I have written recently a lot about my job. I think I learn something new every day and it is not always about nursing. Many times it is about how to treat people and how to be a leader in a company.

I had a couple of weeks off lately because of a situation that was unforeseen. When I got back I was horrified to find that most of my patients had not returned on my schedule. In fact I only had one patient and that would have netted me about $35.00 for the week. Not exactly enough to pay for groceries.

I soon got that straightened out and my branch manager asked me to let her know which patients I wanted back. I wanted all of them back, I needed all of them back but I didn’t ask for all of them back because more than that, I wanted to be fair.

The LVN that I work with covered my back while I was off. She has covered my back more than once and to get all of my patients back would have screwed her over. So I stopped and thought about it for awhile and then I called her. “Which patients did you want to see?” I asked and we went through the list and I let her call the shots on every one of them except one which I told her I was pulling rank on and keeping.

I still had a full schedule today but I also slept soundly last night. I learned one of the best lessons about leadership through this experience. When someone has covered your back it is not wise to stab them in their back the first chance you get if you want to be a leader.

Being a leader is seldom about being the first in line but more about making sure that those behind you are safe and keeping up with what they want to accomplish in life. Many times if you lead in this way you not only become successful in your career but also gain a new friend.