Carol Reineck, Ph.D., R.N., wrote several modules for an online course for nurse managers through a collaboration of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the American Organization of Nurse Executives.
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Carol Reineck, Ph.D., R.N., CNAA-BC, COI, along with other national administrative nursing leaders, just completed development of an online course for nurse managers, “Essentials of Nurse Manager Orientation.” Dr. Reineck is associate professor and holder of the Amy Shelton & V.H. McNutt Endowed Professorship in Nursing.

Dr. Reineck wrote four interactive financial management modules and one human relations module on nurse retention for the course, a collaborative project between the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) and the American Organization of Nurse Executives.

“The AACN funded Carol’s work on the project over the last year as an enrichment project,” said Nancy Girard, Ph.D., R.N., associate professor and chair of the Department of Acute Nursing Care. “This was an effort in developing interactive learning media, along with mentoring a graduate student. One of Dr. Reineck’s graduate students, Claudia Ellis, served as a volunteer Beta tester for the program.”

“Nurse managers are pivotal leaders in health care, yet often are not afforded formal preparation for this critical role,” Dr. Reineck explained. The interactive Essentials of Nurse Manager Orientation program covers three domains:

• The science ― managing the business
  
• The art ― leading the people
  
• The leader within

“The courses each include self assessments, case studies, practice pearls and lesson takeaways. These features make the program highly relevant for new nurse managers as they develop new competence in leading nursing care at the unit level,” she said.Recent publications
A retired chief nurse executive of the U.S. Army Medical Command worldwide, Dr. Reineck also authored two publications in the Journal of Nursing Administration, a prestigious journal for nurse administrators. Her guest editorial, “Nursing Models: A Closer Look,” appeared in the May edition and “Models of Change” is expected to be published in a special edition in September. “Both articles speak to nurses leading change in complex health care organizations,” Dr. Girard said.

New book chapter
Dr. Reineck also recently wrote a chapter in a new book about academic leadership that was published in May titled “Leadership in Place,” edited by Dr. Jon Wergin. Her chapter, “Sharing Leadership in an Academic Health Science School of Nursing,” focuses on the health services side of education.

In the book, Dr. Reineck acknowledged a number of Health Science Center faculty members including Dr. Robin Froman, dean of the School of Nursing, Dr. Joel Baseman, professor and chair of the department of microbiology, and Dr. Girard.

“During my service as interim chair of the Department of Family Nursing Care from 2004 to 2005, Dr. Girard and I attended the annual Academic Chairpersons meeting. The keynote speaker was Dr. Jon Wergin, the editor of the work in which I authored a chapter. Among his literary contributors, no previous perspectives had ever been documented from an academic health center view. The faculty in my (interim) department demonstrated willingness to share leadership; they thrived on transparent, two-way communication, and we developed trust. I chose to acknowledge my own dean, chair, faculty and colleagues with whom I practiced and observed the intricacies of what works and what doesn’t. Leadership is difficult to define, but exhilarating to practice,” she said.