Running head: MANAGER INTERVIEW ANALYSIS
Manager Interview Analysis
Danielle Elore
Ferris State University
1
MANAGER INTERVIEW ANALYSIS
2
Manager Interview Analysis
According to Yoder-Wise (2015) “nurse managers have the responsibility of day-to-day
decisions for their units, and they must manage change and also lead change initiatives that have
positive impact on patient outcomes in the interest of patient quality and safety” (p. 53). The
purpose of this document will be to analyze a manager by examining an interview held with a
nurse manager. The nurse manager I will be examining is M.A. MSN, RN, CCRN-CSC. M.A.
started out her nursing career by obtaining an Associate Degree in Nursing in 1991 from Glen
Oaks Community College; she later graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1997
from University of Detroit Mercy and received a Master of Science in Nursing in 2004 from the
University of Phoenix (personal communication, February 11, 2015). She has an anticipated
graduation in May 2015 from Loyola University in Chicago with a Doctor of Nursing Practice
degree (M.L.A., personal communication, February 11, 2015). Her employment history started at
Northern Michigan Hospital (now McLaren Northern Michigan) in 1991 as an Intensive Care
Unit (ICU) RN (M.L.A., personal communication, February 11, 2015). She has also worked at
Macomb Hospital in Warren, MI, in the Emergency Department and Good Samaritan Banner in
Phoenix, AZ, in the Cardiovascular ICU (M.L.A., personal communication, February 11, 2015).
M.A. started her career at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, AZ in 1998 where she was an ICU
RN; she later transitioned to a Team Leader there; then in 2003 became Supervisor of
ICU/Dialysis and finally, in 2004 became ICU nurse manager, which is the position she currently
holds (personal communication, February 11, 2015). M.A. is a certified Critical Care Registered
Nurse with a Certification in Cardiac Surgery (personal communication, February 11, 2015).
MANAGER INTERVIEW ANALYSIS
3
Role and Responsibilities
M.A.’s current role is to manage a thirty bed ICU at Mayo Clinic Hospital (personal
communication, February 11, 2015). M.A. states her responsibilities include:
24/7 accountability, quality, patient outcomes, staffing, hiring, firing/disciplinary action,
budget (operational/capital), ensuring education completed by staff, Secretary of
Resuscitation Subcommittee, code blue team, rapid response team, cardiac transport team,
represent ICU on various hospital committees, participate in practice convergence with
Mayo Clinic sites, represent nursing on several hospital committees, resolve/respond to
patient complaints, follow up with physician complaints, etc. (personal communication,
February 11, 2015).
M.A. describes the organizational structure to be flat. The nursing structure consists of four
subcommittees that include: education, research, practice and quality; each of these report to the
Nursing Executive Committee, the Hospital Nursing Leadership Council and the Ambulatory
Nursing Leadership Council (M.L.A., personal communication, February 11, 2015). M.A.
describes the culture of her unit as “providing the best nursing care with a high level of
teamwork between nurses, shifts, departments and physicians” (personal communication,
February 11, 2015). M.A. states she reports to the Nurse Administrator, who then reports to the
Chief Nursing Officer. The staff that report to her include: two supervisors, seven team leaders,
quality RN, two educators, administrative assistant, informatics RN, as well as 140 floor staff
(M.L.A., personal communication, February 11, 2015).
Communication and Relationship-Building
According to the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) (2011) “managers
at all levels must be competent in: I. Communication and relationship-building II. Knowledge of
MANAGER INTERVIEW ANALYSIS
4
the health care environment III. Leadership IV. Professionalism V. Business skills” (p. 3). With
regards to communication and relationship-building, M.A. highlights a few ways she
communicates effectively within her position by doing such things as: keeping staff informed of
changes, involving staff in decision-making as appropriate, communicating bigger issues to
superiors, communicating with patients to try to stop problems from escalating, keeping a very
close relationship with the case manager and she has a collaborative and trusting relationship
with many of Mayo Clinic Hospital’s physicians (personal communication, February 11, 2015).
M.A. tries to influence behaviors by setting expectations, publicly recognizing positive behaviors
and to quickly address inappropriate behaviors and then determine if the inappropriate behavior
was an educational issue or if there was actual intent to do harm (personal communication,
February 11, 2015).
In regards to diversity, which is one of the communication AONE competencies, M.A.
states “I believe in hiring the best candidate for a job regardless of race, gender, sexual
orientation, etc. I believe if you make that your goal then you will end up with a diverse
workforce, which I have” (personal communication, February 11, 2015). M.A. states she does
volunteer activities such as Stroke Check, walks and a medical tent at sporting events in order to
represent Mayo Clinic Hospital in the community (personal communication, February 11, 2015).
M.A. does have an academic relationship as well, where she sits on an Arizona State University
nursing workgroup that tries to improve evidence-based practice, nursing student relationships
and research activities. She also encourages her staff to pursue educational degrees and she
writes many letters of recommendation (M.L.A., personal communication, February 11, 2015).
