Conflict resolution is a hard one, especially in the workplace.  I have had conflict with a coworker before and it was horrible. I avoided the conflict and tried to just be OK with what it was that was bothering me, but this obviously did not change anything.  I ended up having to confront her and it was awkward and difficult, however, we did reach a resolution that we were bother happy with.

Life is messy and this remains true in the workplace.  When you work with people, there will be conflict.  I think that the most important thing to do when there is conflict is to try to understand the other person.  This is especially hard to do when it feels one sided.  Often a mediator is helpful.

This week was on motivation, and there wasn’t really a ton of content for this one, which I was super grateful for.  Motivation is something I really struggle with in my personal life. Whether it’s getting these assignments done or trying to convince myself to get out of bed.  The one thing that keeps me going is a goal that I really care about.  I really want to graduate and be done with my BSN.  I’ve enjoyed my time here, actually most of my time here has been painful, and I’m ready for it to end.

I really think having a goal to care about is the most important thing for motivation.  There are always going to days where it feels like you don’t care about anything anymore.  I this is also true for workplace.  There has to be a goal to work towards.  A goal that really matters.

This week was about handling change.  Change is something that many people have a hard time with.  This make implementing change especially hard.  Many people are set in old ways and habits and change can be very difficult for them. Others love change and want to change everything.  Sayings like “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” exemplify how change can be very difficult to implement.

I would say I am mix between Haw and Sniff.  I am have always been very aware of others around me and how they are feeling.  I do tend to do be a follower in social situations but in my personal life, I am very driven.  I love planning for my life and and anticipating change.  I’m not afraid to charge on to what is ahead but I like to have a goal and plan to where I am going.

 

Ryan Tippetts- works at Nu Skin

1. What are some things you account for in your budget? (employee salary, office items, insurance…)
   Employee salary and office supplies/computers are our largest expense in the budget. Other things we budget for include utilities, employee insurance, building insurance and maintenance, cost of hiring and training new employees, cost of continuing education for current employees, travel costs for meetings and employee lunches.
2. How do you keep your budget organized?
   Our office has an accountant who’s responsible for the budget. Any expense has to first be approved and then submitted to him.  If we are over budget or need to make adjustments there are several people who meet to make these decisions.
3. What is the worst part about the budget?
   Having to make budget cuts and not knowing where to make the cuts. The worst part is when it comes down to letting employees go due to downsizing.
4. What kind of program do you use to help keep you safe while budgeting?
   We use a program called Quickbooks Online.
   5. How often do you review your budget?
   The budget is reviewed monthly.
   6. What protocol do you follow when you find you’re over budget?
   We first determine what area went over budget and why. If possible we make cuts in that area. If it’s not possible to cut back that area, we determine what can be cut with the least amount of resistance.
   7. What are the first things to go when you have to do budget cuts?
   We frequently treat our employees to lunch.  When we have to do budget cuts we tend to first pull from this category. We don’t like to completely cut the budget because this is fun for our employees, but we do cut back when needed.
5. What are your long-term budgeting goals for your company/department?
   The goal for our department this year is to hit 1.5 million net income
6. What are your short-term budgeting goals for you company/department?
   Two of our short term goals this year are to increase our daily sales by 5% and expand service into 3 new states.
7. How much time do you set aside for budgeting?
   I personally spend about 3 hours a month going over with the budgeting team but there is a lot more time put into it than that.

Budgeting for a company sounds painful and complicated.  I personally love finances and I love investing and and planning and every thing with personal finances.  However, I think that budgeting for a company is being a lot more stress and a lot more problems to deal with.  If I go over my personal budget, no biggy, if the company goes over budget that puts so many things at risk.

This week we discussed how we want to advance our nursing careers.  In one of our discussions we were asked to come up with a five year plan.

• What is your ultimate career goal?
  • I want to be an FNP that works while my kids are at school
• What will it take to get there?
  • I have to go finish my BSN, and go to an accredited FNP program and pass boards.
• What education is involved?
  • Masters
• What is your plan over the next 5 years to achieve your goal?
  • I want to start this year and take one class at a time, completing my FNP in 3-4 years.

We also discussed scheduling, which sounds like a horrendous job.

