Nursing: Characteristics And Role Of A Practical Nurse

In today’s society, leadership is a common yet useful trait used in every aspect of life and how we use this trait depends on our role. What defines leadership is when someone has the capability to lead an organization or a group of people. There are many examples that display a great sense of leadership such being an educator in health, a parent to their child, or even a nurse. In the medical field, leadership is highly used among nurses, doctors, nurse managers, director of nursing, and even the vice president of patient care services. Among the many positions in the nursing field, one who is a nurse manager shows great leadership.

Practice of the Registered Nurse Question 1 A registered nurse has a leadership role which involves providing patient care in different contexts to improve health outcomes. They therefore require attributes that result to lifelong learning, research, healthcare policy, individual development of self, and other people as well. They need to have attributes which include good problem solving skills, critical analysis skills, well informed and able to share knowledge, be aware of ethical guidelines, efficient interpersonal skills, self-confidence, effective communication skills, sensitive to multicultural factors, computer literacy, leadership skills and teamwork among others. Nurses require interpersonal skills to enable deal with conflicts, which are difficult to avoid in the workplace. This is because there is diversity in race, cultural and social characteristics which tend to clash from time to time.

These attributes hold significance in terms of obtaining positive outcome for not only the Registered Nurse but also the organization and the patient. Workload should be managed in such a way that the care process is not affected. Registered Nurse should have leadership qualities to help, motivate and inspire other nurses. Similarly, a Registered nurse should also enable and promote learning opportunities for other nurses. A Registered Nurse has responsibilities towards the subordinates, patients and most importantly to the organization.

Nurses play a pivotal role in coordinating and collaboring with other disciplines to best serve the patient and families. By sharing knowledge, decision-makin, innovations, and feedback are ways to produce exceptional outcomes in a dynamic and challenging environment (St. Vincent Medical Center, 2012). 6) Knowledge - St. Vincent environment is a place that allow and promote professional growth and development, supports the mission and vision and ensure high quality and safe care and outcomes. St. Vincent 's focus on education and tuition assistance, and supports national certification that allows nurses to experience personal and professional satisfaction as well as career advancement. Helping the patients to feel empowered and make informed decisions about their care and treatment requires expertise and knowledge.

The registered nurse (RN) is required to act as a leader in many situations, whether in an official capacity or non-official capacity. In addition, effective leadership demonstrates consistently superior performance; it delivers long term remunerations for those involved, either in the recipient of care or in the delivery of care (Makaroff et al. 2014). It is important for the RN to acknowledge that leaders are not only those who may control others; they are visionaries who help implement others with goals, leadership, organisation and planning of activities (James Ree, 2014). In the healthcare setting it becomes highly relevant for the nurse to have the ability to lead, as it is important to be able to work within or lead a team to facilitate quality and safe care for patients (Coelho Amestoy et al.

Open and effective communication with all, the department is very important to create a healthy working environment. Establishing a cultural competency in the workforce is important to lead a strong health care team. Trust, honesty and nonjudgmental behaviors are also essential for those who are in the  management position (American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2015). In order to provide safe care it is important that the nurse administrator should have extensive knowledge of current nursing practices, and payment issues that can affect an organization’s finances (American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2015). There are many things that are important for nurse administrators such as clinical practice knowledge, health care economics and policy, risk management , and performance improvement (American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2015).

Patient advocacy is both essential and crucial for nurses to promote and ensure in the nursing field. I have learned in our class that patient advocacy plays a major role in building a trusting therapeutic relationship. Therefore, nurses must advocate on behalf of their patients and provide them with the support they deserve. Patient advocacy in nursing is being actively supportive of a patient in relation to his / her rights and choices, protecting basic human rights such as autonomy (Cole, Wellard, & Mummery, 2014). This simply means that patient advocacy is the act of informing and supporting a patient so that he/she can make the best possible decision for

Work values and skills are a necessity to be a successful nurse. They are what help the flow of working and create a better environment for the patient and the nurse themselves. A nurse is constantly surrounded by people which means they must have the ability to listen to others well and have speaking skills (“Explore”). They have to understand what they are being told, whether it be their boss or the patient, and be able to explain it in a way that is understandable to others. Having social perceptiveness is the most important skill to have as a registered nurse (“Occupation”).

These include; Workload management, leadership qualities, control of practice, professional development, communication and organizational loyalty (Daly & Carnwell 2003, pp. 158-167). These attributes hold significance in terms of obtaining positive outcome for not only the Registered Nurse but also the organization and the patient. Workload should be managed in such a way that the care process is not affected. Registered Nurse should have leadership qualities to help, motivate and inspire other nurses.

Introduction 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 positively influences teams and individual nurses” (Malloy & Penprase, 2010.)