How to properly hire and care for new supervisors
Good clinical skills not enough; leadership required
Headlines about a shortage of nurses might force home health agencies to focus on recruiting field clinicians, but don't forget to pay close attention to nurses you promote or hire for supervisory positions.
Although some agencies question the value of promoting from within versus hiring supervisors from outside the agency, there is no right answer for every situation, says Terry Cichon, CPA, director of homecare operations for FR&R Consulting in Deerfield, IL. "In today's market, agencies need to have all options open to them," she says. "I would hope that all organizations look to promote from within when possible, since this promotes retention and helps with recruitment, as well," she adds.
"In most instances, promotion from within meets more of the organization's goals; however, when an organization is trying effect a culture change, it may be necessary to look outside of the organization," Cichon admits.
"Our policy is to post all open positions within the agency first, to demonstrate opportunities for growth," says Debra Muffoletto, administrator at Family Home Health Services in Addison, IL. "Unfortunately, we struggle to recruit mid-level managers among nurses," she admits. Although she and her management staff may identify good candidates for supervisory positions, not all nurses want to take on management responsibilities, she says.
Once you find people who want to apply for the position, what qualifications should they possess? "Clinical supervisors must, of course, have clinical skill levels that will result in appropriate supervision of staff," says Cichon. In addition to clinical skills, they need the skills of a supervisor, which include the ability to supervise, manage multiple tasks, prioritize, mentor, and provide employee correction appropriately, she adds.
"Many agencies assume that their staff have these skills and do nothing to provide training in this area. This is shortsighted," points out Cichon. "A supervisor who does not have the skills sets that are needed soon becomes frustrated and cannot function," she adds. Supervisory skills training can avoid these problems, she explains.
"In our industry, qualification for promotion is often translated as tenure," says Susan LaValle, RN, MSN, clinical director of home health for Family Home Health Services. "Unfortunately, years of clinical experience don't always translate to supervisory skills," she says.
For this reason, management at Family Home Health looks for people who are good at looking at processes to ask: "Why do we do this; or why does this happen?" says Muffoletto. "Our agency is twice the size it was two years ago, so we've gone through a lot of growth and a lot of change. This requires people who can recognize, understand, adapt, and lead others through changing times," she says.
One way that Muffoletto is identifying and growing future supervisors and managers is through an effort to have nurses shadow managers, meet regularly with managers who serve as mentors, and serve on committees. "We like different employees to chair meetings and take on leadership positions that help them develop skills they can use as supervisors," she explains.
Mentors can be an important step to training and supporting a new supervisor, says Cichon. "One way is assign a mentor who is responsible for ensuring that the training and education is received by the new supervisor," she suggests. "An alternative is to prepare a checklist for each employee of missing or inadequate skills and have either the human resources manager, the administrator, or the clinical director responsible for ensuring the skills levels are met," she suggests.
With the shortage of nurses that we are experiencing, there is a tendency to promote a "good nurse," says Cichon. The best way to approach promotion or hiring a supervisor is to keep supervisory skills top-of-mind, she says. "The agency needs to create that checklist of needed skills and to fairly review each candidate."
Sources
For more information about hiring and training new supervisors, contact:
Terry Cichon, CPA, Director of Homecare Operations, FR&R Healthcare Consulting, 111 Pfingston Road, Suite 300, Deerfield, IL 60015. Telephone: (847) 236-1111, ext. 333. Fax: (847) 236-1155. E-mail: tcichon@ frronline.com.
Debra Muffoletto, Administrator, Family Home Health Services, 2171 Executive Drive,Suite 450, Addison, IL 60101. Telephone: (630) 317-3300. Fax: (630) 317-3310.
Headlines about a shortage of nurses might force home health agencies to focus on recruiting field clinicians, but don't forget to pay close attention to nurses you promote or hire for supervisory positions.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content