CNO Advice for New Nurse Leaders

As  I mentioned in a previous blog, each year in our Introduction to Nursing Leadership graduate course, students select a chief  nursing officer in a health care agency to interview.  The students have a list of questions that they ask and then add some of their own.  One of the questions that the students enjoy hearing the answer to involves the advice that these seasoned leaders would give to nurses just beginning their leadership career.  Here is a list of the advice given by our 23 Chief Nursing Officers in Florida interviewed in 2015:

• Take care of your staff so they can take care of patients.
• Think about the CEO and COO roles – look beyond nursing after you gain experience.
• Keeping learning and do each role well.
• Stop saying you aren’t good with the budget – learn the financial piece and be confident.
• Don’t jump into a leadership role unless you are 100% invested.
• Advance your education – get certified…stay educated about healthcare changes.
• Be flexible – say yes if possible.
• Don’t get discourage but be willing to leave your comfort zone.
• Don’t take things too personally.
• Be willing to leave a position if it is not working.
• Demonstrate that you are a problem solver.
• Make yourself visible.
• Develop career goals and stay focused.
• Realize that failure is OK – you will learn more from your failures even if they hurt.
• Don’t compromise your values.
• Observe leaders – then develop your own style.
• Always walk the talk.
• Dress the part – executive presence matters.
• Smile more.
• Say thank you – all the time.
• Be a person of your word.
• Manage your time and that of others well.
• Don’t let go of your sense of humor.
• Take care of yourself – otherwise, you will not be able to sustain yourself in the role.
• Put yourself in uncomfortable situations – this is how you learn.
• Don’t be threatened – surround yourself with the best people you can find.
• Leadership is all about relationships – you must engage the hearts and minds of others.
• Feel the fear and just do it.
• Give yourself time to find your niche.
• It may be scary but don’t stop – 90% of leadership is showing up day after day.
• You have to love what you do or you won’t do it well.
• Listen more than you speak.
• Make your bed in the morning – then you will have accomplished the first task of the day.
• Find a good mentor and read leadership books.
• Seize the day – and believe it is yours to seize.
• Be open to change – limit your use of the word NO – say maybe instead.
• At the end of the day – write down 3 important things that you did for staff or patients.

Great advice here for both emerging and current nurse leaders.