Reflective Journal Nursing
Description of the Experience
The position of a manager is a foreign occupation to me. I have worked as a charge nurse for about 3 years but to be manager has always seemed overwhelming to me. I have to the opportunity to precept with Wayne Martin, who is currently the manager over the Emergency Department at Southeastern Health. He is also managing the MedCare Unit which is a critical care transport team for the hospital. To begin the morning, we started with a financial meeting with different departments such as the IT department and different business departments. The emergency department is required to go to this meeting because this is the initial part of patient care. Discussions seemed every overwhelming to me. I have never really understood the financial situation of the hospital but with the changes with Obamacare, the hospital has really taken a big hit. Conversations about cost and ways of saving and processing patients seemed to be the focus. In my opinion, the individuals involved with this meeting see patients as dollars bills and not humans. It was very dishearten to hear some of the discussions. I do understand that bills have to get paid but it was very foreign to me.
After the first big meeting, we had to go to small meetings such as one about the approval of painting the emergency room. This has to be approved by the infection control nurse. Then the manager has to round on different patients. A situation with a patient who sat in the ER for 10 hours without being offered a meal had to be address. After evaluating the situation, the problem was miscommunication. A small meeting with the charge nurse, registration, and the triage nurse was done to discuss the game plan for the day. After that meeting, we had to go to another meeting in which every department must inform how many patients they have and productivity for the day.
Finally, I discovered that we were taking a field trip to another meeting at RCC. Wayne
The position of a manager is a foreign occupation to me. I have worked as a charge nurse for about 3 years but to be manager has always seemed overwhelming to me. I have to the opportunity to precept with Wayne Martin, who is currently the manager over the Emergency Department at Southeastern Health. He is also managing the MedCare Unit which is a critical care transport team for the hospital. To begin the morning, we started with a financial meeting with different departments such as the IT department and different business departments. The emergency department is required to go to this meeting because this is the initial part of patient care. Discussions seemed every overwhelming to me. I have never really understood the financial situation of the hospital but with the changes with Obamacare, the hospital has really taken a big hit. Conversations about cost and ways of saving and processing patients seemed to be the focus. In my opinion, the individuals involved with this meeting see patients as dollars bills and not humans. It was very dishearten to hear some of the discussions. I do understand that bills have to get paid but it was very foreign to me.
After the first big meeting, we had to go to small meetings such as one about the approval of painting the emergency room. This has to be approved by the infection control nurse. Then the manager has to round on different patients. A situation with a patient who sat in the ER for 10 hours without being offered a meal had to be address. After evaluating the situation, the problem was miscommunication. A small meeting with the charge nurse, registration, and the triage nurse was done to discuss the game plan for the day. After that meeting, we had to go to another meeting in which every department must inform how many patients they have and productivity for the day.
Finally, I discovered that we were taking a field trip to another meeting at RCC. Wayne