Human Resource Strategies for Nurse Managers

Guest Blog by Tyana Daley

Even the most experienced nursing managers can sometimes find it challenging to develop and adopt effective human resources strategies that balance organizational goals with the financial considerations of an organization. With the current nursing shortage, this is one of the most critical times for nursing managers to address human resources issues, including determining staffing needs and recruiting and retaining employees. Having an effective strategy in place will also help balance the goal of building a culture that will attract high-quality employees with other goals such as lowering costs and improving patient service.

Planning for Nursing Human Resources Needs

Effective nursing managers recognize the important role that planning plays in implementing effective strategies and accomplishing organizational goals. Planning can also be a critical component in building and maintaining an experienced and stable team of nurses with the right mix of skills, knowledge and abilities whose attitudes and values are a good fit for the job and the organization.

Nursing managers should develop a plan and process for soliciting input from employees regarding key human resources issues. Employee feedback not only contributes to employees feeling that they have a part in the decision-making process but also provides managers with helpful and accurate information to consider for other policies, such as professional development and continuing education, which can obviously have a significant impact on recruitment and retention.

Recruitment and Retention

Nursing managers must develop a recruitment process that addresses all hiring stages, including identifying open positions, finding and attracting candidates, interviewing and selecting a candidate and making a job offer. As part of this process, managers must also develop specific strategies for locating qualified candidates, such as job fairs, student recruiting, online recruiting, referral bonuses and print and online advertising.

A thorough interview process will help managers select the proper candidate by assessing a candidate’s attitude toward patient care and prospective fit with the current team. By making sure that a candidate’s philosophy of care and general attitude mesh well with other employees, managers can foster teamwork and positive manager-employee relations, both of which contribute to quality patient care.

Retention is an important factor in patient care as experienced staff members can be less likely to make errors and typically have the skills and knowledge to deliver high quality care, even in more challenging cases. Continuing education opportunities, flexible schedules, mentoring programs and recognition programs are all excellent ways to improve retention.

Professional Development

Professional development is an excellent tool for increasing retention and also for improving patient care. Professional development can include topics such as orientation for new staff and internal training on organizational values, ethics and patient care delivery. It can also involve encouraging nurses to attend patient care conferences or other nursing-related conferences and offering tuition reimbursement for undergraduate or graduate degrees.

Other professional development options include allowing nurses to give presentations at workshops, conferences and staff trainings or to have access to clinical instructors, medical libraries, electronic databases and other resources.

Best Practices in Building a Positive Work Culture

Nursing managers can have a significant impact on employee satisfaction, retention and productivity by implementing best practices to create an effective and positive nursing environment. Effective managers offer staff nurses the opportunity to participate in decision making, which gives nurses a sense of responsibility and autonomy. This, in turn, contributes to job satisfaction and to the quality and efficiency of patient care.

Nursing managers should also seek to build a positive work culture and environment by clearly defining roles and responsibilities, being responsive to changes in staffing, communicating regularly and openly with staff, developing effective processes and ensuring that team members work together in a supportive manner.

Collaborative and inter-professional teaming can be another effective management technique. These types of team structures, sometimes called collaborative practice or interdisciplinary collaboration, encourage partnership and a multidisciplinary approach to patient care. They can also help nursing staff meet patient needs more effectively and efficiently while simultaneously improving employee retention rates.

Tyana Daley is a writer for University Alliance. She covers topics in the health care and human resources industries.