Ask the nursing expert

I accepted a new position recently, and no matter how many times I speak with her, my assistant’s work standard is very different than mine. How should I express my expectations and get the results I want without offending her?

First, write down what your standards are, think about them to be sure, and then discuss this issue with your supervisor. You don’t want to be unrealistic in your expectations, and your supervisor can give you more information on your assistant’s work behavior.

Once you have fine-tuned your expectations of your assistant, sit down with her and express them both verbally and in writing. Give specific examples of where these expectations are not being met. Engage your assistant in talking about her role and what it means to produce quality work.

Do not get hooked up in her personal problems and situations. Stay focused on work performance. At the end of your discussion, ask your assistant to restate what your expectations are and then let her know that you will sit down with her in a month or two and review her work performance once again. Ask if she has any questions and make yourself available to clarify expectations of assigned projects.

Our administrator is wonderful, though some of the management team feel that he is too soft. He can handle the “big dogs,” but I want all the staff to appreciate him. What can I do to help?

Staff generally do not understand the stress that comes with being an administrator. You have to be everything for everybody. That includes corporate people, regulators, families and staff.

You could have an “administrator appreciation day” and ask staff to make a list of what they like best about their administrator. It would help them focus on the positive and maybe help them appreciate how great they have it.