FUNCTIONS BASED ON MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES:
Planning: The objectives of nursing unit should be achieved through planning, good coordination and supervision. While planning nursing unit one should identify the opportunities and threat that can be in future and to take action accordingly. Consultation with the staff should be carried out to meet the goals.
Organizing: The head nurse is in charge of a small individual unit. She is responsible for planning, delegating, supervising and coordinating patient care. Effective management requires a high degree of team work hence it needs a thorough understanding of each other's role and the line of authority to avoid any clashes.
Reporting: Reporting at each level is essential so as to give information regarding the functioning of the nursing unit. The clinical records of patient are both scientific and legal. Hence they should be accurate, complete, and legible.
Directing: Nursing unit of the ward is responsible for giving strategic direction to a ward and should have over all perspective of the resources, constraints, objectives and plans of the hospital. Each group of activity with the same objectives must have one head and one plan. Supervision of subordinate and issuing directives should be carried out in orders to accomplish the activities and to provide high quality of patient care.
Staffing: Determine the various categories of staff pattern required in the nursing unit. Selection of staff and assignment made to these personnel the staff needs to be motivated to give their best at all time even in stressful conditions. Nursing unit should enhance the efficiency of nursing staff in the wards rather than making them fatigued.
Coordination: Inter departmental coordination is very important to meet the goals of nursing unit. This results in achieving desired objectives, perfect ' coordination, with optimum utilization of resources with minimum wasted effort. In addition to ward resources of the nursing unit. Interpersonal relationship plays a major role in consideration as this helps in achieving its objectives only if its parts are coordinated into comprehensive whole.
Controlling: The control should be appropriate with the activity, flexible, economical, and understandable and follow the unit objectives. Periodic assessment of the staff both in quantities and qualitative to the extent of achievement should be against the predetermined standards of the nursing unit. Nursing unit should be so designed that it can operate at minimum cost at the same time also achieve the functional goal of the wards. Provision for financial resources for procuring material /supplies and for maintenance should be made available in the nursing unit.