What are you doing all day?

“When I grow up, I’m going to boss mommy, what’s a chief?” These were my words, when I was six years old. As an employee on my first ICU I asked myself this again multiple times. What is the station management an intensive care unit throughout the day?

Since the station cable must be placed in the Intensive care unit due to organizational reasons, for the most part, “free”, I wondered in fact, what is the power for the whole day. It would be better if the management would help in patient care? It’s not like that nurse is in my field of work, boring! Work is always more than enough.

This view is not untypical. When I later became Deputy station management, I received a Coaching with the other delegates of my house. We created then a list of what we of a station line, a leader, everything you would expect.

This experience was rather amusing. At the end of a description of the “super man/woman to around three DIN A2-size pages”. The person who can meet these requirements, would still need to be born.

What is the boss of everything

We expect a lot from our superiors. You should do your Job! A Station is to develop, aims to demonstrate, be an example. Old braids cut off, and new, better concepts prevail! Bad running things and a great solution! Lead the group, but please also any employees as people see performance acknowledge – and perhaps support. The whole hospital policy is to manage, please, in the interest of the own Station. Good service and holiday plans, write anyway. Regular service meetings and decisions and for their implementation. With the Doctors, negotiate and in any conflict on the side of the care… by the way, you should also work fully on the bed. Called things can happen, perhaps, “by the way”. These are just a few of the points that we wore back in the day.

I took this list of requirements back then, as I got to my course, finally, the opportunity to be station management. What I did, but now the whole day?

His own claim was, in fact, the above-mentioned. Staff planning, Team and employee development. The quality of the work to check and improve. Hurdles detect and eliminate it. Each employee can see his performance. When you need the conversation find and support. By the way, I wanted to achieve a close and good cooperation with my delegate and the other intensive care units.

How the daily life of the station management looks like

The reality, however, that many of the points mentioned will receive the attention they deserve. The largest proportion of my working time is actually taken up by the acute workforce planning. Disease failures are the biggest factor.

Ensure that shift staffing is sufficient. This, of course, the hours of accounts and the balance hours of the employees. Employees ask if you can switch from one to another layer? Ask if you can perhaps afford an additional service and / or any other day take can? Continuing, education and holidays.

By the way, the many little things take on big room. Urgent meetings due to pending changes due to hygienic requirements, inspections of the Station. The Processing of old and new inspection protocols and remedy of complaints are part of everyday life. Representatives, who want to imagine something, job interviews and internships come in.

Is interrupted in this by the wishes and agreements, the employees wear on me. Important dates requests for changes to the service plan, service exchange requests. Also conflicts in the Team are always a topic. Meetings with the medical service. Then, an existing Standard needs to be revised, or released to be tested. By the way, the next service plan must be written. For over thirty employees, this is also the month for the month of a challenge. I have to wear it as a line, always ensure that all have visited my employees of their duty training or this to remind. No colleagues overlooked. Also, to think of “special” things such as birthdays, weddings, and passed exams.

The Review of the documentation and correct work are part of the standard job of a leader in the field of Intensive care. In addition to these and a thousand other things of the real part of the personnel management and development now begins. For each employee per year, a conversation to be possible. At about thirty-five employees, this means around 3-4 calls per month, if you subtract the holiday time. Each call must be thoroughly prepared and followed up. Only if I know the behavior and the performance of my employees, can I talk to you about it and with them binding arrangements. That a good, transparent conversation log must be created, of course. The questions, which can reach a member of staff and would like to, are of Central importance.

If everything happens at the same time

It is very hard to grasp the everyday life of a line into words – but he is always very crowded and often requires, flash to quickly switch from one topic to another. Also it still sits in a meeting on cooperation between Doctors and nurses, then one deals with a failure for the night shift. Hardly sitting in the service plan, the Information that is a necessary work item has not been delivered, and we must seek a replacement. Already the phone is ringing, if you had forgotten an appointment? All the waiting would…

My own claim is to respond at all times friendly, polite and respectful and to always be responsive.

For my part, I am incredibly grateful that I have a fantastic delegate. Together, we share many of the same tasks and each of us has his priorities. This will make things much easier and provides a relief, because good care needs good leadership. Also many of my employees take responsibility and participate in day-to-day challenges.

Lead or care for?

Where time allows, I try always to provide services to the patient. The reason is simple: I love my Job. Even if I deliberately opted for a job as a station line, and this separates me far too often from the patient’s bed. For me, it is a great balance to set aside the management of stress and to take care of my patients.

Of course, this is only possible to a limited extent. I’ve learned in the last few years, a: You can run or maintain. It does both of these, comes one of the two too short.

Photo: Marc Alexander Noll