NR500 Week 4 Discussion Topic, Leadership – Establishing Relationships and Influencing Change (Two Versions)

NR500 Week 4 Discussion Topic, Leadership – Establishing Relationships and Influencing Change (Two Versions) Hello class! In our lesson this week, it covers the masters level function of a nurse as a change agent and a leader. According to CCN, Lesson 4 (2019), the use of a relational skill is an effective way of being a leader because it develops positive partnership with colleagues or others to create change. As a future Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), it is my goal to improve my relational skills by participating in clinical research’s and continuing educations so that I will be able to influence, promote excellence and be the leader in creating positive change in my patient’s health, within my profession and work place. Nurse practitioner is viewed as clinical expert and as well as a leader in a primary care setting. The characteristics of a good leader includes effective communication, interpersonal/social skills and emotional intelligence. The two strengths I have that will help me become an effective and strong leader in my specialized area are my good interpersonal skills and the knowledge I have gained from different roles such as being a nursing student, nursing assistant, licensed practical nurse, registered nurse, clinical instructor, preceptor and now future family nurse practitioner. The leadership I gained from the different roles that I have experienced are respect each other, patience, to influence others, and setting as a good example for colleagues or others to follow. A leader must have the foundational knowledge and set of skills to be able to work effectively with other staff and provide the best quality of care or patient services. For example, a nurse practitioner should have a set of knowledge and skills to share to other staff. Therefore, a nurse practitioner should take the initiative to lead in providing quality of care through education, research and an ongoing clinical practice (Kershaw, 2013). The combination of effective communication and emotional intelligence skills are the result of a great interpersonal skills of a leader (Kershaw, 2013). Being able to control his or her emotions during the time of a stressful event to make critical decision and a fair judgement is pivotal characteristics of a leader. The two areas of improvement for me are communication skills and information sharing using technology. As mentioned in week 4 lesson, information sharing is greatly evolving along with the changing health care industry (CCN, lesson 4,2019). This is the reason why I am pursuing my master’s degree which is to gain more knowledge and confidence in effective communications and advance my clinical experience with the evolving health care technology. Strategies that I will implement to be used as a guide to enhance my leadership skills is to increase colleague interactions by collaboration and team building. Because good leader is focus on promoting and creating positive working relationship, identifying common goal/grounds with other staff member as well as working hand in hand. It is important for the leader to promote collaboration amongst team member by clear communication and mentoring. Another strategy is mastering decision-making skills because this is one of the key characteristics of a good leader (Rowland, 2016). Reference Chamberlain College of Nursing (2019). Chamberlain College of Nursing Master of Science. Lesson 4. Leadership: Establishing Relationships and Influencing Change. Retrieved from Kershaw, B. (2013). Nursing Leadership & ManagementNursing Leadership & Management. Nursing Management,20(3), 8-8. doi:10.7748/nm2013.06.20.3.8.s11 Rowland, N. (2016). What makes a good leader? Dental Nursing,12(6), 350-351. doi:10.12968/denn.2016.12.6.350 Student, Hello Candace, I completely agree with you that we the ears and the voice of nursing profession. listening and effective communication, vision oriented and knowing your limitations are vital characteristic of an effective leader and a change agent. Although we can envision ourselves as an effective change agent and a leader, it is important to take into consideration other factors such as the work place environment and be realistic to the change we are proposing. Being a leader, creating and influencing change is important to help promote preexisting or outdated policies and procedure improvement. As discussed in our lesson this week, in today’s society, the environment of healthcare is changing along with health information sharing (CCN, lesson4, 2017). In reality, not all but some people or employees doesn’t like changes thus they tend to stay within their comfort level of practice or routine. The leader must know his or her limitation because whenever a leader imposes or propose a change, he or she will face challenges from the people working under her or him. An effective leader uses systematic approach to resolve the conflict or challenges that he or she facing to help ensure that the work environment or employee easily adapt to the new change. Reference Chamberlain College of Nursing (2019). Chamberlain College of Nursing Master of Science. Lesson 4. Leadership: Establishing Relationships and Influencing Change. Retrieved from Instructor: Kimberley and class, What serves as an inspiration for you in your current position? What is your inspiration to pursue your MSN degree? Dr. KO Hi Dr KO, This is a great question to tackled. As a current Rehab Registered Nurse, one thing that inspires me to continue working in my current position is that being able to be part of my patients success, to see my patient progress a lot from not being able to walk on admission due to stroke until walking with their own feet at discharge. Also, another inspiration that motivates me to continue to work whole heartedly within my current position is the " thank you" and the "smile" that I get from my patient and patient families every single day knowing that they are safe under my care. Nursing is a rewarding profession, as a current working Registered Nurse within the population of acutely ill adults, it is my pleasure to care for them. But I feel like what I do for them is not enough. I wanted to widen my scope of practice to advance my nursing degree into a more complex and high demand responsibility such as Nurse Practitioner. Reasons that inspired me to pursue my (MSN) Master of Science in Nursing with a concentration in Family Nurse Practitioner is being able to make a change or positively impact to people’s lives. The concept of having a higher level of responsibility as a nurse practitioner excites me knowing that I can be able to make a difference to all my patients lives. I want to be part of a positive change on my patient well-being as well as in the community of complex acute or chronically ill patient. Becoming a nurse practitioner can help me focus my attention and problem solve base on the specific needs of my patients. I enjoy the idea of being responsible in studying or investigating the pathophysiology of the disease and formulating an effective intervention or treatment that will aid in the healing process of my patient. Also, the idea of having an advanced critical thinking will help me provide an advanced evidence-based intervention or treatment that my patient's well-being will benefit from.