Qualities And Philosophy Of Leadership In Nursing

The first quality of a good leader is that he has passion for the craft and challenges me to be the best that I can be at whatever I am going to do. If things are made easy or handed to you, you won’t work as hard to accomplish it. You are already aware of the outcome and it is always in your favor. A good leader challenges your highest level of your ability and always expects the best from you. He wants you to put your best foot forward and rewards you when you have done your best. A good leader always sets a good example because he leads by example. If your leader is unprepared, unmotivated, has no confidence and has lost his passion then you will be the same way. Your leader always needs to be #1 because he wants the same determination from you. A good leader finds ways to keep his team motivated and you will always benefit from his experience.

A good leader always offers a complete explanation of the job to be done. He always offer clear and consice directions so that you will do a great job the first time. A good leader always wants his team to be successful with every task because that reflects back to him.

Some of the traits of a good leader are that he is always visible. In order to provide strong leadership he needs to have a strong visual presence with the workers. They need to see him in the middle of a task working along side them getting the job done. He needs to be available for questions, comments and just general discussions. He needs to always be in the forefront so that the followers can have him at their disposal when needed.

Another trait is that a good leader always needs to be consistant. Don’t be a bully one day and try to be friends with your followers the nest day. Changing styles only confuses the followers. . Stick with one style of leadership. Those who look to you for leadership must know what to expect, that is consistency on a daily basis. Also, make decisions consistently. It is so important not to let your personal feelings cloud your decisions. Stay focused on the situation or issue, not on any one particular person. Many times we are more connected with some workers than others. Never let the work relationships change your response. Treat all employees equally and with the same amount of fairness. Always treat employees with the same amount of respect, showing favoritism makes you a terrible leader. Enforce the rules fairly.

Try to always include employees in finding better solutions to problems. A good trait of the leader is to ask open ended questions, asking questions is always a great conversation starter. When you include your followers it always makes them feel like an important part of the team. Always encourage suggestions for improvement and changes that will set your team apart. The leader improves the team by listening to them, discussing and challenging their skills and complementing on a job well done.

Set the tone for the work environment. An optimistic attitude from a leader can excite and motivate the team to always do the best job they can do. Confidence is contagious; so is having none. Employees feed off the tone that leaders set. A good leader is an encourager and always says well done or thank you when the job is finished.

Many times leaders make mistakes, they are human beings just like everyone else. They aren’t perfect and will make many mistakes. But a good leader says,” I made a mistake.” Every team member will have more respect for the leader if they are always open and honest about all events. Honesty is always and forever the best policy. Leaders make the mistakes of sometimes putting business before people.

Being insensitive and having a I am the king attitude, recognizing the outcome

when it is good and not the people who do the work.

My preceptor Mrs. McKenzie is a wonderful leader. She is always ready to teach you something new and has the confidence that I will do a good job. She is a good leader because she doesn’t have the I’m the teacher, you’re the student attitude. She is always open to suggestion and the many questions that I have for her each and every time I am in clinic. When there is a code or another stressful situation she never looses her cool. She is full of useful information for both myself and the doctor. Ms Angela who is the charge nurse that is over the ER, now when I first met her she seemed cold and stuffy but once you see her in action she wants the students to be involved in all aspects of patient care. She even informs the MD on duty that they have a student and makes sure you are in the middle of everything that come thru the ER.

The positive traits I noticed on my clinical rotation is that all the floors I have been on are all about team work. When a new patient comes in no matter who’s patient it is all the nurse converge on the room and make sure the core nurse has all she needs.

One nurse starts the IV, one nurse disrobes the patient, one nurse applies the ECG leads and the other starts the initial assessment along with the vital signs. As the student if you don’t move fast you will miss out on everything. Students needs positive roles models and positive feedback to make sure that what they see in their nursing rotations make them a good nurse throughout your entire career.

Many things make you a reliable nurse but I believe proper training and education

plays a large role in being able to perform effectively, thus increasing reliability.

The negative traits that I have observed is that some nurses don’t want to have a student or a oriente for that matter. They forget that at one time they were a student or a new nurse on the job. They just want to have less intereference as possible to make their day go by. You are not allowed to ask them any questions or be in their patients room. I observed nurse not always using the proper techniques for different duties around the hospital. They are not washing their hands between patients, they aren’t using sterile technique when necessary and sometimes just over looking hospital protocol all together.

The one negative trait that I will never possess is that I will never be a nurse because of the pay, I will always be the kind of nurse that loves nursing and that is why I do it everyday. I will never forget where I came from and treat someone like they are less than me because they work in a different area than me. I will never be the type of nurse that speaks negatively about a MD or a nurse in front of the patient or anyone else for that matter.