Clearly, M.A. is proficient in most, if not all, of the AONE communication and relationshipbuilding competencies, which include: “effective communication, relationship management,
MANAGER INTERVIEW ANALYSIS
influence of behaviors, ability to work with diversity, shared decision-making, community
involvement, medical staff relationships and academic relationships” (AONE, 2011, p. 3).
Knowledge of Health Care Environment
When asked about knowledge of the health care environment, M.A. first speaks of the
Affordable Care Act and how they are being paid for quality of care, not quantity; so preventing
hospital acquired infections in very important (personal communication, February 11, 2015).
M.A. believes she is very confident when it comes to evidence-based practice (EBP), as her
Doctor of Nursing Practice degree is essentially about EBP. She also routinely mentors other
nurses about EBP projects and their current projects include: sepsis recognition, pressure ulcer
prevention in cardiac surgery patients, decreasing hand-off interruptions, improving code blue
documentation and end of life issues (M.L.A., personal communication, February 11, 2015).
Patient safety is always a very important issue. M.A. also agrees and states that she is
responsible for any preventable harm and is also the liaison for Risk Management and does
routine safety rounds (personal communication, February 11, 2015). She discusses any
unexpected poor outcomes with Risk Management and sits on a Mortality Review board which
reviews every death and they create action plans to try and prevent the same issues happening
again (M.L.A., personal communication, February 11, 2015). Some of the AONE (2011)
competencies noted in this document that M.A. possesses of the knowledge of the health care
environment include: Knowledge of clinical practice, health care economics, health care policy;
understanding of governance; understanding of EBP; dedication to patient safety and risk
management knowledge.
5
MANAGER INTERVIEW ANALYSIS
6
Leadership
When asked about leadership, M.A. states that she considers herself more of a leader, not
a manager. She states “if you hire the right people then they do not require management, they
require leadership and I lead by example. I lead them where they need to go even when they do
not necessarily agree and I help give them a vision and the path to continue to change” (M.L.A.,
personal communication, February 11, 2015). This along with many other examples that were
already reviewed in this document demonstrates that M.A. is skilled in the art of leadership. She
is also very much disciplined in her own personal professional journey and has realized that
nursing is a lifelong learning process.
Professionalism
M.A. demonstrates professionalism within her role by treating others with respect, being
open to others’ opinions, dressing professionally, carrying herself confidently, inserting herself
into issues, listening more than she speaks, responding quickly, doing what she says she will,
gives feedback, showing empathy and allowing others to maintain their dignity regardless of the
situation (personal communication, February 11, 2015). She also maintains the Mayo Clinic core
value, which is the needs of the patient are the only ones to be considered and that is always at
the forefront of all their decisions. She also belongs to many professional organizations and
holds certification and encourages her staff to also join an organization and the certifications are
posted publically. The AONE (2011) competencies that M.A. holds under professionalism
include: Accountability, career planning, evidence-based clinical and management practice and
she is an active member in professional organizations.
MANAGER INTERVIEW ANALYSIS
7
Business Skills
Business skills are important to any manager, even though much of the time managers,
especially nurse managers, do not hold any business degrees. M.A. notes that she has to manage
a multi-million dollar budget; therefore she has to have some financial management skills to
ensure she is utilizing resources wisely (personal communication, February 11, 2015). She also
points out that in her position, she also has to have some marketing skills in order to ensure
patients and staff want to come to her unit (M.L.A., personal communication, February 11,
2015). M.A.’s role in acquiring new staff includes advertising, interviewing, talking to students
and travelers (personal communication, February 11, 2015). The AONE (2011) business skill
competencies that M.A. holds include: Understanding of health care financing, human resource
management and staff development and marketing.
Goran (2011) has outlined the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses eight nurse
competencies that include: clinical judgment, advocacy and moral agency, caring practices,
collaboration, systems thinking, response to diversity, facilitation of learning and clinical
inquiry. Between these competencies that M.A. embraces as a Critical Care RN and the many
defined by AONE under the five categories for nurse executives, it is clear to see that M.A. is a
proficient manager and leader. Patient safety and honoring Mayo Clinic’s values are the most
important parts of her position. M.A. communicates effectively with the entire health care team,
she has a wide knowledge of the health care environment which increases with the more
experiences she has, she considers herself an effective leader, she is professional in her role and
she uses many business skills to keep her unit running efficiently. This assignment has taught me
the many duties a nurse manager has and how much difference a good leader can make to a
nursing unit and on patient outcomes.
MANAGER INTERVIEW ANALYSIS
8
References
The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE). (2011). The AONE nurse executive
competencies: Communication, knowledge, leadership, professionalism, business skills.
Retrieved from
http://www.aone.org/resources/leadership%20tools/PDFs/AONE_NEC.pdf
Goran, S.F. (2011). A new view: Tele-intensive care unit competencies. Critical Care Nurse, 31
(5), 17-29. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4037/ccn/2011552
Yoder-Wise, P.S. (2015). Leading and managing in nursing. (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.