Leadership Journal: Headship Paper

Leadership Journal: Headship Paper

Practicum Activities Reflection:

During weeks 8 and 9 my preceptor decided that we focus on the development of appropriate leadership skills and competencies to promote the safety and quality of care provided in addition to achieving the organization’s goals. My preceptor adopted the servant leadership style that requires the nurse leader to serve staff members and not the other way around. Some of the key competencies displayed by my preceptor include foresight, conceptualization, stewardship, persuasion, awareness, healing, empathy, and appropriate communication and listening skills (Neville et al., 2021). My preceptor always tried to create a work environment that promotes innovations by empowering staff members and ensuring their wellbeing. At one point, there was an instance of a conflict between a nurse and the patient. My preceptor called in the nurse involved to explain the situation, then went to the patient to hear his side of the story. The patient wanted pain medications but failed to agree to physical evaluation. My preceptor talked to the nurse on how to handle such an issue in the future and explained to the patient the importance of evaluation and the dangers associated with taking pain medications when not needed. Generally, I was able to learn all that is required to become a good servant leader.

Application of Leadership:

Toensure that the quality of care provided is continuously improving, my preceptor utilized several quality improvement indicators and assessed their impact on patient outcomes. His main focus was quality assurance, problem resolution, and quality improvement. For quality assurance, my preceptor reiterated the need for the organization to provide services that meet the set standards in promoting good health. He also made sure that in his department, the team members would frequently engage across employment levels with good communication hence promoting appropriate problem resolution (Dempsey & Assi, 2018). With quality improvement, my preceptor tried as much as possible to reduce nursing staff turnover by reducing fatigue and stress. He also used appropriate practice protocols to reduce medication errors, prevent pressure ulcers, prevent hospital falls and injuries, and improve nursing workload. We both collected feedback from patients, which demonstrated an improved patients satisfaction rate, with improved safety and quality of care provided. The organization on the other hand was able to achieve its goals and objectives in reducing employee turnover rate and upholding a great image as the most efficient and reliable healthcare center in the provision of quality care.

Practicum Project Preparation:

Working with the current culturally diverse community is quite challenging for healthcare providers. One of the main challenges that I faced during my practicum experience was language barrier and failure to adequately understand each patient’s cultural beliefs. However, I was able to gain support from colleagues who ensured that I was able to get a translator, while at the same time upholding the patient’s privacy and confidentiality. Additionally, in the promotion of patient-centered care, interdisciplinary professional collaboration is required. This led to difficulties in shared decision-making as most of the team members from other disciplines would have a different opinion regarding the best treatment approach for the patient, making it hard to decide on a single approach (Blackwood et al., 2019). However, my preceptor encouraged exhibiting appropriate critical thinking skills in such instances, where the patient’s interest comes firsts and not that of the clinician. As such, we would decide on what is best in promoting the health of the patient and preventing harm.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM FREE-PAPER HERE

Leadership Video Reflection:

The “Servant Leadership – Issue of Rule” video, basically points out the different aspects of modern leadership style where managers are expected to be role models and enablers and not just powerful people who dictate their followers. When the leader serves the team, he or she does not outline roles for the employees but instead motivates them to utilize critical thinking skills and exhibit their full potential towards achieving the organization’s goals. Additionally, leaders must ensure that the team members work together in solving disputes and contribute towards innovative interventions necessary in promoting the safety and quality of care provided. The other lesson that can be gained from the video is the significance of authority and mastery among managers even as servants to employees. Despite managers leading from behind, they must maintain their power, control, authority, and ability to influence employees towards achieving the goals of the organization (Gunnarsdóttir et al., 2018). Consequently, leaders must always serve as role models by leading by example as all the other staff members will be keen on how they handle their tasks, in terms of punctuality, dedication, and accuracy.

References

Blackwood, D. H., Walker, D., Mythen, M. G., Taylor, R. M., &Vindrola‐Padros, C. (2019). Barriers to advance care planning with patients as perceived by nurses and other healthcare professionals: a systematic review. Journal of clinical nursing, 28(23-24), 4276-4297. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.15049

Dempsey, C., &Assi, M. J. (2018). The impact of nurse engagement on quality, safety, and the experience of care: what nurse leaders should know. Nursing administration quarterly, 42(3), 278-283. https://doi.org/10.1097/NAQ.0000000000000305

Gunnarsdóttir, S., Edwards, K., &Dellve, L. (2018). Improving health care organizations through servant leadership. In Practicing servant leadership (pp. 249-273). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75644-8_14

Neville, K., Conway, K., Maglione, J., Connolly, K. A., Foley, M., & Re, S. (2021). Understanding Servant Leadership in Nursing: A Concept Analysis. International Journal for Human Caring. DOI: 0.20467/HumanCaring-D-20-00022

ORDER A PLAGIARISM FREE-PAPER HERE

Assessment Description
Journaling provides a valuable tool for recording, reflecting on, and reviewing your learning. This approach provides an opportunity for you to “connect the dots” and observe the relationships between and among activities, interactions, and outcomes.

Unlike a personal journal of thoughts and feelings, this leadership journal is a record of your activities, assessments, and learning related to this academic experience.

Journal entries should include a record of the number of hours spent with your nurse leader each week.

Write a journal entry of 750-1,500 words on the subject of provision, including the following:

Practicum Activities Reflection: Provide observations and thoughts on the activities in your practicum during Weeks 8 & 9.

Application of Leadership: Describe how your nurse leader/preceptor uses quality improvement indicators in their leadership role. How does this impact patient outcomes? What impact does this have on the organization?

Practicum Project Preparation: Describe any potential and/or actual barriers you have encountered as you prepared for project implementation. If you have not encountered any, what could present a barrier in the future? How do you plan to approach and overcome or handle these barriers?

Leadership Video Reflection: Reflect on at least two things you learned from the “Servant Leadership – Issue of Headship” video.

Use the “Leadership Journal Template” to complete this assignment.

APA style is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.

Attachments
NUR-674-RS-Leadership-Journal-Tem