| Course | NR 587 Advanced Nursing Leadership Within Healthcare Environments |
|---|---|
| Week | 5 |
| Paper type | Standards enforcement memo |
| Length | About 820 words, 3 pages |
| Format | Memo with APA 7 citations |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | MSN, Nurse Executive |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NR 587 Week 5
Memorandum
To: Nurse Manager, Medical-Surgical Unit
From: Assistant Nurse Manager, Nights
Date: 14 July 2026
Re: Request to remove a night charge nurse from the charge role pending a formal process under the professional conduct policy
Why This Goes to You
You hold authority over charge nurse assignments and over the first steps of the professional conduct policy. I am raising this with you rather than with human resources directly because the policy asks that conduct concerns go first to the manager responsible for the role, and because only you can change the charge schedule.
The Standard
The hospital's code of conduct, section 2.1, states: "Staff will communicate with colleagues respectfully and will not use demeaning, humiliating or threatening language in any setting." Section 4.3 of the professional conduct policy states that a pattern of behavior contrary to section 2.1 by a person in a leadership role "will be addressed through the formal process, including temporary reassignment of leadership duties where appropriate." The Joint Commission has also warned that behaviors that intimidate staff undermine a culture of safety (The Joint Commission, 2008).
Instances
I have recorded the following, each witnessed by me or reported to me on the same shift by the person involved and confirmed by a witness. People are identified by role.
1. 3 February 2026, about 03:10, nurses' station. The charge nurse told a newly graduated nurse, in front of two patient care technicians, "If you can't handle six patients, you should go back to school." The new nurse had asked for help with a patient whose blood pressure was falling.
2. 18 March 2026, about 01:40. A new nurse called a rapid response for a patient with low oxygen saturation. The charge nurse, asked to help, said "Figure it out, that's what you're paid for" and stayed at the desk. The rapid response nurse helped instead. I was present.
3. 22 April 2026, about 06:50, at handoff. The charge nurse described a new nurse's question about a heparin infusion as "the stupidest thing I've heard all night," in front of the oncoming day charge nurse and two day nurses.
4. 9 June 2026, about 04:20. The charge nurse removed a new nurse from a scheduled break to take an admission, while two experienced nurses with lighter assignments were not asked. The new nurse had not had a break since 19:00.
I spoke with the charge nurse informally on 12 February about the first instance and explained the standard. The later instances followed that conversation.
The Workforce Cost
Two of the nurses involved in these instances have since left the unit. In their exit interviews in April and July 2026, both named interactions with the night charge nurse as a reason for leaving. Two other new night nurses have asked to transfer to days. The night position vacated in April has been posted twice without a hire. In the spring engagement survey, 37% of night nurses agreed they could raise a concern without fear, against 59% on days, and seven of eight comments about how new nurses are treated came from nights.
Rosenstein and O'Daniel (2008) found that nurses and physicians widely linked disruptive behavior to stress, poorer communication and perceived effects on patient safety. Instance 2 involved a patient whose oxygen level was falling. Laschinger (2014) found that nurses who experienced mistreatment from coworkers rated the risk to patient safety on their units as higher, which suggests the cost here is not only to retention.
The unit cannot retain new night nurses while the person responsible for them on shift treats them this way. Each departure costs the unit about $45,000 in replacement and adds agency hours.
What I Am Not Saying
I am not describing the charge nurse's character, and I am not asking for termination. The charge nurse is an experienced clinician, and the instances concern conduct in a leadership role. The policy provides a process, and I am asking that it be used.
The Request
I ask that you remove this nurse from the night charge role, starting with the August schedule, pending a facilitated meeting and a written performance plan under section 4.3, with the human resources business partner present. I can provide written statements from the witnesses to instances 1, 3 and 4 by 21 July.
The Fallback
If you decide the formal process is not warranted yet, I ask that, at a minimum, this nurse is not assigned as charge on any shift with a nurse in their first six months, and that the conversation of 12 February is followed by a documented coaching meeting with you before the end of July. I would also ask that we review the charge schedule together in October against the unit's first-year departures.
Next Contact
I will follow up with you on 18 July to arrange the witness statements or the coaching meeting, whichever you decide.
