Leigh-Ann: Registered Nurse

This author spoke with several nurses to discuss Summa’s shared governance. There were two that had two opposing views of it. One nurse, who was younger, felt that the shared governance was just for show to achieve Magnet status. The cons she found was that the recommendations that staff nurses made were just ignored. Another problem she found was that the work that was put into it was not being reimbursed financially. Problem with shared governance is that it is believed to exist where there is empowerment, but it is has more to do with traditional board governance with some staff input. The result is that it is not founded in the actions of the staff nurse, but the actions of administration (Joseph & Bogue, 2016). The other nurse, who was older, was very excited to discuss shared governance. Her department was the first at Summa to initiate shared governance. Some of the pros were nurses had a voice and a path to follow to institute change. She explained how she

Ms. Tilford, in many ways, fulfilled my perception of a nurse leader. Through my conversation with her, Ms. Tilford expressed that she had a deep level of caring for her patients at the Health Department, and she sought to use her role as charge nurse to do all she could to promote health. Ms. Tilford made it clear that she did not view herself as above any other nurse on the staff, and she sought to always lead humbly and by example. The way in which Ms. Tilford did not meet my perception of a nurse leader is she did not place an emphasis on evidence-based practice.

American Association of College of Nursing (2012).White Paper on The Role of the Clinical Nurse Leader Retrived from: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/white-papers/cnl

In her charge nurse role, Ms. Cetiner evaluates the daily activities of the unit and delegates care appropriately while promoting autonomy of others. She has the skill to make independent and interdependent decisions regarding patient care, staffing and unit issues. She communicates and collaborates with the interdisciplinary care team for seamless, patient-driven

Slide 1: The expectations of nurses today are higher than ever with goals such as achieving top percentiles in nursing and patient satisfaction, to being among the top leaders in quality outcomes, and to build productive work relationships and environments. Nursing leaders serve as the primary link between staff, physicians, and the community. They are expected to be innovative, highly skilled, possess a certain degree of nursing knowledge, and produce qualified individuals to care for the growing population. According to Lorber, Treven, and Mumel (2016) “nursing leadership is pivotal because nurses represent the most extensive discipline in health care”. Because of this growing need for diversity in leadership and my background in the military, I decided to focus on the MSN Executive Track at Chamberlain College of Nursing.

Nursing is hierarchical hence should engage in different types of leadership activities in their routine care delivery

Being a leader in the profession of nursing requires pride and dedication to the nursing career path. This is why I decided to conduct my interview with Pamela Prefontaine, a leader in the nursing field. Prefontaine graduated from Bellin School of Nursing in 1982. She then went on to get her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1990 from the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. Prefontaine then graduated from the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 2009 with a master’s degree in medical informatics. Prefontaine was the team leader of pediatrics at Bellin from 2001-2007. She has also been a team leader of a medical and surgical floor at Bellin also. Furthermore, Prefontaine was also the assistant director of the NICU at Saint Vincent’s Hospital. She currently is a consultant for informatics.

On November 1st, 2016 I had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Katherine M. Sawyer RN, BSN of Owosso, Michigan. Katherine, a female nurse who has worked in the nursing field for thirty-six years began her nursing career at Ingham Medical where she was a full-time staff-nurse for three years; then worked as a per-diem staff-nurse for eleven years. After working at Ingham for a total of fourteen years, Katherine obtained a position at Memorial Healthcare in Owosso where she worked as a nurse educator for fifteen years. Shortly after this she became a Basic Life Saving (BLS) instructor as her main role as a nurse educator was to provide nursing orientation and this additional role fit in perfectly. After some time she became involved in Quality Improvement for four years, and she has now switched back to the nurse educator role where she once again has the role of nursing orientation for Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), and Patient Care Techs (PCTs). The number of staff she teaches and orientates each month varies between one and ten individuals. She also teaches BLS and First Aid at Baker College of Owosso. Her contact information is as follows: Phone number (989) 413-1974 and e-mail address kmsawyer521@gmail.com. The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader of Sawyer’s role in the nursing profession as a nurse leader. Individuals will learn of Sawyer’s many different roles, responsibilities, and the organizational structure of Memorial

When I began this course I was very nervous because I had no idea of the scope of the course. I was unfamiliar with the Canadian education system and other students. After receiving instructions from my professor, I introduced myself to the person beside me and this process helped to break the ice. I developed a good friendship with the student and this technique used by the professor helped me develop better communication and relationship skills. After few classes, I felt very comfortable and the nervousness and anxiety faded away. I learned about leadership, power relationships in the profession, personal, cultural, professional and organizational, each of which is very important in the nurse’s career. I also gained knowledge regarding client centred care.

The responsibilities of a charge nurse must first be defined in order to completely understand how they utilize mission command to complete their tasks. A charge nurse’s primary responsibility is to manage the specific ward or floor in a hospital to which they are assigned and the many staff also assigned to that floor. There

Deborah, I too believe that charge nurses should not be in a patient assignment. They have many other task and priorities which may interfere with the care that his or her patients deserve.

Leadership traits associated with nurse executives are honesty, credibility, supportiveness, visibility, and flexibility. Nurse executives analyze nursing functions and empower nurses through participatory decision making, shared governance, and employee involvement. Nurse executives share the vision and goals of the hospital and promote application of a nursing theory into the nursing care delivery system. They anticipate the future of health care and nursing and serve as monitor, role model, and preceptor to lower level management (Upeniecks, 2003). Nurse executives in the Magnet program are required to have advance practice degrees with certification in their specialty (ANCC). Understanding evidence-based management and enabling the use of evidence-based knowledge provides the nurse executive with the tools to improve patient outcomes. The transformational leader will remove barriers to improvement and encourage outcome based thinking. While nurse leaders are charged with questioning the status quo, nurse managers in the transformational approach to leadership are charged with maintaining the status quo.

The division of nursing is in the early stages of implementing shared governance, which has resulted in a more formal staff communication through the various councils. In addition, departmental meetings and house wide town hall meetings take place. Email is the main form of daily leadership communication and is at times utilized with staff. However, accessibility has been difficult especially for the non-licensed staff. A monthly newsletter is published through a shared governance task force which includes a message from the CNO.

In the healthcare field, nursing leaders and managers face consistent issues in their respective practices that force them to alter the way they work and the way they think. In taking on a role as a leader within the field, nursing leaders and managers also take on the role of ensuring that work within an organization runs smoothly regardless of new issues that may arise in the healthcare arena. For instance, in today's healthcare environment, the issues of nurse shortage and nurse turnover have the capacity to alter the healthcare field and many of its respective branches and organizations should these problems not be managed properly by the leaders in the field. In viewing the issue at hand and in discovering how nursing leaders and managers are expected to act, and do act, in order to approach this issues, along with pinpointing the best approach possible to aid this issue, one can better understand which leadership styles are necessary for leaders to function.

Nursing is a very complex career that at many times requires one to be a leader. Nurses can be leaders in formal roles and also on the unit during any given shift. Nursing is a career that truly tests the character and attributes of those who choose to enter this career. Leadership in nursing is vital in creating a successful environment for patients. According to Stichler (2006), “effective leadership is essential to transforming organizations into environments that are safe for both patients and staff” (p. 422). Therefore, it is vital that as new nurses start out his or her careers that they learn from great leaders who are already in the profession. There are several great leaders working in the field who have a plethora of