Let’s Grow: A Public Health District's Continued Development of County Nurse Managers…
Abstract
Each local county health department is managed by a county nurse manager who is responsible for daily operations of the department. They are also viewed as experts in the field of public health in their community. In recent years, as multiple nurse managers have retired or resigned, the need became clear for an innovative approach to training. Using the 10 essential public health services framework for session planning, a new nurse manager orientation was developed and is currently in the third year of implementation. Based on evaluation and feedback, a strong desire to continue this type of development for all county nurse managers was identified. As a result, the Office of Nursing, in collaboration with the Office of Growth, Learning and Innovation, has created an ongoing series of development opportunities shared during each bi-monthly County Nurse Manager meeting.
The development sessions are designed to provide both individual growth for County Nurse Managers, as well as demonstrations of team building activities for use with local staff in each County Health Department. Examples include a book club component with activities based on the reading. The book, Leaders Eat Last, was chosen as the first book and activities developed include an in-depth look at leaders serving others.
Efforts to improve the sessions are made continuously. Gaining nurse manager feedback immediately following each session has allowed needed changes to be implemented without delay, including adjustments to agenda topics, timing of presentations, and detailed discussion of topics. Due to the positive feedback, similar developmental series will be offered to other managers, teams, and departments throughout the District.
Keywords
County Nurse Manager, Growth, Development, Leadership, Improvement, Learning, Innovation
Let’s Grow: A Public Health District's Continued Development of County Nurse Managers…
Each local county health department is managed by a county nurse manager who is responsible for daily operations of the department. They are also viewed as experts in the field of public health in their community. In recent years, as multiple nurse managers have retired or resigned, the need became clear for an innovative approach to training. Using the 10 essential public health services framework for session planning, a new nurse manager orientation was developed and is currently in the third year of implementation. Based on evaluation and feedback, a strong desire to continue this type of development for all county nurse managers was identified. As a result, the Office of Nursing, in collaboration with the Office of Growth, Learning and Innovation, has created an ongoing series of development opportunities shared during each bi-monthly County Nurse Manager meeting.
The development sessions are designed to provide both individual growth for County Nurse Managers, as well as demonstrations of team building activities for use with local staff in each County Health Department. Examples include a book club component with activities based on the reading. The book, Leaders Eat Last, was chosen as the first book and activities developed include an in-depth look at leaders serving others.
Efforts to improve the sessions are made continuously. Gaining nurse manager feedback immediately following each session has allowed needed changes to be implemented without delay, including adjustments to agenda topics, timing of presentations, and detailed discussion of topics. Due to the positive feedback, similar developmental series will be offered to other managers, teams, and departments throughout the District.
