Nursing is a noble profession that deals with provision of healthcare services to the people. The profession is quite demanding though it provides experiences that enable one to achieve self-fulfillment. The profession demands leadership and advocacy skills. The leadership skills demanded in the nursing practice are very essential in all activities aimed at providing care to patients since healthcare services involve various activities undertaken by various individuals. Hence, all the components of care services must be organized in order to achieve an effective and efficient working environment. In other words, all the resources needed for provision of healthcare services should be organized in order to maintain focus towards a common goal. In addition, management of resources in any organization is important in ensuring that evaluation and monitoring is undertaken effectively and efficiently. The task of organizing all the resources for the provision of healthcare services falls on the shoulders of a nurse leader. The nurse leader should have the requisite skills in order to be able to achieve the purpose of leadership roles. Advocacy skills, on the other hand, are the skills that enable one to effectively represent the interest of a given group. Advocacy is essential in nursing practice in many senses. Hence, nurse leaders are expected to have them.
My level of experience and my skills in all aspects of nursing have improved since the beginning of my profession. In terms of personal and professional accountability, I rate myself as an expert using Nurse Manager Skills Inventory Tool. This rating is influenced by various factors that include the level of education I have acquired during pursuit of the nursing career. I am an advanced practice registered nurse. Consequently, I hold a state-approved masters degree in nursing. In addition, I have successfully completed the required clinical hours and advanced exams required to obtain state certification. I also take my responsibilities in my career as obligations that I must fulfill. With this regard, I take responsibility for the outcomes of activities that fall under the area of which I am in charge.
In terms of career planning, I score the highest rating using the Nurse Manager Skills Inventory Tool. The rating is influenced by my high level of knowledge in my role as a nurse manager, my high level of knowledge for the future in terms of the likely dynamics in the nursing practice, and the fact that I have made many efforts to choose a particular career path. I am highly conversant with the current nursing practice and the possible changes that may occur in the nursing practice in future. Indeed, I feel that I have high command in all aspects of nursing. I am also conversant with the ongoing research in the field of nursing. In addition, I am constantly monitoring the changing trends in nursing practice and the policies being made to govern the nursing practice. Based on these trends, I am highly able to predict the possible trend nursing career is likely to take in future.
My scores in personal journey discipline are average. However, I rate myself high on the action learning domain. In this case, I often apply action learning to solve problems and make vital decisions at my workplace. I also score high in Reflective Practice Reference Behaviors/Tenets. My strengths with regard to this domain include the following: high integrity, high ability to discover potentials in myself and in other people, high ability and appreciation of challenges associated with nursing practice, and high urge to learn. In terms of integrity, I rate myself high because I usually feel the urge to tell the truth and strictly stick to the nursing codes of ethics. I feel strongly obliged to promote morals at my work place. In addition, I take it as my personal responsibility to create an environment where all workers operate with high level of integrity. I often feel that lack of integrity has a significant negative impact on the efforts aimed at achieving the various nursing goals. As a nurse manager, one of the tasks I am charged with is organizing human resources in an effective manner. As a result of having worked in the nursing fields for a long time, I am able to identify the levels of the abilities of various workers in performing various duties. Consequently, I am able to allocate duties to each member of the nursing staff. I am usually guided by the fact that matching the required skills with the appropriate tasks helps achieve high efficiency and affectivity at the work place. However, my scores in keeping commitments to oneself are just average.
All my leadership skills assessed above are instrumental in advocating for change at my work place. First, personal and professional accountability would enable me discharge my duties diligently and consistently in accordance with the policies and codes of ethics guiding my workplace. Through practicing of accountability, I can influence other workmates and my junior staff to acquire skills in accountability in order to take charge of their duties. Skills in career planning are also very important for initiating change in a healthcare environment. Through the application of these skills, I will be able to identify the changing healthcare needs in the society. As a result, I would propose new strategies of addressing the needs. In addition, career planning skills would help me identify the technological changes with influence on healthcare. As a result, I would be able to identify how the technological advancements can be incorporated into the healthcare service delivery. I would also use my skills in shared leadership to encourage my counterparts and junior staff members to show commitment for changes in the workplace. Integrity is also essential in promoting change at the workplace. Through integrity, the use of resources can be accounted for. In addition, integrity helps ensure that wastage of resources is minimized. In order to encourage changes at the workplace, integrity is very instrumental. For instance, corruption can lead to misuse of resources and hiring of unqualified workforce. However, with integrity, corruption can be controlled and resources can be used efficiently. Consequently, healthcare organizations can achieve their goals.
One of my personal goals in leadership growth is being able to manage activities at the specialty ward in the busiest and most dynamic healthcare environment in the country. I am making efforts to score highest in all the domains of leadership as measured using the Nurse Manager Skills Inventory Tool. I am putting efforts in order to develop all the necessary skills in many ways. For instance, I practice the skills everyday at my workplace.
Bibliography
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