Cheryl Boldt, RN, LNHA

Long term care organizations have the highest level of success when the Administrator and Director of Nursing have a strong, goal-driven business partnership. This means many Administrators and Directors of Nursing are daring to go outside their comfort zones and cross-train each other to improve their expertise. The goal is to provide consistency in leadership so that positive outcomes can be achieved in virtually all aspects of the operation. This includes obtaining knowledge in new areas such as clinical and financial systems. It also includes professionals in both roles seeing themselves differently.

Both the Administrator and Director of Nursing must support the change from parent/child and turf-based models of service delivery to practices that truly support teaming, empowerment of staff, front line staff involvement in problem solving, and the use of systems that drive accountability. These changes in leadership style pose a risk to the DON and Administrator. There is a risk that team members will not do things like you would do them and also a risk that someone may make a mistake. How daring we are when we walk the tightrope of empowerment! It is a risk most successful leaders are willing to take! There is a clear realization that you cannot lead the facility with vision if the majority of the day is spent trying to staff the place or solve multiple problems that have surfaced!

Join us as we dare to change and dare to explore the wide world of shared expertise as the Administrator and DON evolve as multi-faceted business partners and empowering leaders of great organizations.

Objectives:
By the end of this session, the participants will be able to:

Implement and support consistent organizational expectations for

Great teaming systems
Empowerment practices
Communication techniques
Problem-solving approaches
Accountability models

Implement Administrative rounding patterns that will sustain exceptional service excellence
Develop and implement a plan for targeted DON and Administrator cross-training and competency testing
Use scoreboards to track and celebrate organizational success

The targeted audience for this session includes Administrators, Directors of Nursing, consultants to long term care organizations, and any long term care team member who supports these leaders in their roles. The session length can be customized from 90 minutes to 3 hours and includes lecture, PowerPoint presentation, group discussion, and individual action planning.