By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
A challenge that frontline leaders talk about today is the balance between being supportive with staff while confronting negative behavior so it does not destroy moral. What follows is a common scenario that many leaders have discussed with me during recent coaching workshops.
Renee is an experienced staff nurse in your emergency department. She has excellent clinical skills, but you have noted that she can be very negative escalating even minor situations into major dramas on the unit. Other staff finds it difficult to work with her. Renee has been highly critical of the health system leadership team during COVID-19. You have tried to be supportive, listening to her concerns both privately and in staff meetings. The negativity is spinning out of control and is impacting the morale of the ED staff. During a staff meeting this morning, she described the policies around PPE as indicating how management must think nurses are dispensable.
In her work on reality-based leadership, Cy Wakeman talks about the need for leaders to change the way people think about and perceive their circumstances. The leader needs to be the one who deals with the facts, clarifies roles, gives clear and direct feedback, and insists that everyone does the same-without drama or defensiveness. While nurse leaders may want to support Renee, the drama she creates in the ED impacts both the morale of others and ultimately patient outcomes because the staff doesn’t want to work with her. While there may be validity to some of Renee’s complaints, PPE use and availability are ongoing challenges for most health systems. Renee’s negativity is not leading to any constructive solutions.
An effective coaching strategy in this situation would be to use the Situation – Behavior – Impact – Way Forward approach recommended by the Center for Creative Leadership. This approach focuses on the behavior and not the person. It is solutions and future-oriented.
Situation – At our staff meeting this morning, we were discussing the new PPE policies.
Behavior – You said that management here must think nurses are dispensable.
Impact – It may not be your intent, but your negative comments are impacting the morale of the ED team. The staff is finding it difficult to work with you. None of us has any extra energy at a time like this to deal with
Way Forward – I need your support and commitment to show up differently here at work. You are an experienced nurse who is a role model for others. What would great from you look like in this situation?
Renee’s negativity could be an outcome of her fear and anxiety about her safety. Renee may feel she is losing control of her life. If she has school-age children at home, she could be struggling with the frequent changes in decisions about online versus live classes. These concerns might come up in the conversation. If it does, a good strategy would be Using the Circle of Influence with Your Staff to talk through what is in her control and what might not be at this time. These are not easy times for frontline leaders. Many tell me that their discussions with staff often exhaust them because they are so emotional. Yet if there was ever a time for frontline leaders to coach staff, it is now.
Don’t let nurse leaders in your organization go without development in 2020. A Coaching Staff to Promote Resilience program is available or schedule your customized Nuts and Bolts of Nursing Leadership Virtual Workshop taught by experts for either new or experienced leaders. Nuts and Bolts Flyer
Read Rose Sherman’s book available now – The Nurse Leader Coach: Become the Boss No One Wants to Leave
© emergingrnleader.com 2020
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