave for the remainder of his wife's treatment.
c. Sympathize with the nurse's dilemma and let the charge nurse know that this nurse may be
calling in frequently in the future.
d. Work with the nurse, staffing office, and other nurses to arrange his scheduled
days off around his wife's treatments.
, ANS: D
Placing the nurse on unpaid leave may threaten the nurse's capacity to meet physiologic needs
and demotivate the nurse. Unsatisfactory coverage of shifts on short notice could affect patient
care and threaten the needs of staff to feel competent. Arranging the schedule around the wife's
needs meets the needs of the staff and of patients while satisfying the nurse's need for affiliation.
TOP: AONE competency: Communication and Relationship-Building
3. A grievance brought by a staff nurse against the unit manager requires mediation. At the first
mediation session, the staff nurse repeatedly calls the unit manager's actions unfair, and the unit
manager continues to reiterate the reasons for the actions. What would be the best course of
action at this time?
a. Send the two disputants away to reach their own resolution.
b. Involve another staff nurse in the discussion for clarity issues.
c. Ask each party to examine their own motives and issues in the conflict.
d. Continue to listen as the parties repeat their thoughts and feelings about the
conflict.
ANS: C
For resolution of conflict, one should address the interests and involvement of participants in the
conflict by examining the real issues of all parties.
4. At a second negotiation session, the unit manager and staff nurse are unable to reach a
resolution. What is the appropriate next step?
a. Arrange another meeting in a week's time so as to allow a cooling-off period.
b. Elevate the next negation session to the next manager, one level above.
c. Insist that participants continue to talk until a resolution has been reached.
d. Back the unit manager's actions and end the dispute.
ANS: B
