After reading and completing the “Nursing Manager Skills Inventory” article, I have a better idea about my own strengths and weaknesses as a nurse. One area, “Personal and Professional Accountability” showed me that my strong point is in ethical behaviors and practices (Nurse Manager Leadership Partnership, 2006). I feel that I am attuned to adhering to ethical codes that pertain to patients, their loved ones, practices related to the patient’s care facility, and health insurance issues. I feel that I am competent in the certification and personal growth and development elements, concerning education, career planning, and self-assessment. I always try to assess my job performance; I am currently obtaining my Master’s degree in nursing. Yet, I need to monitor my progress on a more consistent basis and find more empirical methods to complete self- assessments that target all aspects of my career and development.
I also realize that I need to improve in some areas, such as my involvement in professional associations. In order to stay updated and abreast on current medical research and nursing issues, I have contemplated becoming a member of the following nursing associations that seem to offer essential information: American Nurses Association, American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and American Holistic Nurses Association (Monster Staff, 2014).
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“Career Planning” is the next area that I have examined, my biggest strength in knowing my job roles and then carrying them out with proficiency and excellence. While I am competent in knowing my future, I need to put more thought into knowing how I can better help with the needs of future health care. Because the elderly population’s life span is increasing, I feel that this group has unique needs that will have to be addressed down the road. These needs include affording expensive facilities, such as nursing homes and other assisted living situations. I am still deciphering what my nursing role is in solving these problems that afflict the aging population. How can I position myself to secure the best job opportunities to rectify these issues and to create positive change for the elderly?
After evaluating myself on “Personal Journey Disciplines,” I was pleasantly surprised. I feel that I possess more leadership strengths than I originally estimated, especially in action learning. I am able to think quickly on my feet and to solve problems fast and effectively, which makes me a better nurse. However, when I decide on a course of action that does not work as well, I can assess the situation and learn from it. I feel that I am competent in “knowledge of, and active practice of, reflection as a leadership behavior,” (Nurse Manager Leadership Partnership, 2006, p. 7). I do not feel that I know all of the answers regarding nursing and am open to looking into myself to find areas where I need to open my mind and improve. Unfortunately, I am inexperienced with managing councils associated with leadership, which is I why I rated myself the lowest in this area.
The “Reflective Practice Reference Behaviors/Tenants” required the most soul searching. I feel that I am good at acting with integrity, especially in areas of leadership. Promoting diversity and being open to multiple perspectives without judgment are my strengths. I have been appalled over the past few years when hearing about issues of discrimination in the medical field, such as hospitals refusing to treat children of gay parents. I also feel that peers in the health services field can learn from each other, different opinions giving fellow professionals the opportunity to grow and perfect their craft. My quest of adventure towards learning, staying updated on medical advances, and being able to reflect on my life experiences to apply them to nursing, are other aspects where I feel that I excel.
However, completing this section also made me aware of my preference for some certainty versus ambiguity in controlling my work environment. Sometimes, I tend to focus on the here-and-now when interacting with my co-workers, not always able to see their untapped potential in them and myself. While I am good at developing my intellectual capacity, I need to invest more in my emotional growth, processing feelings as they come and venting to other individuals outside of work when necessary. A perfectionist, I also need to take more time out for fun and rejuvenation, taking part in more hobbies and recreation to give myself a more balanced life.
I now have a better idea as to how I will use my leadership skill sets to promote workplace change. I work well with people and want to use this skill to my advantage. There is strength in numbers. Problem solving is the first step in advocating for change, which also incorporates exercising patience, setting goals, and a timeline to coincide with a solid plan of action. Employing good communication skills are essential. I will take greater care in using written, electronic, and verbal communication to convey a clear message. When influencing other people to get on board and enact change, appealing to people’s sense of humanity and getting to the point quickly works well. I like the idea of using a “60 Second Speech,” when proposing my ideas to others, which involves stating my name, address, and job, using photos or stories to put a human face on a request, and giving the facts of the situation. I need to answer the question: How do I want this person or group to help me? .
However, in order to advocate more effectively, I need to improve my public speaking skills, which I have chosen as my personal goal for leadership growth. I plan on becoming a better public speaker by volunteering to lead nursing presentations at medical conferences and seminars and in-services affiliated with my organization. I also want to watch videos of effective public speakers, as well as listening to audio tapes. I realize that practice makes perfect, which I is why I would like to take a public speaking course and also practice doing “60 Second Speeches” with my friends and colleagues.
- The Nurse Manager Leadership Partnership (2006). Nurse Manager Skills Inventory. Retrieved from Aacn.org: http://www.aacn.org
- Monster Staff (2014). The Ultimate List of Professional Associations for Nurses. Retrieved from Nusrling Link.com: http://nursinglink.monster.com/education/articles/11850-the-ultimate-list-of-professional-associations-for-nurses
- Tomajan, K. (2012, January 31). Advocating for Nurses and Nursing. Retrieved from Nursing World.org: http://nursingworld.org
