You have just come from your 6-month performance evaluation as a new charge nurse. While your supervisor stated that he was very pleased in general with how you are performing in this new role, one area that he suggested you work on was to learn to be calmer in hectic clinical situations. He suggested that your anxiety could be transmitted to coworkers and subordinates who look to you to be their role model. He feels that you are especially anxious when staffing is short and that at times you vent your frustrations to your staff, which only adds to the general anxiety level on the unit. ASSIGNMENT:  Create a specifi c plan of 6 to 10 things you can do to bolster your emotional intelligence in terms of self-regulation during stressful times.

 

You are a perinatal unit coordinator at a large teaching hospital. In addition to your management responsibilities, you have been asked to fi ll in as a member of the hospital promotion committee, which reviews petitions from clinicians for a step-level promotion on the clinical specialist ladder. You believe that you could learn a great deal on this committee and could be an objective and contributing member. The committee has been convened to select the annual winner of the Outstanding Clinical Specialist Award. In reviewing the applicant fi les, you find that one fi le from a perinatal clinical specialist contains many overstatements and several misrepresentations. You know for a fact that this clinician did not accomplish all that she has listed, because she is a friend and close colleague. She did not, however, know that you would be a member of this committee and thus would be aware of this deception. When the entire committee met, several members commented on this clinician’s impressive fi le. Although you were able to dissuade them covertly from further considering her nomination, you are left with many uneasy feelings and some anger and sadness. You recognize that she did not receive the nomination and thus there is little real danger regarding the deceptions in the fi le being used inappropriately at this time. However, you will not be on this committee next year, and if she were to submit an erroneous fi le again, she could be highly considered for the award. You also recognize that even with the best of intentions and the most therapeutic of communication techniques, confronting your friend with her deception will cause her to lose face and will probably result in an unsalvageable friendship. Even if you do confront her, there is little you can do to stop her from doing the same in future nomination processes other than formally reporting her conduct. ASSIGNMENT:  Determine what you will do. Do the potential costs outweigh the potential benefits? Be realistic about your actions.