Sullivan ch14 Lecture Accessible

Effective Leadership and Management in
Nursing
Ninth Edition
Chapter 14
Managing Time
Copyright © 2018, 2013, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Learning Outcomes
14.1 Critique time-wasters.
14.2 Examine goals and determine priorities.
14.3 Develop ways to control interruptions.
14.4 Incorporate time management strategies into meeting
activities.
14.5 Summarize methods to respect time for yourself and
others.
Key Terms
• goal setting
• interruption log
• time logs
• time-waster
• to-do list
Introduction
• No one manages time, but we can manage how we use
time.
• Pressure to do more in less time has increased.
– Job enlargement
• Efficiency is paramount.
• Time can be used proactively or reactively.
Learning Outcome 14.1
Critique time-wasters.
Time-wasters (1 of 3)
• A time-waster is something that prevents a person from
accomplishing the job or achieving the goal.
• Common time-wasters include:
– Staff interruptions
– Meetings without a clear purpose
– Goals, objectives, and priorities that are not
measurable
– Plans without time parameters
• Common time-wasters include:
– Disorganized files or papers
– Time logs, not analyzed
– Tasks/activities that can be delegated
– Waiting for others
– Inability to say no
• Time Logs
– Written or digital records of what you do every minute
of the day
– Useful in analyzing your time
– Examine your calender or planner to determine how
you spend your time.
– Determine time wasters and activities that can be
delegated to others or eliminated.
Examine goals and determine priorities.
Setting Goals (1 of 15)
• Goals are specific statements of outcomes that are to be
achieved.
• Defining goals and time frames helps reduce stress by
preventing the panic people often feel when confronted
with multiple demands.
• Goal setting helps relate current behavior, activities, or
operations to the long-range goals of an organization or
individual.
• Think of individual or personal goals in categories such
as:
– Department or unit
– Interpersonal
– Professional
– Financial
– Social
– Vacation and travel
– Physical
– Lifestyle
– Community
– Spiritual
• Short-term goals should be set for the next 6 to 12
months, but they should be related to long-term goals.
• Identify objectives to be achieved.
• Describe specific activities necessary to achieve these
objectives.
• Estimate time required for each activity.
• Determine planned activities for concurrent action versus
sequential.
• Identify activities that can be delegated.
• Delegating tasks to others can be an efficient time-
management tool.
• Delegation is perhaps the most difficult leadership skill for
a nurse or a manager to acquire.
• Determining Priorities
– Consider both short- and long-term goals and
categorize by the following:
▪ What you must do
▪ What you should do if possible
▪ What you could do if you have time to spare
– Activities can be identified according to the following:
▪ Urgent and important
▪ Important but not urgent
▪ Urgent but not important
▪ Busywork
▪ Wasted time
– Activities that are both urgent and important must be
completed.
– Others’ emergencies or crises can intrude on your
priorities.
– A patient’s condition becomes life threatening and you
have other patients who need your care
– How do you handle the situation?
– You are the clinical preceptor for a nurse resident who
needs to debrief about how he communicated with the
case manager about a patient’s discharge plans
– Today is the deadline to submit a quality assurance
report about decubitus ulcers; the study results
demonstrate that staff practice is consistent with
standards and the decubitus ulcer rate is decreasing
• Daily Planning and Scheduling
– Prepare a to-do list of the tasks to be completed each
day.
▪ A weekly to-do list may be more effective.
– Some time should remain uncommitted to allow you
to deal with emergencies and crises that are sure to
happen.
– A system to keep track of regularly scheduled
meetings and appointments.
• Grouping Activities and Minimizing Routine Work
– Group similar items within the divisions of the work
shift.
– Group routine tasks during the least productive time.
– Use transition or waiting time productively.
– Implement the daily plan and follow up.
• Personal Organization and Self-discipline
– Work from clearly defined priorities based on
measurable, achievable objectives.
– Establish realistic commitments to manage time
effectively.
– There is never enough time for all the activities,
situations, and events in which one might like to
become involved.
– To be effective, nurses and nurse managers must be
personally well organized and possess self-discipline.
– Self-discipline also includes being able to say no.
– Explain to your superior how being overloaded will
have consequences on your assignments
– Communicate your own needs to others
Develop ways to control interruptions.
Controlling Interruptions (1 of 7)
• Each time you are stopped in the middle of one activity to
give attention to something else, you are wasting
valuable time.
• Some interruptions interfere with achieving the job and
are less important and urgent than current activities.
• How can you approach interruptions to save time?
• Keep an interruption log.
– List interruptions that occur.
– Describe how the interruption affects your work.
– Analyze interruptions to determine patterns.
– Calculate how much time is wasted.
• Analysis of this data may identify patterns.
• Phone Calls, Voice Mail, Email, and Text Messages
– Phone call strategies
▪ Minimize socializing and small talk
▪ Plan calls.
▪ Set a time for calls.
▪ State the reason for the call and ask for preferred call
times.
– Voice mail
▪ Excellent way to send and receive messages when real-
time interaction is not essential
▪ State the message in a professional manner.
▪ Omit personal or confidential information.
– Text messages
▪ Establish a time to return them.
– E-mail
▪ Can enhance time management or be a time-
waster
▪ Better to use more personal forms of
communication for potentially sensitive or
troublesome issues
▪ Check only at specific times of day.
• In-person Interruptions
– Drop-in visitors
▪ Take charge of the visit.
▪ Identify the issue or question.
▪ Arrange an alternative meeting.
▪ Refer the visitor to someone else.
▪ Redirect the visitor’s problem-solving efforts.
– Meetings
▪ Schedule only as necessary.
▪ Have an agenda.
▪ Set time limits.
• Paperwork
– Plan and schedule times for paperwork.
– Sort paperwork for effective processing.
– Send every communication online.
– Analyze paperwork frequently.
– Do not be a paper shuffler.
▪ Handle paper once.
Incorporate time management strategies into meeting

activities.
Controlling Time in Meetings
• To manage meetings:
– If no meeting is needed, cancel it.
– Invite only key people to initial meetings.
– Establish the meeting’s goal and outcomes expected
at the outset.
– Send information before the meeting so time is not
spent reading it.
– Set a time limit for all meetings.
– Determine the agenda and keep to the topic.
– Follow up with actions assigned.
Summarize methods to respect time for yourself and

others.
Respecting Time
• Respect your own time as well as that of others.
• If you need to talk to someone, make an appointment,
particularly for routine matters.
• "What is the best use of my time right now?"
– For myself and my goals
– For my staff and their goals
– For the organization and its goals
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Effective Leadership and Management in

Examine goals and determine priorities.

Develop ways to control interruptions.

Incorporate time management strategies into meeting

Summarize methods to respect time for yourself and

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