Rosemarie Eustaquio

BSN 4-3

Republic of the Philippines

PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Puerto Princesa City

COLLEGE OF NURSING AND HEALTH SCIENCES

NCM 15-119A NURSING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY/ANALYSIS

Directions: Carefully read and examine the case below. Identify the issues; link the learnings you had
about management. Plan your answers, start writing; edit and proofread before submitting.

CASE:

Joe Garcia has been an operating room nurse for five years. He was often on call on Saturday and
Sunday, but he enjoyed his work and knew that he was good at it. Joe was called to come in on a busy
Saturday afternoon just as his 5 year-old daughter’s birthday party was about to begin. “Can you find
someone else just this once?” he asked the nurse manager who called him. “I should have let you know
in advance that we have an important family event today, but I just forgot. If you can’t find someone
else, call me back, and I’ll come right in.” Joe’s manager was furious. “I don’t have time to make a dozen
calls. If you knew that you wouldn’t want to come in today, you should not have accepted on-call duty.
We pay you to be on-call, and I expect you to be here in 30 minutes, not one minute later or there will
be consequences.” Joe decided that he no longer wanted to work in the institution. With his 5 years of
operating room experience, he quickly found another position in an organization that was supportive of
its staff.

1. What school of management thought seemed to be preferred by Joe Garcia’s manager?

Answer: Joe’s manager showed an authoritarian style of leadership, also called autocratic leadership,
which usually control the team and they have low autonomy in the group.

2. What school of management preferred by Joe?

Answer: Joe preferred a democratic style of leadership where the employees’ input is appreciated.

3. Which of the listed qualities of managers did the nurse manager display? Which behaviors? Which
ones did the nurse manager not display?

Answer: The nurse manager exhibited the qualities of a good leader. The nurse manager was
authoritarian, who enforce rules and regulations.  The qualities of the good leader in which the nurse
manager did not display was the sense of understanding and considering the problems of their
employees.
4. If you were Joe, what would you have done? If you were the nurse manager, what would you have
done? Why?

Answer: If I were Joe, I will plead the manager to look for someone else to fill in for my shift or I
should call someone I knew who also work there, if there’s any, to switch shift with me today. I
understand the Nurse Manager since it’s also my fault on the first hand. If I were the nurse manager, I
will try to find someone from another unit or ask a staff member on the next shift to fill in for Joe. If
ever Joe was forced and threatened to report for duty, he might not be able to focus and do his tasks
effectively.

5. Who do you think was right, Joe or the nurse manager? Why?

Answer: In my opinion, they are both wrong. Joe was not able to inform the nurse manager earlier
about his plan for his daughter’s birthday party, that’s why the manager couldn’t find a replacement
for him ahead of time. What the nurse manager did is not also right because pressuring an employee
is not in one of the qualities of a good leader. He should calmly explained to Joe that he should have
told to him what his plan was in order for them to take action and find a replacement for him.
Although what the nurse manager said about having consequences if he’s even one minute late is
true. Many things might happen in that moment and the fact that he should’ve been there might be a
blame for him.