More than likely I am a transformational leader. I work well with others, I have been trained and highly motivated with everything I do. I love to see people do well under the title that they work. I always try to be a good example and promote nothing but positive attitudes in the work place. I provide the guidelines and would allow the employees to do what they do. I like this style because it utilizes the skills that you know your employees already have, it makes them into their own leaders.

My peers come to me for advice on a daily basis because they know that I really have a No-nonsense attitude when I am working towards something. I offer strong but friendly words of advice and never sugar coat anything to them. When a plan needs to be made normally I am the one who implements the stages. To my friends I am a strong leader because I get it done and take no excuses. Now will that make me a good RN? I hope so, but time will tell. A RN has to be a strong selfless leader who never turns down a challenge unless it is unsafe for the patients. Always ready to give the right information when needed and always learning new things everyday.

How was your day as team leader? As a team leader, it wasn’t anything different for me. I had a job to do and got it done in the safest, quickest manner it could be done. What is a true team leader? As stated by Wikipedia ,”A team leader or team lead is someone (or in certain cases there may be multiple team leaders) who provides guidance, instruction, direction, leadership to a group of other individuals (the team) for the purpose of achieving a key result or group of aligned results. The team lead reports to a project manager (overseeing several teams). The team leader monitors the quantitative and qualitative result that is to be achieved. The leader works with the team membership” The nursing profession is no different than any other profession when it come to leadership. Leadership is critical to managing patients toward optimal clinical outcomes. Changing patterns of care delivery and constrained resources require nursing leaders to be responsive, demonstrate flexibility, and hold what Kantor describes as the C skills: know the concepts and principles of leadership, demonstrate competence in the role of leader, and make the interpersonal connections needed to be successful in the role. 1 Mergers, flattened organizational structures, and increased spans of control have resulted in heightened nurse executive role expectations. The literature reflects the call for extraordinary nursing leadership, with articles describing the importance of leaders incorporating multiple theories into practice, including transformational leadership, organizational empowerment, and care-centered governance.

What did you learn?

What is your personal philosophy of leadership?

I believe that nursing is a profession when using the criteria that Pavalko used to define the eight dimensions of a profession. I plan to show that nursing has relevance to social values, education, self-motivation, a code of ethics, commitment to life long work, a theoretical framework, and that there is a common identity. Additionally, I will discuss how the ADN prepared professional nurse has many roles, such as a caregiver, teacher, advocate, manager, colleague, and expert.

It is my opinion nursing is a remarkably rewarding profession that consists of various obstacles that are triumphed over in order to pave the way for a rewarding and honorable future. There are many significant achievements accomplished by nurses in today’s society including the values instilled in our social lives, as well as the education attained by individuals in order to seize the ability to give great care to the community. I believe it takes a unique type of person with a great deal of motivation and ambition to be capable of performing as a caretaker for others. It is crucial to believe in what you are doing by always using superior judgment, and by following the “Code of Ethics” in each decision you make in your working institution or at home with friends and family. Using the term “Career” in regards to nursing seems to be an understatement of my outlook on this astounding health care position, I have always considered this opportunity as a permanent gratifying commitment not only to myself, but to all of those whom rely on my specialized training and care for their well being. Although maybe not suitable for each person, nursing is a profession of choice for general public to apply themselves to if they so desire. There are numerous different regulations and system policies the nurses adhere to in order to maintain safety and quality care for all people. I believe nursing colleagues may be able to unite as one group with the same values in their trade in order to work harder on leading by example, and following each others strategies as well; furthermore, overcoming the obstacles of modern day traditional standards and excelling beyond the current generations outlook of the nursing profession.

Nursing leadership and management is crucial in the foundation of nursing care. There is a direct correlation between leadership and quality of care. Poor nursing leadership leads to poor patient outcome and, inversely, good nursing leadership leads to excellent patient outcomes.

I believe that a profession has a commitment to a lifelong work because you get involved in your establishment. It is very hard for me to think of leaving the nursing field, or the hospital I work in now, because there are so many people relying on me for my knowledge of this hospital. I have grown attached to those I work for and with. The rules of this hospital differ from others and after familiarizing myself in such depth here I could not just leave in hopes of finding another place to be so comfortable or appreciated. However, in today’s generation many nurses do not feel the same way. There are many nurses that choose to work short term in one hospital and then leave to work in another facility. Due to this constant battle for hospitals and other health care provider facilities to keep continuous adequate nursing staff, the United States has had to find other means of populating our health care systems. For instance, “According to the American Hospital Association, 17% of hospitals recruit from abroad to fill nursing vacancies.” New Trends in foreign Nurse Recruitment,” Texas Nursing Voice”, April, May, June 2008.