In at the deep end: steps to develop management habits

If you have been a dental nurse for some time, your thoughts might be turning to a management role. You might be considering this in your current practice or thinking about moving to another practice if opportunities to develop your career look unlikely where you are now. You may have already taken on a management role. You may have been thrown in at the deep end, given the title of manager, but not helped to gain the knowledge and skills to fulfil your role as effectively as you would like. This can be all too common in dental practices, where a principal is keen to delegate some of their management and administrative tasks but has not thought through how best this can be achieved or the timescale over which this should be done.