Motivation (class)

I enjoyed our class discussion on motivation. It was interesting to hear everyone's input about what motivates them. One thing I hadn't thought about before was the point brought up about when bring food to motivate or praise someone, make sure it is not something simple. This could make them feel not valued. I also thought the discussion about money was interesting. People are never going to be satisfied with what they are making, and if you start paying them more to motivate them, they are just going to want to make more. I think that maybe just giving them a bonus would be better that giving them pay raises. Another thing that was interesting is the point that was brought up about the movie ticket, and other things that are handed out to staff, and how it is counted towards their annual income. I did not know that this was happening, and I think it is kind of sneaky, however, it is still nice to get things like that. Although, the money would probably be nice, it is nice to receive things like movie tickets because many times if people are given money they will not use it to do something fun, so giving these movie tickets allows employees to do something fun at no cost to them. Overall I thought this was a fun topic to discuss.

motivation

Motivating employees is very important if you want to get things done correctly. An employee might be willing to get things done, but if they are poorly motivated, they probably will not put a lot of thought and effort into it. There are a few things I have noticed that motivate me, and also some things that do the opposite of motivate me.
A couple examples of things that have motivated me in the past are: when I had a regional manager compliment me on a job well done when I was just a new employee. I worked hard, and I felt it paid off when someone noticed my work and said something about it. Another example is a time when I had a manager sit down and talk and work with me. This made me feel like she realized the job I was doing was important, and I was important as an employee.
Some example of times when i have been unmotivated by a managers actions are: when I had a manager who worked with me almost daily, but he never bothered to remember my name. To me this not only meant that he didn't really care about me, but he also didn't recognize the work I had done. Another time is when I had a manager criticize the team I was working with, but he was never there to help us or teach us how we could do a better job. I felt like we were really on our own, and we had to teach ourselves. He wanted us to do everything his way, but he never taught us what his way was.
Motivating employees can be very tricky. It is important to help them and teach them, but they also need to learn somethings on their own, and they need to use and develop their own critical thinking skills. It is also important that the employees don't feel like they are being nagged, or constantly criticized. They need to know that you recognize the things they are doing well.

Hiring, Team Building & Staffing, and Career Development

I have really enjoyed the two weeks of class that we discussed hiring, team building and staffing, and career development. We discussed a lot of things that I felt could help me obtain a job. I felt that discussing different interview questions got me thinking, and helped me feel more prepared for future interviews. I especially liked meeting with Sue in the career development center. I learned so much from her, and I left her office feeling even more confident and ready for interviews. 

Team building is obviously something very important, but I feel it is sometimes overlooked, by candidates, during the hiring process. Some people may feel that they are the most qualified candidate for a position, but it is also important to realize that the person that will be hired also needs to fit in with the team in order for things to flow smoothly on the unit.

I am kind of a nerd, but I kind of enjoyed talking about scheduling, and answering the scheduling question on the test. One thing I found interesting about scheduling though was the amount of time that is actually spent doing scheduling, and it makes me wonder why more organizations do not have set schedules, it seems to make most employees happy, and it saves a lot of time. 

Budgeting

Budgeting is such a huge responsibility for a hospital. I cannot imagine having that responsibility. Budgeting for a household is complicated enough! There is a lot to consider when preparing a budget for a hospital. You have to consider the cost of personnel, housekeeping, medical supplies, cleaning supplies, utilities, water, insurance, food, emergencies and so much more. It was interesting to see in class how much that specific hospital lost, and how hard it was to decide where to cut back.

Change

I have realized just recently that change is a little hard for me. My husband and I just bought a house, and though it is a huge upgrade from the apartment we were living in, and it is in a great neighborhood, I still had a hard time moving. We had lived in our apartment for almost 5 years, and I had made a lot of friends in the area. It was kind of hard for me to move away from what I was comfortable with. We have been in our house for almost 2 weeks now, and I am getting used to the change. I have realized that while I have a hard time letting go of what I am comfortable with, I do not have a hard time getting used to new. I like meeting new people, and I am excited to make new friends.

I think we all learned, from our class exercise, that most of us don't do well with change! I thought it was pretty funny, and though I was concerned with my changing grades, I knew everything was going to work out in the end. I actually didn't mind having most of the class grade coming from participation, and I really liked getting out of class early! I am glad that this was just a lesson in change though, because I really was not liking the changes that were made to my participation grades.

Power & Patient care models

Power

Power is not something to be taken lightly. There are many people looking up to those in a position of power. It is important to know how to properly use power in order to get things done. Someone in a position of power must look confident in what they are doing and sound confident in what they are saying in order for others to believe them. I like the list on the powerpoint about "the art of using power effectively." This list includes: clear decision making, assertiveness, accountability, willingness to express one's own views, being proactive, and decisiveness. All of these things are very important aspects of being a great leader, and being in a position of power.

Patient care models

I am not currently working, but I think that there is not one single patient care model that works best for every healthcare facility. However in doing research about different types of patient care models I really liked the patient focused nursing care model. This care model focuses on the different players in the healthcare field including the patient, doctors, certified nursing assistants, nurses, physical therapy, etc. and what each of their roles is in caring for the patient. I like this patient care model because it separates different responsibilities, and I think this is the best way to care for a patient. Everyone is trained specifically for their job, and this way the patients gets the best care possible.

Men vs Women

BUSINESS WOMEN DIFFER FROM BUSINESS MEN IN STYLE, NOT SKILL

This article mentioned that one of the biggest difference between men and women is their ability to communicate or as the article puts it (mis)communicate. I also like how this article defined the difference between men and women in positions of authority. The article statesk "Business women use positions of authority to create a supportive, nurturing environment. Men use positions of authority to create a hierarchal environment in which they issue orders and expect obedience" (http://www.coaching-for-new-women-managers.com/business-women.html).

The article also lists differences between men and women's styles of leadership. Men's styles are task-oriented, autocratic, comand-and-control, and punishment-oriented. Women's styles are defined as team players, democratic, transformational, and reward-oriented.( http://www.coaching-for-new-women-managers.com/business-women.html )

Men or Women: Who's the Better Leader?

I really thought it was interesting that the study done in this article showed that in almost every area of the study women were thought to be better leaders, however women still are not holding many high leadership positions. A quote that I thought was so true is "women have to work twice as hard to get half as far as men" (http://pewresearch.org/pubs/932/men-or-women-whos-the-better-leader).

I really enjoyed the video we watched in class about the differences between women and men. I thought it was so interesting how true everything she said is. What she said was a generalization, but I felt it was so true. I had never thought about the differences between men and women as being something that we learned from a young age. I liked how she talked about women avoiding confrontation and how almost everything men do is a competition. I liked how she brought up the sports related phrases that we use in our every day life. I have heard most of them, but I didn't really think about how many common phrases are related to sports. I also liked how she talked about how arguments between women dragged on and on, and with men they were really over when they said they were over. Oh how true this is.