References
Laschinger, H. K. S. (2014). Impact of workplace mistreatment on patient safety risk and nurse-assessed patient outcomes. Journal of Nursing Administration, 44(5), 284-290. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000068
Rosenstein, A. H., & O'Daniel, M. (2008). A survey of the impact of disruptive behaviors and communication defects on patient safety. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 34(8), 464-471. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1553-7250(08)34058-6
The Joint Commission. (2008). Behaviors that undermine a culture of safety (Sentinel Event Alert No. 40). The Joint Commission.
Reading the NR 587 Week 5 instructions
The Week 5 memo is under two pages and colder in tone than most first drafts. Give no character description of the colleague. Present the conduct as instances with dates, each described by what was said or done and who else was present, with identifying detail reduced to role. Beside the instances, give the consequence in workforce terms: people who left naming the same interaction, a line posted twice without a hire, a shift nobody will swap onto. Quote the standard rather than asserting it. Address the memo to someone who can act. Most rubrics mark down a memo written in anger, a memo with no recipient who can act and a standard asserted as obvious.
How this NR 587 Week 5 example is built
The sample's header names the nurse manager, who controls charge assignments and the first steps of the conduct policy. It quotes section 2.1 of the code of conduct and section 4.3 of the policy, with a sentinel event alert alongside. Four instances from February to June are given with times, places, words used and witnesses by role, plus the informal conversation in February. The workforce cost covers two departures that named the conduct, two transfer requests, a twice-posted line and survey results. Published work links incivility to safety risk. The memo states what it is not saying and requests removal from charge pending the formal process, with a fallback.
NR 587 Week 5 rubric: what full points look like
The memo written in anger loses most of the marks, recognizable by characterization and no grantable request; this one describes no one's character. A missing recipient means nobody can act, and the nurse manager here holds the relevant authority. An unsourced standard turns the memo into a disagreement, so both clauses are quoted. Instances without dates or witnesses lose a row, and each instance here has both. Stating the workforce cost in departures and vacancies earns the consequence criterion. A request with a fallback and a follow-up date completes the marks for an actionable memo. Saying what the memo is not asking for, such as termination, keeps the request proportionate and easier to grant.
NR 587 Week 5 help: mistakes that cost points
Weak NR 587 Week 5 memos describe the colleague as rude or unprofessional and give no specific instance. Others are sent to someone who cannot change anything. Many assert that the behavior is unacceptable without quoting any policy. Dates and witnesses are often missing. The cost to the unit is rarely stated. Collect instances with dates and roles, quote the clause that applies and say what the conduct has cost in people and positions. End with a request the recipient can grant and a smaller fallback. If your situation differs, send the instances and the policy, and a sample memo can be shaped around them. Keep it under two pages.
Get a NR 587 Week 5 example written to your instructions
Send the prompt and rubric from your classroom, along with the shape of the situation you would write about, with names and places left out. A custom NR 587 Week 5 example is written to your instructions and comes back inside 24-48h, and the first one is free. We keep everything in it at the level of role.
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NR 587 Week 5 questions, answered
What if the conduct never produced a formal complaint?
Most of it never does, and the memo can still be written. Undocumented behavior leaves other traces: refusals to cover a rotation, a resignation that arrived a week after a particular shift, the same detail turning up twice in unrelated exit interviews. Name the traces and the absence of a formal complaint together, since a reader who finds the gap later will trust nothing else in the document.
Is it realistic to write a memo about somebody more senior?
The assignment usually depends on it, and the realistic version is not a confrontation. It is a request routed to the person who holds that colleague's line, phrased around a published standard and a measurable cost. Writers who imagine themselves ordering a physician to change are describing a role that does not exist. Writers who route the request correctly are describing one that does.
What if nothing happens after the memo is sent?
That outcome belongs inside the document, which is what separates this genre from a complaint. The finished version names the next route before it is needed: a second recipient, a committee, a formal process. Stating it is not a threat, it is what gives the first request a deadline that means something, and rubrics tend to reward writers who have thought past the send button.
Where can I find a free NR 587 Week 5 sample paper?
The full standards enforcement memo with four dated instances, quoted policy and a request with a fallback is on this page.
What is the fallback in the NR 587 Week 5 memo?
If formal action is not taken yet, the charge nurse is not assigned as charge with any nurse in their first six months, and a documented coaching meeting follows before the end of July.