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STAFFING
ing a bad week), but it quickly became clear her constant lateness
caused dissatisfaction among the other nurses. When the situation didn't
improve with counseling, I got creative by scheduling her to begin her
day at 7:30 a.m. — a half-hour before her shift started. I knew she'd be
on with the 8 a.m. nurses.
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Stand your ground
It's not easy to maintain the balance between being understood
and making sure you're not being taken advantage of. As a single
mother, I have a family-first attitude that carries over to how I treat
my staff. One staff member, though, would start priming everyone the
day before she was going to call out or leave early. The scenarios
ranged from starting to feel sick to "hoping" she didn't have to take
her grandmother to the doctor the next day.
The first few times, I let the call-out happen, or let her leave early to
take care of things. But it was unfair to other staff members (and
don't think they didn't notice the day-before complaints), and I was in
danger of being taken advantage of as a manager.
So I met with the employee and said, "Look, I get it. Some situations
are unavoidable. But that's not what's happening here. I'm willing to
be flexible, but I can't do that if you're not approaching the situation
responsibly." We developed a game plan: She'd provide proper notice
if a doctor's appointment couldn't be scheduled outside business
hours. Then she'd return and complete her assignments — no matter
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