Ask the nursing expert
How do you survive under a director of nursing who leads with a dictatorship style?
Oh, dear. What a dilemma! With this style of management your DON can only manage by fear and intimidation. If you work better in an environment that fosters teamwork, you might find that you will struggle. It is difficult to survive in long-term care even when surrounded by a team that treats each other with respect. I don’t know how anyone can survive with managers who tell you to do something just because they “say so” and are punitive when you do not work up to their expectations. You just have to decide which type of work atmosphere is best for you to grow in both professionally and personally.
In my facility, a group of us are trying to set up an evacuation drill but find that staff don’t seem interested. How do you motivate people?
As you know, fire drills, disaster drills, evacuation drills are all practice in case the “real thing” occurs. They are not to be taken lightly! Try making the drills as real as possible, including borrowing smoke machines from the fire department. If you find that members in your ancillary offices just close their doors and go back to work versus participating, you will need to discuss this with your administrator. You might also have your local fire department representatives come to the building to conduct your training. They usually bring really scary videos of real disasters in long-term care facilities.