Darci Bowles: Nurse Leader, Interview Example

How did you prepare to be a successful leader?

DB: I was fortunate enough to have several years of leadership experience in my career as a Respiratory Therapist prior to becoming an RN which gave me a foundation to build on.  However, everything that I learned in those positions came pretty much from trial and error; there wasn’t anyone who mentored or precepted me.  That’s definitely a painful way to acquire knowledge and skills.

I made some pretty serious sacrifices, just like you are.  I sacrificed time with my family and time for myself to get my Master’s degree.  I also had decided early on that my goal of being in a nursing leadership position was likely to happen more quickly if I stayed employed on one unit and gained expertise in not only the nursing care but also in the politics and culture of the environment as well as the daily unit operations.  Prior to being a nurse, I had worked mostly in critical care units since I was 17 years old and was much more comfortable in that environment than on the “wards”.  I gave up my aspirations of working in critical care nursing to stay on our unit hoping to reach my leadership goals more quickly.

I continue to “prepare” every day.  I know that I’ve built a good relationship with my co-workers and have developed the skills that I need to have to be successful.  I also know that I need to continue to work at maintaining my relationships, skills and knowledge.

Was there anything in your experiences or education that you believe was especially useful in preparing you?

DB: Learning from my mistakes has been pretty powerful for me and I’ve made a whole lot of them.  The NAL program was a great educational experience.  I gained much more practical information and experience than I was expecting and met many people who continue to be great leadership resources for me.

What lessons have you learned that helped you grow as leader?

DB: That’s hard to narrow down!  One of the biggest things that I’ve learned from experience is the power of staying positive.  I’m by nature pragmatic and I have to concentrate on looking at the positive aspects of situations every day.  This has a huge impact on how successful you are in your communication, interactions and decisions.  I’ve also learned to not underestimate my gut feelings or intuition.  If a situation feels wrong, it’s really worth your time to take a close look at what is really going on regardless of how things appear initially.

Describe the people in your life who have mentored you.

DB: Recently, Joan Dagenhart-Cable has been very helpful to me in growing as a leader.  She not only is a great resource for answering technical types of questions about the NM role, she’s also been great about helping me with trickier communication and political situations.

I’ve found it helpful to try to learn from the behaviors of those who are successful leaders as well as those who have more challenges along the way.

If I were to make a deliberate effort to become an influential nurse leader, what specific steps would you recommend I take during the next 5 years?

DB: Finish your degree; establish and maintain collegial relationships with your interdisciplinary colleagues as well as your nursing peers; ask for more responsibility and show that you’re capable of taking it; as you proceed through the NAL program’s assignments, try to work on as many projects that would also benefit your unit and/or the hospital as well as your education as possible.  If you aren’t already, start viewing your work and your environment in a more global manner.  Consider how your decisions and input could impact the institution instead of just your unit.

How do you balance work and life?

DB: I’m not sure that I do. I’m actually taking a look at what my priorities are right now and doing some re-balancing because I’ve been struggling quite a bit recently as my kids get bigger. It’s very challenging.

My husband is extremely supportive and is a great dad so that is a huge factor.  We definitely have to work as a team and communicate clearly.  It helps that I’ve always liked to plan and organize things ahead of time.  I definitely don’t usually have “down time” which probably isn’t for the best.

At work, I know that one of the reasons that I’ve been successful in leadership on our unit is that Bonnie and I have a great working relationship.  I think the Nurse Manager/Nurse Clinician leadership model works particularly well for us.  A big part of our success is that we know all of our co-workers so well and vice versa.  On our unit, if you can’t function well as part of the team, it’s really difficult to succeed.

What obstacles/challenges did you face as a new manager?

DB: That’s a big topic!  I was fortunate enough to not have to prove myself to our staff to the degree that I would have if I had come from outside, but that was still important.  I needed to show them that I was still going to support them and put my efforts into what made the most sense for the operations of the unit and facilitating the care that they provide.  I also had to show that I wouldn’t allow myself to be manipulated into making poor or inequitable decisions.

Being able to back away from helping out clinically as much as I was used to was and is still challenging.

Give me some techniques you use to solve problems on the unit or with an employee (crucial conversation).

DB: There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all communication or problem-solving technique for any given situation.  It depends on the people and circumstances involved.  There are some behaviors that come to mind that are helpful in general: approach situations assuming that everyone involved has good intent, listen carefully to what isn’t being said and even if you feel you’re being “attacked”, don’t ever take the bait.

What is your personal definition of leadership?

DB: I think that it’s primarily helping people work towards shared objectives.

Are you a member of a professional organization? If so, which one and would you suggest someone become a member?

DB: I’m a member of AONE and ANA.  Participation in this area is something that I feel I need to do more of and is part of my considerations in my “re-balancing”.  I think that these are good organizations to start with.

What is the hiring process and qualifications for nurse manager?

DB: I’d have to take a look at the NM job description for the exact qualifications.  The parts that I remember are that you have to have a master’s degree, some management or supervisory experience and demonstrate leadership qualities. The hiring process is similar to that for other positions within our organization.  I think the interview process varies some from position to position and applicant to applicant.  There are multiple interviews, some individual and some panel ones.  In my situation, I believe that having the opportunity to demonstrate that I was capable of doing the job by being interim NM was a key factor in getting the position.

The interview with Darci Bowles shed a lot of light on the topic of leadership within the nursing field.  She thoroughly explained how she works as a leader to deal with problems within the unit and stating the educational steps that a person can take to achieve the role of nursing manager.  It was very good to hear that she recommended finding mentors to help guide us through the process of entering the nursing field and working our way into a nursing manager position.  It’s always beneficial to hear things from someone who has been through it themselves, and she sounded as though she has been forced to make a lot of mistakes and learn from those mistakes without having a lot of guidance from other professionals.

I was a little disheartened about what she had to say about re-balancing her work life with her home life.  She is lucky to have such a support family and a well-qualified staff to perform duties within the nursing unit.  Unfortunately, she made it very clear that it is extremely difficult to balance time and efforts between the two different lives and that, more often than not, her family gets the short end of the stick.  I think it’s important to set aside priorities and to do the best that we can to adhere to those priorities.  Otherwise, we could get so focused on our work and it would take away from our abilities to spend time with our family.

I think it’s also important to notice that Darci Bowles implied that the work of a nursing manager can be very difficult for someone who is brand new to the position.  It is difficult to prove yourself to a nursing unit, but it is important to stay confident and work hard to keep the unit working as smooth and possible and reduce the number of mistakes being made.  In the end, once you have proven yourself, it allows the rest of the staff to trust in the decision making and follow directions exactly as they are laid out.  The problem and frustrating part is that it may take quite a while to earn the trust of the staff.  Either way, being a nursing manager can be a very honorable and lucrative position, but it is not right for everyone.