Napa State Hospital Nursing Supervisor Reflection

On my assigned unit in Napa State Hospital, there are a nursing supervisor and a nurse lead on my shift. The nursing supervisor will be sitting in her own office and working on things that are related to the unit except for the patient care; the nurse lead is the one that sit behind the nursing station and assign nurse staff to their daily duties and does not have to deal with management issues. For example, the nursing supervisor will be participate on all types of meeting with the management from Napa State Hospital, she is also present on every staff hands off meeting, she also will be the one that is talking about what she had in plan for improvement for the unit and the patient care. The nurse lead would delegate nurses to work in the

treatment room, medication room, or provide patient care with the help of the psy- technician for that day at the beginning of the shift; then she will sit behind the nursing station to look at patient document and charting. There is a huge difference between the nursing supervisor and the nurse lead. On another word, the nursing supervisor is there to deal with bigger issues and management problem; but the nurse lead is there to manage the unit staff and the patient. One thing for sure, they are both there to ensure the safety of the patient and staff.