Think Like a Charge Nurse: Staffing, Prioritization, Escalation, Leadership, and Shift Management in the Real World (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798181107625)

Charge nursing is one of the most challenging roles in healthcare.

One moment, you are coordinating admissions and staffing assignments.

The next, you are managing a deteriorating patient, supporting an overwhelmed nurse, addressing family concerns, communicating with providers, and helping the entire unit navigate competing priorities.

Yet few nurses receive formal preparation for the realities of charge nursing.

Think Like a Charge Nurse was written to help bridge that gap.

Drawing from real-world nursing leadership experiences, this practical guide explores the clinical judgment, communication skills, situational awareness, staffing strategies, and leadership principles that effective charge nurses use every day.

Inside, you will learn how to:

- Build safer patient assignments

- Manage staffing shortages and staff call-offs

- Prioritize competing demands during busy shifts

- Escalate concerns effectively through the chain of command

- Support new nurses and strengthen team performance

- Navigate conflict, difficult conversations, and family concerns

- Lead during rapid responses, emergencies, and crises

- Recognize burnout, compassion fatigue, and leadership stress

- Develop confidence, resilience, and leadership presence

- Create a lasting impact on patients, teams, and future nurses

Whether you are a new charge nurse, an experienced leader, a preceptor, a nurse manager, or a nurse preparing for future leadership responsibilities, this book provides practical strategies that can be applied immediately in real clinical environments.

Because charge nursing is not simply about managing a shift.

It is about anticipating problems, supporting people, protecting patients, and leading with confidence when others need guidance most.

Strong charge nurses are not born.

They are developed.

One shift at a time.

Sylvalene Alozie, DNP, APRN, FNP-C
Author Clinical Communication Educator Patient Health Literacy Advocate