Clinical Leadership

References
1. Palmer, Angelina. (2014). Strong Leaders Hope For Best From Others, But Demand Best From Selves. Retrieved from http://financenk.co.uk/?p=3152
2. Barney, Kailey. (2014). Are you a Manager – Or a Leader?. All in Networking. Management/Leadership. Retrieved from http://allinnetworking.com/archives/1843
3. The Future of Nursing. (2011). Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.thefutureofnursing.org/recommendations
Leadership vs. Management
1. Quotes
  1. "One of the most difficult challenges in leadership is that a leader must realize that he cannot expect from others what he might demand from himself" (Palmer, 2014).
  2. "Realistically, the only one that a leader can truly control the actions of is himself" (Palmer, 2014).
  3. "Leadership and management are necessary and complimentary; one without the other – or too much of one and not the other – spells trouble for the company" (Barney, 2014).
  4. and lastly, "Leadership isn't a role, it’s something one does. It’s about direction, vision, and influence; a leader is followed, while a manager is obeyed" (Barney, 2014).
2. Management is a title or position
  1. Individuals HAVE to obey managers
3. Leadership is done through actions
  1. Individuals WANT to follow leaders
Professional Responsibilities of a Leader
1. Mentoring can be utilized as an effective strategy and can be implemented through positive nursing leadership.
2. The Institutes of Medicine (IOM) state that leadership should take place at every level of nursing practice
3. Patient-centered care
4. Communication - creating a receptive environment
5. Mentoring those desiring
  1. Empowering others to desire it
6. Assume roles that may not otherwise be filled.
  1. Step up and take the SAC patients for a day
How I applied this to my Clinical Partnership
1. When working with my mentee I tried to use the skills/behaviors that I listed above throughout the 4+ weeks. My goal was for her to first understand all of the components of the head-to-toe exam and be able to describe to me each of these. This was the first week, then I asked that she make a vision for her head-to-toe and envision her going through it on a patient, just walk through/talk through it without actually doing it. My goal for this was if she can describe it in an order that makes sense to her then she can repeatedly recite this and make it a reflex. Then, once she was confident in her description, I wanted her to do the full head-to-toe on either myself of a classmate. When we met to do this she procrastinated and said she wanted to go through the order some more. I said ok but told her next week I expect her to do the head-to-toe. This was my attempt at letting her know she is ready to go through it and empower her. I also try to make myself approachable by giving her my phone number and email and letting her know that I am available most days and I gave her my schedule.
Behaviors of an Effective Leader
1. In my opinion I would say leaders are more visionaries, they thrive on challenges, they have above average communication skills, leaders have the ability to understand others, they build trust in their teams, they are approachable, and they empower others.
Leadership Theorist
1. Fiedler's Contingency Theory
  1. Fiedler's contingency theory states that there are three elements that dictate a leader's situational control.
    1. The three elements are task structure, leader/member relations, and positioning power.
      1. Key factor is the building of teams and interpersonal communication
  2. Applied to nursing
    1. 7th recommendation of the IOM Future of Nursing Report - "Prepare and enable nurses to lead change to advance health"
      1. "Nurses, nursing education programs, and nursing associations should prepare the nursing workforce to assume leadership positions across all levels, while public, private, and governmental health care decision makers should ensure that leadership positions are available to and filled by nurses" (The Future of Nursing, 2011).