The Ministry of Health and Wellness in The Bahamas’ vision and mission is to achieve the optimal level of health and well-being for all residents of the Bahamas through health promotion, health protection and accessible healthcare services. The Ministry of Health boasts community health clinics throughout the Bahamas staffed with medical, nursing, and allied health professionals. Two hospitals provide tertiary care to residents including a system of inter-island transportation. The Department of Public Health’s Community Health Services provides services to the residents of the Bahamas from a total of 59 sites and 19 programs. This comprehensive structure aligns with Government’s policy that all residents of The Bahamas should have universal access to a minimum standard of health care services – even on the smallest and most remote islands within the Bahamas.
Promoting Frontline Nursing Leaders
The Department of Public Health planned to promote 120 nurses to various leadership positions within the system. Nursing leadership recognized the opportunity to grow the management and leadership skills of these new leaders, particularly those moving into frontline leadership roles for the first time.
Maxine Brown, Senior Nursing Officer, Department of Public Health shared, “[we were] cognizant of the correlation between the effective management of nurses to nurse retention. The NCharge® courses…aligned perfectly with our goals and objectives” to create a cadre of competent nurse leaders and managers.
Honoring Successes
The Bahamas Department of Public Health has already seen positive outcomes from Catalyst Learning’s NCharge® programs. Maxine Brown, Senior Nursing Officer with responsibility for nurses in New Providence Clinics and Programs and a facilitator for the NCharge® programs has observed fewer requests for intervention in staffing issues, demonstrating enhanced conflict resolution skills as well as the application of critical thinking skills for new nurse leaders. Maxine also noted the new nurse leaders’ ability to solve issues at the clinic level.
Kimberly Josey-McPhee, a facilitator for the NCharge® programs, shared that the new nurse leaders gained a “better understanding of how they can do things differently for better outcomes. It is an awesome program…to develop leadership skills”.
Life Changing Learning
Tamara Donaldson, a registered nurse in the Department of Public Health, found the NCharge® Programs “life changing”. “My experience allowed me to converse with other leaders in the workplace promoting healthy relationships and forging new ones. The skill of effective communication in difficult situations was powerful. I learnt how to skillfully deal with conflict and prevent the same through simply using the correct phrases or choice of words”. Tamara shared how she successfully employed this new skill during a recent potentially contentious interaction with a physician and strongly recommends the NCharge® programs for all new nurse leaders.
Barsha Lawman Smith, (BSN, MPH) also a registered nurse in the Department of Public Health, shared, “The NCharge® program was a great experience…the information shared was relevant and could be easily applied to my current working environment”. Barsha found delegating was a skill she needed to improve on and said, “After completing the [NCharge®] course I have applied the knowledge and skills to delegating tasks to the nurses assigned to the Unit. For example, orientation of nurse interns to the Unit, making sure the nurse assigned to conduct orientation has the necessary information and training to be able to effectively orient the nurse intern”. Barsha shared that after the training she felt more confident in her role in the Unit as a Team Leader and more equipped to manage the Unit.
Ingrid Seymour, a Senior Nursing Officer (RN, RM, CHN) with the Department of Public Health said,
“My overall experience has been awesome…[and] has enhanced my confidence. While dealing with staffing issues, which can sometimes be overwhelming, I gained skills such as being more empathetic and firm, yet humble and authentic”.
Ingrid shared how she handled a situation with a novice nurse who had made multiple errors in a critical area of her duties. After listening actively Ingrid realized the nurse had a self-confidence issue, so she assigned her to a senior nurse as a mentor to help her gain confidence to work independently.
Creating a Cadre of Competent Nurse Leaders
Dr. Phillip Swann, Acting Director in the Department, noted
This is result is already apparent as Maxine Brown has noted growth among the new nursing leaders. Maxine shared that many of the nurses are “sending notes to their teams and leaders with ideas to implement” while they are still in class”. Understanding how their work influences patient and organizational outcomes has improved leadership competencies including delegation, communication and critical thinking. The new nurse leaders more confidently manage their units and portfolios.
Writer Joyce K. Borgfeld, DNP, RN, NE-BC