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Book Review: The Nurse Leader Coach: Become the Boss No One Wants to Leave
Registered Nurse (RN) turnover rates are at a five-year high with 18.7% of nurses having left their position in 2020, up from 14.6% in 2016. The top five nursing units experiencing turnovers are step down, behavioral health, emergency, telemetry, and intensive care. Not only do hospitals incur losses of around $270,000 for every one percent of the RN workforce who vacate their positions, but staff morale and patient outcomes suffer (NSI Nursing Solutions, 2021). Numerous studies have reported burnout and workplace relationships as factors in deciding to leave. Nurse managers play a critical role in employee satisfaction and professional growth.
The culture of nursing is changing, especially in the stress of the pandemic. Nurses are growing tired of being overworked, poor nurse-patient ratios, and tired of being led by authoritarian managerial styles that are outdated, not conducive to work-life balance, and not helpful. Sherman (2019) challenges managers to step back and reflect on what changes they can make in their approach to improve nurse-manager relationships. In her book, The Nurse Leader Coach: Become the Boss No One Wants to Leave, Sherman (2019) helps managers transform, leaving behind older management styles, and bring new life and guidance for leaders. She follows transformational leadership theory utilizing a variety of different evidenced-based leadership skills such as critical personal and professional reflection, coach mentoring, effective communication, conflict resolution, and building team resilience to improve the nurse-manager relationship. This book is essential for all nurse leader coaches who wish to find new ways to support their nursing staff but increase retention, improve workplace relationships, increase unit moral, and grow future leaders. Sherman’s paperback or electronic book, ISBN 173291270X, runs around twenty dollars depending on vendor.
Nurses today do not want to be “managed.” They want a dedicated, caring leader who will help them navigate through their nursing responsibilities and careers, to coach them, provide real-time feedforward, to cheer them on, and help them grow. As leaders with terminal degrees, the Doctor in Nursing Practice (DNP) Essential VIII sets the expectation that leaders help grow and mentor other nurses (AACN, 2006). Sherman suggests nurse managers shed the old “manager” way of thinking and become a nurse leader and coach. A nurse leader coach values each nurse individually, acknowledges nurses have attributes that contribute to their profession, empowers staff by valuing their input, and encourages their personal and professional growth.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). (2006). DNP essentials. https://www.aacnnursing.org/DNP/DNP-Essentials.
NSI Nursing Solutions. (2021). 2021 NSI national health care retention & RN staffing report. https://www.nsinursingsolutions.com/Documents/Library/NSI_National_Health_Care_Retention_Report.pdf
Sherman, R. O. (2019). The nurse leader coach: Become the boss no one wants to leave. Rose Sherman.
Brandy Wardrip, MSN Ed, RN
DNP student, Eastern Kentucky University
Hello Brandy!
I appreciate your post regarding this book review. It is truly unfortunate that this is how the nursing culture has come to be, but yet, I do not disagree with any of the points you brought up. “The top five nursing units experiencing turnovers are step down, behavioral health, emergency, telemetry, and intensive care,” was a fact that I was not surprised to hear. Some individuals may not see how the stipulations that are brought upon behind the scenes of these units can be exhausting not only physically, but mentally, leading to burnout and even hostility between workplace relationships due to lack of solutions. The statement where you said, “Numerous studies have reported burnout and workplace relationships as factors in deciding to leave. Nurse managers play a critical role in employee satisfaction and professional growth,” is a statement that I can relate to. I am currently a nurse in behavioral health and we have been short staffed, liked every other unit, since the beginning of the pandemic. There has been numerous work place issues between staff members and in my opinion, a lack of stability within our team. Individuals feel a lack of support and I agree that it does start with leadership. Now I am not saying that my director or boss is to be at fault, but the system as a whole is flawed in increasing nursing retention because we do not feel heard when issues arise and are brought to attention. The book that you reviewed in this post is a great start for individual leaders to take a gander at to solidify a team and encourage others. With the nursing burnout and lack of support, nurses want to be felt that they are heard and see active solutions being brought to fruition.