Leadership Roles that Nurses can Obtain within the Hospital
Nurses are not assistants, but much like doctors, have a whole host of responsibilities. Most of these tasks assigned are leadership tasks, and will require a nurse with a can-do attitude. The medical landscape changes frequently and doctors and nurses must keep up with an evolving environment.
Of course, it is truly remarkable how far nurses have progressed in recent years. Remember in previous generations, nurses were related to cleaning bed pans and giving sponge baths. However, the medical industry now sees the value of nurses, as leaders, medical providers, with a slightly different role than doctors. Nurses are still able to provide patient care, lead a team, work as liaisons between the medical community and others, and perform quality control procedures. Today, nurses must prove themselves knowledgeable in a variety of fields. Consider these four positions that have great leadership potential.
Leadership Roles that Nurses can Obtain
Chief Nursing Officer
The chief nursing officer is a top administrative position appropriate for a nurse who is a natural leader. These nurses usually have advanced degrees in health science or other higher disciplines beyond nursing protocol. You will not merely be helping doctors, but actually oversee every aspect of nursing care, from communicating on behalf of nurses, to representing the hospital to the community. You will not only be in charge of other nurses, but also nursing managers, since you direct the nursing issues on behalf of the administration.
Director of Services
The director of services oversees employee management and oftentimes has to assist in organizing available nurses by patient floods, in various departments, and other logistic needs. Nurses with advanced degrees can excel in these positions, if they have proven leadership ability. This position will mostly involve staffing, reporting on department admissions, working with budgets and maintaining quality control systems. The director of services, under the chief nursing officer, may still act as a liaison to hospital management.
Chief Compliance Officer
The chief compliance officer is an extremely important role and not merely for organizational purposes, but also for safety. This person works with codes of conduct (ethics, as well as conflicts of interest) and works in a variety of capacities; with billing, education and taking care of patients. As a leader, you don’t merely follow protocol, but actually implement plans to improve in these matters. You are responsible for investigating breaches and will report directly to the State Inspector General.
Nurse Manager
Nurse managers take on the responsibility of their department. The duties are similar to the director of services, since you work with management in regards to staffing issues and oversee everyday activities. However, nurse managers are limited to one department at a time. Staffing, budgeting reports, billing, and quality control are all aspects you must oversee, as you will answer to the director of services.
All of these positions require a background in nursing, as well as an advanced degree in a related science. Some nurses seek additional business training, IT, management, and other courses. Indeed, nurses are an important part of a hospital’s success, and these four roles require strong leadership.
