Journal 8

Last Wednesday marked my last clinical day with my preceptor. It was sad that all too soon we were parting ways. I really enjoyed the times that we had to spend together and very appreciated how she aveiled herself for me to learn from her.
We talked about what I was going to do in the future as well as what she was going to do in the future.
She later had a meeting with her staff to discuss team work as some of the staff members were not being team player friendly. She let them know that the way they work together can affect the quality of care that is provided to the patient. Hopefully with that in mind the staff members will do more to work together as patient is the main focus.

We exchanged a few more words and I thanked her for all her help at the end my day. It was a great learning experience.

Journal 7

My day with my preceptor last Wednesday was a quiet one. We went to a meeting by the trauma department to give a presentation about what her unit, palliative care unit, is about. The doctors who were present at the meeting were glad that presentation was made because they had a misconception that the palliative unit was hospice unit.
After that we put together evaluation packets for some of her staff. It was amazing the number of evaluations she had to have completed within a very short time coupled with the other things she has to do as a manager. We talked about how challenging the job as a manager can be but then one matures a great deal after going through all these challenges successfully.

Journal 6

On the 4th of November, I was with my preceptor one of our activities for the day really touched me. She manages a palliative care unit where they have some of the patients due to terminal illnesses. She has made arrangements with the Chaplain to organize some memorial services once a month so that these people can be remembered and the staff can talk about how they feel about working with patients who are dying.

It was a very emotional moment because some of the stories that some of the staff members told of the patients they had taking care of were just wonderful and sad at the same time. One of them spoke of a young woman who had died at 29 years old who had two young children and a seven months old baby.

Afterwards, the Chaplain said a prayer, I closed my eyes and tears were streaming down my cheeks. I think it is a good thing that she has that arranged as an outlet for the staff to voice out how they feel. I can not image if the staff on this unit had to bottle in all their emotions and how they feel about the patients they for.

Journal 5

My preceptor and I spent most part of our day in a meeting, LIST (Leadership Implementation Support Team) meeting. This meeting was to discuss the impaired employee. In attendance was the psych nurse, the head of the pharmacy department, an HR representative and most of the unit managers.

The impaired employee that was being talked about was the one is using alcohol, illicit drugs or even prescription drugs which renders them unsafe to take care of patients. Things to look out for were discussed as well as the help and resources that are available to the people who find themselves in such situations.

The head of the pharmacy department spoke of some the investigations that have been conducted over the years. I have always heard of physicians and some nurses in other hospitals who had been fired or lost their license because they were found to be impaired or stealing narcotics. To know that an institution that I work with also has some employees, nurses, pharmacists and physicians alike who have been found to be impaired or stealing narcotics gave me chills. Knowing that there were resources available through the employer was comforting. Also teaching the staff not to judgemental of these individuals should be taken seriously so that these people will know that it is okay to ask for help.

Journal 4

This week, on the day that I had to meet with my preceptor, she had to be at the HR office most part of the day to prepare the necessary documents for an employee she was getting ready to terminate. She explained to me that she had given this employee lots of oppotunities to change her attitude and ways about work. This employee according to her was making racial remarks at both co-workers and patients as well as not giving the proper patient care she was suppose to. I was not allowed in the whole termination process but she expressed how difficult it is to be the carrier of bad news.

While she was away, she asked me to perform clean sweeps and overall skin checks of the patients on the unit. These activities are carried out to ensure that the nurses are doing what they are suppose to do with respect to having things they work with be in the right place and keep proper record of the patient's skin condition as well as if they develop something new during admission. She also asked me to help her with typing up some treatment protocols her unit was hoping to adapt so that the doctors are called less and patients receive the needed treatment on time. Sometimes the doctors take a long time to call back with orders for the patient so these protocols will help reduce the time that an order has to be obtained from the doctor.

Journal 3

My preceptor had to be out of the office so I had the permission of the Director of nursing to sit in a meeting of unit managers. This meeting was very interesting. The managers were sharing with each other their different experiences and what helps to make each others work a little easier. The Vice President of Nursing Operations was also there to explain in detail the new employee evaluation process. This meeting in my opinion was a good one because the managers got to share ideas and it even helps to create more cordial relationships amongst themselves. Some of the managers that I spoke to were also very happy about the meeting and the new things they had learnt. it was a day well spent.

Journal 2

I was with my preceptor in the 19th of September and worked on her staffing and unit budget. Her unit has not been meeting the needed census in order to keep all her staff on schedule so she was trying to find ways of having her staff work on other units in order to make up their lost hours because they had to canceled. Also she was making sure that the staff who were attending meetings are paid as such and not as if they were working.

I felt bad for her that her staff were upset with her for them getting canceled as if it was her fault they all could not be kept on the schedule. I learned that in times like these as the manager one can not take these things personal but be an effective leader and handle the situation at stake as well as being sensitive to the staff's situation. This will most likely change thier mind set that you as their leader care about them.

Journal 1

I met my preceptor for the first time on the 17th of September. We spent 4 hours of the day together attending meetings and I did a clean sweep of the unit which she oversees. One of the meetings had to do with how the managers need to make their staffing more effective in order not to pay so much overtime because the institution is also suffering from the economic crisis. This gave me more insight as why the managers put in somuch effort to make sure that they stay within budget. it also got me to see that being a manager is not only manager patient care and the unit. it was really an eye opener.
The clean- sweep was to ensure that everything on the unit out side of the patient's room is in its correct place. It is done to promote safety of both the employee, the patients and their families.
I did learn after this session that a lot more goes into becoming an effective leader than I thought.

Greetings

I am Adjoa Akuoko. I am looking forward to graduating this December but it is not going to be an easy finish. I believe having a good start though will help bring everything to a good finish. I am looking forward to working with every one and best of luck to all of us.