This week we learned about the future of nursing.  In one of the articles it discussed how the affordable care act has changed healthcare more that anything else since medicare and medicaid. With the changes in healthcare made by the act, there is an increased need for educated nurses.  Some of the recommendations made were having 80% of nurses have their BSN by 2020, implementing nursing residencies for new nurses and doubling the number of nurses with doctorates by 2020.

I do think that these goals are attainable.  A lot of companies are requiring all new hires to obtain their BSN within three years of their hire date and are implementing residency programs.  A lot of nurses are also going on to become nurse practitioners and to get thier doctorates.  Though, of the recommendations made, doubling the number of nurses with doctorates is probably going to be the most difficult.  I do thing having nurses play a more involved role in healthcare is a natural progression.

However I do worry about the lack of training and experience NP’s have in hospitals.  I work with an NP and a PA that I believe pose great risk to patient safety.  On multiple occasions I have seen them admit patients that should have been shipped to a different hospital and be at a complete loss on how to treat a patient that needed quick and efficient care.

I read an article about how the senate financial committee tried to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to lower prices on drugs.  However, little progress was made do to the many excuses made by the pharmaceutical companies.  These companies produce products such as insulin, cancer drugs, asthma medication, the best-selling anti-inflammatory Humira, and vaccines.  Each of these drugs are notoriously expensive.

Leadership and management sounds like an incredibly difficult and stressful job, one I absolutely would never want.  The following is a visual representation of of me trying to be a manager

 

The Interview this week was also insightful into the dismal plight of managers.  They have the difficult job of having to balance trying to do what is best for the company and what is best for your employees.  My manager is amazing and I know that he cares about his employees, he also cares about being good at his job.  The only bad thing anyone has to say about him is that he cares too much and wants to make everyone happy.  I have seen him go above and beyond to help struggling employees succeed.  This weeks assignments really brought home the fact that as a manager, hiring good employees is essential .

I Interviewed Ryan Farnworth, Spanish Fork Police.  I thought this interview was really interesting.  I learned that quiet a few things are very similar to how we do them. I think firing and discipline is very difficult and not something I ever want to be involved in.  Having an employee that isn’t pulling their weight or that isn’t following protocol can be immensely difficult for an employer.  Deciding who when and why should be fired or let go can add a huge amount of stress to an already stressful job.  I think something that I noticed was that it is very difficult to set black and white clean and easy rules for disciplining an employee.  Sometimes circumstance and intention can have an effect on policies. Policies and rules can or should sometimes act more as guidelines rather than hard set rules.  Life happens, people make mistakes and sometimes people need a second chance.

yet….

Cuz that is basically all we do.

However, the discussion topics were actually interesting.  It was fun to discuss who we thought was the greatest leader, how to evaluate employees because most of us did our evals, and what to do with a problem employee.

I don’t think I learned anything from this module, it was all pretty basic, common knowledge sort of stuff.  It did reaffirm that I do not want  to ever be a charge nurse or a supervisor.

I felt like it was interesting to see what other people thought on the discussions.

This week we learned about hiring and the in’s and out’s of what it’s like to be a manager in charge of hiring.  What I actually learned was that I never want to be in charge of hiring people, but I would love to sit in on the hiring process.  I think the questions asked people in interviews are fascinating and I would love to hear what people’s answers are like.

The above image is an accurate representation of how I view group projects.  However, my team is seriously awesome because I know them and they are my friends.  I actually enjoy working with them because I trust them and they work hard.  My personal opinions didn’t really change with the group projects, but I was convinced that other ideas and opinions would work just as well.

I think the list of potential hiring questions was the most helpful.  I would like to go over them and think of viable answers for them before I have a job interview.  I have found that doing this helps my interviews go smoother and I feel more confident.  I will also never allow my career to lead me to be a manager.

Personally, I see school as a necessary evil.  I don’t like homework and I don’t like being told what and how to learn.  That said, the assignments this week did help me learn and weren’t all together terrible.  The questions were interesting, the team projects were insightful and overall not excruciating.  I do resent the fact that I have to do the exact same assignment I did for my ASN.  I think it is a complete waste of time and it frustrates me beyond belief that I have to redo all of my work.