Attributes of Leadership Needed for Graduate Level Nurses
Introduction
In the contemporary healthcare industry, nursing has been triumphant in gaining an ever-increasing influence in almost every aspect in the deliverance of healthcare. Therefore, it is significantly imperative for healthcare practitioners to develop and/or polish their leadership skills. As far as graduate level nurses are concerned, it is equally important for them to develop such skills in the early stages of their jobs. The development and constant demonstration of leadership skills could facilitate graduate level nurses to impart their duties in an effective manner.
Skills of Graduate Level Nurses
In the recent times, increased stress is given to the involvement of the patients in the overall planning and accomplishment of quality care. For the same reason, it has become rather indispensable for the graduate level nurses to make honest endeavors for the development of certain leadership attributes. Such endeavors could ultimately make it possible for them deliver individualized and high-quality care to the patients. In this regard, several principal attributes are of utmost importance including contextual knowledge, professionalism, communication skills, empathy, transparency, responsibility, and interpersonal skills. All the mentioned skills are extremely critical for the graduate level nurses for developing and nurturing professional expertise.
Proper Knowledge and Demonstration
To begin with, the vitality of contextual knowledge must not be ignored if a graduate nurse needs to develop himself/herself as a leader in his/her career. In simple words, the attainment of contextual knowledge signifies that the nurse possesses the knowledge of issues and apprehensions associated with this field including financial aspects, healthcare economics, resource accessibility, social services’ availability, and regulations and limitations related to the nursing practice. Second, the demonstration of an empathized nature to oversee the patients’ individual needs and welfare is, without a doubt, an extremely critical attribute. In fact, the exhibition of empathy helps patients to voice their true feelings and concerns ultimately helping in the attainment of preferred health outcomes. As a consequence, the graduate nurses can develop their communication and interpersonal skills by paying heed to the patients’ thoughts and opinions. It needs to be remembered that provision of healthcare is greatly dependent on understanding the experiences of the patients.
Good Relationship with Patients and Colleagues
A leader needs to be sensitive to his followers’ and/or subordinates’ wellbeing. Similarly, when it comes to the patient safety and wellbeing, a graduate level nurse also needs to develop attributes of compassion and sympathy. Nurses exhibiting such valuable traits eventually become role models in the deliverance of quality care. Interpersonal skills also play a great role in helping graduate nurses to enjoy peaceful relationships with both their patients and colleagues. In particular, excellent social skills allow them to have fewer conflicts with their counterparts. When a nurse understands the importance of a healthy and peaceful workplace environment, he/she is able to build a harmonious environment in which strong relationships with other healthcare professional, patients, and their family members are nurtured. In the same connection, graduate nurses learn to develop professional attributes as they tend to remain aware of their personal and professional expectations and balance them accordingly.
Professionalism
As far as professionalism is concerned, it is all about the creation and maintenance of healthy interpersonal relationships in one’s professional life. When a nurse tends to become a professional, he/she believes in his/her contribution as an effective team member who is highly motivated to impart his duties and responsibilities with high accuracy and efficiency. Similarly, one can never ignore the significance of accountability in the healthcare industry as peoples’ lives are on stake. It is absolutely imperative that nurses act in a just manner and acknowledge their mistakes/errors.
As a graduate level nurse, I believe that I need to develop certain leadership skills to become more competent in my field. I am looking forward to exhibit a more professional behavior through the acquisition of contemporary demands of the nursing field. It is my belief that educating oneself on a constant basis is remarkably important for the demonstration of professionalism. If the truth is told, my personal and professional experiences have helped me in developing certain leadership attributes that could help me in my nursing career in the long run. I possess strong emotional intelligence, excellent communication skills, and a concrete work ethic. My passion for my work helps me to help my colleagues as an efficient team player. The possession of all the mentioned characteristics helps me in comprehending individual situations and unique patient needs. However, there is always a room for improvement and I believe that I need to concentrate on other areas to work as an effective leader.
Conclusion
To cut a long story short, “there’s a leadership hierarchy in nursing that ranges from individual performance and productive teamwork to inspiring higher performance in others and creating enduring excellence, and each one of us must be challenged to keep developing over the course of our careers” (McBride, 2011). At every stage of nursing, it is necessary for the healthcare facilities and organizations to develop training and mentoring programs for nurses so that they can attain distinctive leadership skills. In fact, it must be understood by all healthcare organizations that investment in nursing development programs is essential for the organizational success (Kelly, Runge, & Spencer, 2015). Similarly, graduate level nurses also need to realize the criticality of their jobs and strive hard to develop and retain the essential attributes of leadership to progress in their professional lives.
References
Kelly, L., Runge, J., & Spencer, C. (2015). Predictors of Compassion Fatigue and Compassion Satisfaction in Acute Care Nurses. Journal Of Nursing Scholarship, 47(6), 552-528.
Mcbride, A. B. (2011). Taking Leadership Seriously. AJN, American Journal of Nursing, 111(3), 11. doi:10.1097/10.1097/01.naj.0000395214.70390.fc
Thistlethwaite, J., & McKimm, J. (2016). Health care professionalism at a glance. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.