Assignment: Head Nurse

You have taken a new position as a head nurse for a 30-bed unit.  You have been working in the hospital for 7 years – for the first 4 years as a staff nurse and for the last 3 years as the assistant nurse manager on a surgical unit.  However, the new position means you have to change units.  The chief nursing officer has worked to get you a mentor, another nurse manager, to help you as you transition to the new role and new unit.  Before you meet with your mentor for the first time as a mentee, you consider the following questions:

Instructions:

1. Answer the following questions:
   1. What is your personal view of the transformational leadership style?
      1. Do you feel competent in applying this style? Why? or Why not?
      2. How might the leadership style of the previous nurse manager impact your transition to the position.
   2. What should your unit assessment plan include as you assume your new role?
   3. You have been told that the unit has a RN retention problem that has been increasing over the last two years.  What more do you need to know about the problem?
   4. The nursing department uses shared governance.  How might this impact you and your new position?