The Nurse as Supervisor and Evaluator

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The Nurse as Supervisor and Evaluator

• Chapter 7

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The Role of the Supervisor

• Directs the activities of others as related to a
  particular endeavor
• Ensures that nursing care of a group of patients
  is
• carried out
• Correctly
• In a timely manner
• Efficiently

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The Role of the Supervisor (contd)

• Oversees the activities of variously educated
  individuals
• Staff nurse has responsibility but little
  authority
• Unit managers and head nurses
• Maintain patient care standards
• Hire
• Formally evaluate
• Fire

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Planning and Organizing the Work of the Team

• Coach
• Aptitudes and skills
• Set stretch goals
• Lead team meetings
• LISTEN
• Implement

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Planning and Organizing the Work of the Team
cont.

• Mentor
• Purposes
• Guide to most productive behaviors
• Help organize and set priorities
• Introduction to key people
• Be an advocate
• Skills
• Value

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Question

• Is the following statement true or false?
• The person serving as a coach to others must
  possess competent skills and be well liked.

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Answer

• False.
• Rationale the person serving as a coach to
  others must possess competent skills and be
  emotionally stable.

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Evaluating Performance

• Includes assuring that the individual being
  observed
• understands the standards and expectations
• that the work is assigned and structured
  appropriately
• that the work is observed
• that performance is judged against the standards
  and expectations

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Providing Feedback

• May be formal or informal
• Positive feedback is
• Frequent
• Timely
• Public
• For all employees
• Accurate
• Sincere
• Objective

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Providing Feedback (contd)

• Negative feedback
• Timely
• Frequent
• Private
• Objective
• Accurate
• Non-threatening
• Suggest changes

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Providing Feedback (contd)

• Select right time and right place
• Use appropriate communication techniques
• Give specific suggestions for change and propose
  alternative approaches
• Be helpful
• Show that you care
• Recognize improvement and encourage independence

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When Errors Occur

• Address both
• The error
• The reason for the error
• Lack of knowledge
• Carelessness
• System problem
• Human error
• Plan for improvement-

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Question

• One of the suggestions for giving negative
  feedback is that it is frequent. What does this
  mean?
• A. You know when your staff is making a lot of
  mistakes and you need to do something about it.
• B. Look for negative things to give feedback on
  to all your staff.
• C. When given frequently, negative feedback is
  less threatening and easier to give.
• D. Always precede a positive comment with a
  negative one.

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Answer

• C. When given frequently, negative feedback is
  less threatening and easier to give.
• Rationale if feedback is provided frequently,
  it becomes less threatening to those receiving it
  and easier for those giving it.

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Performance Appraisal

• Standards for performance appraisal
• Job descriptions
• Policies and procedures
• Standards of nursing practice
• Standards of care

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Performance Appraisal (contd)

• Soft skills
• Customer focus
• Communication skills
• Learning and continuous improvement
• Team player
• Interpersonal skills

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Formal Performance Appraisal System

• Can include self and peer
• Purposes
• To improve the functioning of the organization
• To foster the personal development of the
  employee
• To provide a basis for termination of an employee
  from a position
• Characteristics
• Well-developed evaluation process has the support
  of top administration
• Identify purposes of evaluation
• The person doing it should be well trained

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Formal Performance Appraisal System (contd)

• Data collection
• Accurate
• Address the individuals behavior
• Job-specific
• Representative of the persons work
• Should be written
• Unbiased

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Formal Performance Appraisal System (contd)

• Common problems
• Can be one of the weakest elements in the
  management process if not done correctly
• Can be viewed negatively

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Types of Performance Evaluation Tools

• Narrative-strengths and weaknesses
• Rating scales- most widely used
• Checklist- yes, no or naot applicable
• Goals and objectives- may not work in hospitals
• Methods to decrease rater bias
• Field review- several supervisors evaluate
• Forced choice- best describes or least describes
• Critical incident- time consuming and may record
  only negative

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The Evaluation Interview

• Planning
• Mutually convenient time
• Convenient, private location
• Should not last longer than is necessary
• Conducting
• Socialize about work- related issues
• Goals and objectives
• Direct the tone of the interview

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Potential Errors in Performance Evaluations

• Failing to investigate facts before expressing
  opinions
• Conducting a one-way conversation
• Interrupting the employees thoughts,
  explanations, or questions
• Criticizing the employee rather than the
  performance
• Smoothing over real deficiencies and problems
• Allowing the interview to deteriorate into a
  social visit

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Progressive Discipline

• Goal-
• correct behavior
• set stage for termination
• Steps
• Coaching- steps for improvement and time frame
• Verbal warning- formal meeting and is documented
• Written warning- job is at risk
• Termination or suspension

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Progressive Discipline (contd)

• Critical elements
• Prove that the alleged acts did, in fact, occur
• Sufficiently serious to warrant disciplinary
  action
• Common pitfalls
• Lack of adequate documentation
• The tendency to write a positive terminal
  evaluation for the employee who has performed
  unsatisfactorily if they agree to resign

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Question

• One of the critical elements in disciplinary
  actions involves proving that the employees
  behaviors were serious enough to warrant being
  disciplined. How is that accomplished?
• A. The conduct that is being criticized must not
  have been ignored earlier.
• B. Leave notes in the employee mailbox telling
  them of expected improvements.
• C. Ask someone else to sit in on the
  disciplinary action.
• D. There must be a signed contract with the
  employee for improvement.

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Answer

• A. The conduct that is being criticized must not
  have been ignored earlier.
• Rationale this means that the conduct that is
  being criticized must not have been condoned
  earlier, ignored, or forgiven.

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Problematic Responses to Evaluation

• Crying
• Anger and hostility
• Providing excuses

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Self-Evaluation

• Critical component of professional practice
• Be as objective about yourself as possible
• Provide behavioral examples to support your
  self-evaluation
• Recognize areas in which you are demonstrating
  very good or even excellent performance
• Identify areas in which you seek to grow and
  improve

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Peer Evaluation

• Everyone must take the responsibility seriously
  and approach it the same way
• Should have a standard format built around job
  descriptions
• Should build trust between employees and focus on
  potential growth

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Question

• Is the following statement true or false?
• Peer evaluations can be especially important in
  areas where the supervisor has limited contact
  with the person being evaluated.

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Answer

• True.
• Rationale peer evaluations may be especially
  important when a supervisor has a very broad span
  of control and has limited contact with
  individuals to be evaluated, and, therefore,
  limited behavioral observations to support
  evaluation.

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Responding to a Personal Evaluation

• Positive performance appraisal
• Accept compliments with dignity
• Reinforces the action of the person providing you
  with feedback
• Negative performance appraisal
• Provides opportunity for verification,
  clarification, or expansion
• Construct a self-improvement plan
• Construct a plan for ongoing feedback