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Employer Quotes

The quotes below are from employers in this industry: Health Care

They are talking about this topic: General Skills

 

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Nurses are often required to assume management and supervisory roles as they enter the field. This is difficult for new hires that lack leadership training.

Employer Quote Region
"If we are looking at the RNs and LPNs when they are hired into a nursing home setting, they instantly become kind of the leaders, or the managers, for that area. And they come in without leadership/management skills. Their interpersonal skills are always mastered. Their clinical skills are great, but it seems like there was a lack of training or education on how to step into that management position." Central
"We are actually moving to hiring only four-year degreed RNs for our long-term care facility. And we have standard long-term care, we have sub-acute, and then we have memory care. And because of the leadership skills that they need, we are finding that that's a better choice for us as we move forward." Central
"The other skill that I think goes with that is the ability to delegate. As we move forward with changing reimbursement, and health care reform, and everyone practicing at the top of their license—I'm going to have to be sure that I have the ability to effectively hand things off. And I think new graduates struggle more with the delegation." Central
"I don't think that's something that they are told through their education—that this is a leadership position. No matter if you are on the third shift or on the late shift, you are definitely probably at the top of the chain, you know? But I don't think they come in expecting to have that responsibility." Central
"Employer 1: If I had two applicants and one had leadership and management skills and one didn't—I would hire the one with those skills. But, you know, we have to train it because they don't have it. But if these schools could teach something in those areas—some type of leadership, some type of management—that'd be helpful. Because no matter who you are, if you're a LPN or an RN, you are going to have to work with the nursing assistants that were hire. And so you need to be professional, you need to be the leader, you need to be the one that makes sure that things get done the right way.

Employer 2: At least have the understanding that that's going to be expected of you.

Employer 1: Yes.

Employer 2: Because I don't think they even get that.

Employer 1: Yeah, they don't realize that's going to be expected."		 Central
"Teamwork. Coaching." Central
"People management." Central
"With the leadership skills, we consistently see our nurses—who are required to be leaders on any floor that they are working on—not being able to handle employees, not being able to direct them. So, we have to do training. And I feel, especially in a registered nurse role, they should be coming in with a good solid background of what would be expected of them." Central
"They understand the technical and medical aspects of being nurse, but not the person connected to the leadership part of it." Central
"Give them some skills in project management that can be applied to changes that are happening in our world. So, basic project management skills would help, and then some foundation type of leadership skills." Metro
"What we're seeing is that care is becoming much more complex. We need people who can think critically and act on their feet. We need people who are good not only with family members, but also with physicians and other team members. They need to take that leadership role. We really think that the education level of the RN needs to go up." Metro
"I think, as we look into the future, we're going to need registered nursing leaders and lab leaders who are not afraid of change and who are very innovative. We need people who have the ability to think about new ways of delivering health care to a population that is getting sicker as our staffing is becoming more challenging." Metro
"We look for, especially in a nurse, a sense of leadership. They are on the floor, on the unit, and they are the leader of that health care team. There may be the RN, the LPN, and the nursing assistant, but the RN is really the owner of the care on the unit. So, you need to have someone who understands that, and is willing to accept that responsibility. Which means they think, 'Gosh, if something happens to one of my patients, whether I did it or the LPN did it, I should have caught it and I'll take ownership of it to make sure it doesn't happen again.' I mean, it's not punitive things. It's just like, 'This shouldn't happen. This isn't our standard of care, I recognize that, and we're going to fix that.' So, I think that sense of leadership and that accountability is very important—especially today, now that some of our payment relies on how our patients and their families rate us on the care." Northeast
"Employer 1: I think they're great at what they do, but how to relate to the challenges. And sometimes the CNAs that report to them are kind of difficult, especially with them not being graduates.

Question: So, if you're an LPN, you're going to have CNAs reporting to you?

Employer 1: It depends on the shift. If we have our LPN as a charge nurse, then the CNAs will have to report to them.

Employer 2: We have LPNs who are team leaders for our CNAs. But we also have RN supervisors who are directing the care for that, in either a work area or the entire building, on the late shifts."		 Northwest
"Question: And do the RNs sometimes have the same struggles with leadership?

Employer: Some, yes. And again it's the newer employees. But, you know, for some it's just because they haven't had the experience of being in a leadership position before."		 Northwest
"When I think of some of our new RNs that are coming in, they may have had that CNA experience. They're ready to go, they're smart, and they're tech-savvy. But the one thing that they haven't done—if they haven't worked through the path in health care—is have leadership experience. And so they're brand new, they're out on the floor, now they're being challenged in their work areas by needing to supervise staff, direct some care, answer to families, and so just a little more leadership would be helpful.

Question: So, they haven't had that kind of experience?

Employer: Right. It ties into not having had a leadership position before. And now we're putting them into that role, and finding that they're very challenged with that.

Question: You see that particularly with recent graduates? This may be their first job out of school?

Employer: Someone who's maybe a second-career student that has life experience behind them comes in with more natural leadership ability—maybe it's the 35-year-old RN versus the 25-year-old RN."		 Northwest
"So, maybe with the nursing students include management skills instead of just having the hands-on care. You maybe also need to add that now—a nursing management piece—where they actually have a semester or two to prepare for that. Because, as a registered nurse, they will be a manager." Southeast
"But when they get into, for instance, an assisted living facility or long-term care facility, one RN might need to oversee lots of work. It isn't just, 'I've got three or four people,' it's 'I've got maybe 30 people that I have to think about, and I have to oversee the care that everyone else does. I'm responsible for that.' So, that person needs to be able to figure all that out and prioritize and be able then to communicate what needs to be done. Prioritizing, communicating, and feeling comfortable with that. There is—especially for young people—understandably, a lot of angst about that. So, communication sometimes becomes, 'How comfortable do I feel not only communicating with people face-to-face, but also being able to prioritize, being able to say the right things, and making sure that right things are being done?' And that is challenging in that work setting for new people. We expect a lot out of our nurses. And, you know, if someone is experienced and you've developed personal confidence in them, it's a little easier. But for new people that are coming onboard—and often times we're hiring new people—it seems that's a challenge for them. And we really have to support them along the way, walk alongside them as they grow those skills." Southeast
"What I see happening is that most nurses don't have management skill sets. They get into the setting of long-term care, and they have to oversee nurses' aides. It would really help if they came in there knowing that they were going to be doing that, and were prepared to do that." Southeast