Introduction
The assessment of clinical settings’ performance may be considerably more efficient by evaluating the insights of the involved employees. This paper represents an interview with Kim Anderson Caroll, the emergency room (ER) nurse manager in community settings. The combination of a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree enables her to evaluate nurses’ performance in the emergency department for several decades. Her competencies, knowledge, and skills help her reflect on ER nurse managers’ existing duties and how they contribute to achieving the department’s corporate goals.
Interview Insights
According to Caroll, nurse managers play an immeasurably important role in health care delivery, performing a wide range of duties to ensure the department’s functionality. As advanced practice registered nurses and nurse administrators, they are responsible for staffing, training, and scheduling; creating and articulating policies and objectives; and conducting annual performance reviews. In addition, nurse managers support a healthy working environment, build relationships between subordinates, develop education plans, manage unit budgets, and handle disciplinary action. All in all, these specialists may be regarded as a liaison between ER nurses and hospital administration.
For the stabilization of incoming patients, a multidimensional approach is traditionally required. As a result, an ER nurse manager is supported by an emergency response team consisting of ER nurses and emergency department technicians. In turn, as a nurse manager, Caroll is directly responsible to the facility’s Chief Nursing Officer. Her opinion on the effectiveness of the organizational structure in supporting patient outcomes is controversial.
On the one hand, nurses in community ERs are an essential part of a larger multidisciplinary team of an emergency department who perform essential duties. Therefore, monitoring their day-to-day operations is vital to providing quality care and preventing risks.
On the other hand, the scope of the ER nurse manager’s responsibilities frequently limits the efficiency of this control. The emergency department may be considered one of the busiest units in clinical settings. As a result, when one person performs both main and additional duties, their productivity is inevitably affected.
Nevertheless, as a nurse manager, Caroll is fully involved in the department’s budgeting process, which includes budget preparation, authorization, execution, and accountability based on calculations of capital and operational expenses and forecasts. All in all, the department aligns its performance with the requirements essential to achieving the business goal. In particular, the unit aims to strike a balance between cost efficiency and the provision of high-quality services to the general population. In particular, it currently focuses on improving all members’ multi functionality to strengthen team cooperation and competence, and to ensure positive patient outcomes.
Therefore, as a manager, Caroll is actively involved in the strategic development process based on its direct functions and leadership approaches. In particular, she articulates objectives, monitors training, and empowers subordinates. However, she is also considerably skeptical about the success of these strategies. According to her, while patients’ opportunity to receive appropriate medical assistance as quickly as possible is critically essential in the emergency room, additional responsibilities for nurses will inevitably lead to increased workload, additional pressure, nurse burnout, and higher turnover rates.
Conclusion
To conclude, Kim Anderson Caroll was interviewed to assess the roles and responsibilities of EH nurse managers in modern community settings. According to her, the importance of these specialists cannot be overstated, as their performance ensures the smooth functioning of the department’s daily operations. At the same time, she expresses her concerns about the department’s plans to optimize processes for cost efficiency. While ER nurses have already been exposed to an expanded scope of practice, this expansion may lead to negative consequences for patient outcomes.