Leadership For An Advanced Practice Nurse

Leadership is a core competency in the field of advanced practice nursing (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, & O’Grady, 2014). Graduate level nurses exercise leadership across four major spheres including nursing profession, clinical practice environments, health policy, and at the system level. This paper provides and analysis of the author’s leadership style and attributes, a description of the attributes of leadership pertaining to graduate level nurses, and a discussion of the attribute that the writer feels need development with regard to the role of an advanced practice nurse.

Emotional intelligence plays a very critical role in the overall quality of our personal and professional lives. In fact, many people feel that emotional intelligence (EQ) is more important than one’s intelligence quotient (IQ) when it comes to attaining success in their lives and careers.

In healthcare it is very important to have strong leaders, especially in the nursing profession. A nurse leader typically uses several styles of leadership depending on the situation presented; this is known as situational leadership. It is important that the professional nurse choose the right style of leadership for any given situation to ensure their employees are performing at their highest potential. Depending on which leadership style a nurse leader uses, it can affect staff retention and the morale of the employees as well as nurse job satisfaction (Azaare & Gross, 2011.) “Nursing leaders have the responsibility to create and maintain a work environment which not only promotes positive patient outcomes but also

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions and those of the people around you. To be a successful leader you must inquire the four EI competencies. Those competencies include; Self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and relationship management.

There are many skills, traits, and behaviors one must possess in order to be an effective leader. The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) has compiled a list of competencies and skills that nurse leaders should be proficient in. The five competency domains identified by AONE (2011) are “communication and relationship building, knowledge of health care environment, leadership skills, professionalism, and business skills” (p. 3). The competency domain I believe is essential for one to possess in order to be an effective executive nurse leader is communication and relationship building. The competencies AONE (2011) listed under the domain communication and relationship building are “effective communication, relationship management, influence of behavior, ability to work with diversity, shared decision-making, community involvement, medical staff relationship, and academic relationships” (p.3). I will discuss how Tom (nurse manager of a psychiatric unit) did not meet these specific characteristics under that domain.

The purpose of this manuscript is to introduce the topics of emotional intelligence and authentic leadership and how they can be applied in the advanced practice nurse role. Assessing

Role of leadership is essential for APNs. Nurses with graduated education are prepared to be expert with advanced knowledge and clinical skills. It is important to note that leadership skills should also be developed during graduate education through the learning process from nurse leaders, mentors, and role models (Tracy & Hanson, 2014). Leadership in nursing is distinctive. Elliott et al. (2013) characterize roles of nursing leadership into clinical leadership and professional leadership; whereas, Tracy and Hanson (2014) explain that there are four areas that APNs exercise leadership: clinical practice, nursing professional, system level, and health policy.

This paper has 3 purposes. First, to assess my emotional intelligence (EQ) and relate my EQ to my future nursing practice. Second, to compare the differences between leadership styles. Last, to provide a definition of leadership and illustrate how the provided definition of leadership will impact my future role as an advanced practice nurse practitioner (APNP). The tools used to accomplish the goals of this paper are a web based EQ assessment tool and a review of literature related to leadership and EQ.

Week 2 of the EOF program we learned about emotional intelligence, which is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. There are four components to emotional intelligence: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social-Awareness, and Social-Skills. The components of emotional intelligence divide into two groups the self and social. Self is composed of self-awareness which is having conscious knowledge of one's own character, feelings, motives, and desires, while self-management is taking responsibility for one's own behavior and well-being. On the other hand the there is the social part of the component of emotional intelligence. While social awareness is understanding how you react to different social situations,

Nurse practitioners (NP) are advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) who are educated and trained to provide health promotion and maintenance through the diagnosis and treatment of acute illness and chronic condition. As a future NP, the author of this paper describes her philosophy of leadership, the leadership style which best fits on her abilities, leadership theory appropriate for her role in Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and how she envision her leadership evolving the next five years.

According to Bradberry and Greaves (2009), emotional intelligence is “your ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others, and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships” (p. 17). Emotional intelligence has two main competencies; 1) social: relates to the observation and interaction with others, and 2) personal: pertains to self-awareness and management. The competencies consist of four domains; 1) social-awareness: understanding and picking up on emotional cues of others, 2) relationship-management: developing and maintaining healthy relationships, 3) self-management: one’s ability to control impulsive feelings and behavior, and 4) self-awareness: recognizing your own emotions and how they affect your thoughts and behavior. Thus, emotional intelligence is a skill to recognize, comprehend, and manage emotions to communicate effectively, overcome challenges, empathize with others, and resolve conflicts. Although, only “36 percent” of society truly recognize their emotions as they occur, emotional intelligence “accounts for 58 percent of performance in all types of jobs” (Bradberry & Greaves, 2009, pgs. 14, 20).

“If you actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader” (John Quincy Adams, as cited in Forbes, 2014, p. 1). A leader is mentor, guiding others to their best. In this paper, I will reflect on my personal values and beliefs regarding leadership. Next, I will discuss a leader in my life that personally resonates with me. I will then discuss the attributes of my chosen leader and relate them to theory on leadership, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, group dynamics and peace and power concepts and identify the leadership style that my chosen leader embodies. Finally, I will discuss how my leadership philosophy and the newly acquired theory will impact my future career as a nurse.

The first component of emotional intelligence is self-awareness; the ability to recognize emotions during the act it comes forward. Upon recognition of your emotions, humans can then channel and manage emotions to help guide better decision-making. Along with emotional management, self-confidence provides the sureness you have in your capabilities along with the self-worth you perceive. Self-awareness is merely a stepping-stone of EQ; without recognizing your own emotions, you cannot expect to rationally recognize others.

Firstly, self-awareness or the ability to recognize and understand your emotions, an important part of emotional intelligence. It's beyond just recognizing your emotions, monitoring and aware, but be aware of the impact on your decisions and your mood, and emotions of others as well. These individuals are more able to recognize their own strengths.

Self-Awareness:- According to emotional intelligence test I have good self –awareness. Self-awareness is the ability to understand how emotion effect to our mood on others. A good self-awareness shows your self-confidence, have a realistic sense of their abilities and your interest with them.