Leadership Development

Leadership assessment abilities and limitations are a critically important part of one’s professional career. Once one identifies their individual limitations they are able to make plans on how to overcome them whereas the located abilities are sharpened in a better way to act in order to be a better leader. The Nurse Manager Inventory Tool has enabled me indentify the various leadership weaknesses as well as strengths that I possess as a RN and in my current working area in the Operating Room.

Strengths

I regard that my strengths lie in both the competent and expert sections of the analysis. The following are my strengths overall (AACN, 2006);

• I expertly seek persistent personal growth as well as development through continuous educational advancement, I on an annual basis conduct self assessment to determine how much I have achieved both professionally and academically
• I strictly observe ethical conducts which are informed by most up to date nursing standards along with scope of practice.
•  I a member of both local and a national nursing association which supports members to grow professionally and socially
• I have attained a certificate and practice in obstetrics coupled with numerous experiences I am an expert.
• Due to my extensive experience I vividly know the requirements as well as the description of the current job in the operating room
• Through education I have positioned myself strategically through devising a career path to be able to acclimatize to future scenarios
• I have excellent problem solving  skills which  I accomplish by reflecting on my decisions and by use of action learning
• I actively involve myself in reflective practice on a day to day basis to be able to deliver quality service through learning from my mistakes.
• I value integrity as a primary leadership value in reflective practice
• I an individual who embraces diversity in my work since healthcare knows no race, religion or gender every one of them requires care equally
• I score very well in utilizing my reflection in learning and performing or tackling today’s duties.
• I have thrived in this profession for many years and I am able to keep the commitment to myself thus renewing self development.    

Weaknesses

My weaknesses lie on the novice section

• I have weaknesses in emotional self development; this is an area I require to sharpen my skills in order to succeed more in my career.
• I have problems in working or functioning in ambiguous environments, this is because they distract my practice
• I also have a weakness in the capability of identifying potential within myself

There are a number of changes that require taking place within the healthcare workplace: to start with nurses should be required to carry our practices that they are qualified for or licensed since this reduces the chances of error whilst giving care (AACN, 2006). Nurses should be encouraged to pursue further education, this makes them more adapted with regard to fresh care giving methods as well as technology familiarization so as to deliver quality healthcare. Additionally the number of nurses requires to be increased to ensure that a nurse attends to the internationally accepted number of patients. This ensures that every patient will acquire maximum care and attention.  Patients have lost their lives due to inadequate staffing and this is a very unfortunate issue (CCL, 2010). Further, the hospital administration should adopt a participative mode of decision making. Since nurses are the people on the ground any decisions made affecting nursing care require too involve the input of nurses.  

Personal skill set is the most powerful tool that enables making of changes within the workplace. Through individual skills one can attain leadership and care change. For care change, delivering care with precision and accuracy makes patient’s recovery fast and effectual.  The skill set can also help a nurse be a role model to the rest of that staff; this leads to an all round improvement in healthcare delivery.

I have one major personal goal towards leadership growth. This goal regards educational advancement and career growth.  I have an educational action plan that will ensure that I am at all times at par with technological advancements in the healthcare sector (Middleton, 2011). The plan is to take refresher courses after every one year and advance my education attainment to the highest levels.

Through the Nursing Manager Inventory Tool instrument I have identified my weaknesses. These areas are my prospective growth sectors. They include functioning in ambiguous situations, my plan is to identify the ambiguous environments, write them down, and talk to my fellow nurses to assist me triumph (Butts, 2006); I would like to deal with this problem within the next 6-7 months. Secondly, the identifying the potential self is additional element of growth I would like to pursue. Prospective self will help me unveil my real potential in nursing care.

The one area of growth I will seek is career growth since I feel that I have the potential of to lead and establish better healthcare initiatives (CCL, 2010).  My enormous experience in the healthcare industry will assist me realize my goal. Additionally, through the pursuance of educational advancement I will be able to progress career wise. I have an action plan of attaining the senior nursing manager position in 3 years.  This is a goal I am willing to pursue relentlessly.

References

AACN. (2006). Nurse Manager Inventory Tool. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.org/wd/practice/docs/nurse-manager-inventory-tool.pdf

Butts, J. (2006). Ethics in Organizations and Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.jblearning.com/samples/0763749761/ethicalleaderhip.pdf

CCL. (2010). Addressing the Leadership Gap in Healthcare. Retrieved from http://www.ccl.org/Leadership/pdf/research/addressingLeadershipGapHealthcare.pdf

Middleton, J. (2011). Leadership Skills for Nurses. Retrieved from http://www.nursingtimes.net/Journals/2011/08/24/j/n/i/Leadership-Skills-for-Nurses.pdf