Population Based Nursing Leadership Roles
Nurses can play different roles in a population-based health care. Therefore, they should have a wide range of skills in both direct care and leadership. Essentially, numerous skills help nurses to sail through day-to-day challenges in their profession.
Leadership characteristics
The key characteristics that are essential for a nurse leader are organization and communication. The leader must also have planning skills, analytic skills, policy development, basic public health science skills, management skills, cultural competency skills and financial planning (Harkness, 2012, p.9). Moreover, teamwork is also a necessity for a nurse leader. This makes sure that there is co-ordination and efficient implementation of the laid down plan. Besides, the nurse leader should be able to delegate work effectively (Yoder-Wise, 2007). From my perspective, a nurse who holds a BSN or higher, as well as multiple years of experience with community nursing, is best suited for this position.
ANA standards
ANA outlines the standards that the nurses should meet in carrying out their tasks. It mainly focuses on setting basic goals for competent behavior of the nurses. The areas it sets goals are research and education, communication, resource utilization, evidence-based practice, ethics, quality of practice, ethics, environmental health, and collaboration (ANA, 2010). It is essential for the population-based nurses to have these skills and competency.
Direct Contact Nurse Leader Role
A direct service nurse can take many roles in the field of public health. Public health direct care nursing includes aspects of followership and leadership. Nurses working in direct services can be educators, information brokers, counselors, caregivers, case managers, and advocates (Harkness, 2012).
Direct Contact Nurse Leadership Characteristics
The direct nurse leader should always direct the front line workers and be an informant to his supervisor. He should be able to plan and make difficult decisions. Besides, direct contact nurse leader should be able to delegate and coordinate the activities. In addition, he should be able to set priorities and provide the necessary resources (Yoder-Wise, 2007).
Direct contact Nurse Leader ANA Standards
Direct contact nurses are to uphold the ANA professional standards of nurses (ANA, 2010). Besides, they should also uphold the public health nurse standards. Public health standards such as communication, analytic assessments, community dimension and cultural competency are important for the direct contact nurses. This is because they are always in contact with patients and people in the community. Moreover, a direct contact leader would require high leadership and thinking skills.
Analysis
There are many similarities in the roles of the direct contact nurse leader and the population based nurse leader role. Both should uphold the professional standards set by the ANA. In addition, effective communication skills are essential for both positions due to the interactions they involve with the community. Moreover, in both positions, leadership skills are important. They assist in motivating and inspiring others in reaching laid down goals.
On the other hand, there are differences too in the roles of the direct contact leader and population based nurse leader. The direct contact nurse leader focuses on the quality of nursing given to the community and the performance of the employee. In contrast, the population based nurse leader is focused on the global outcomes, planning and funding, and community partnership.
Reflection
References
American Nurses Association [ANA]. (2010). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (2nd
ed.). Silver Spring, MD: Nursesbooks.org.
Harkness, G. A. (2012). Community and public health nursing: Present, past and future. In G. A.
Yoder-Wise, P. (2007). Leading and Managing in Nursing. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby/Elsevier.
