Pre-Grad Leadership Experience Reflection Part B

Pre-Grad Experience: Leadership Reflection Part B
Submitted to: Janet Jeffery

Submitted by: Kenneth Sibayan
Student #: 822855482
Date Submitted: Friday February 27, 2015
Leadership Reflection On The Pre-Grad Experience

In the nursing environment, many nurses such as RPNs and RNs each have their own
individual strengths and weaknesses. However, I believe that every nurse has leadership potential
because we all take initiative to provide care for the patients. However, in this paper I will
discuss about a person displaying leadership qualities. One member of staff that I noticed
displaying leadership qualities as an RPN would be my clinical preceptor Yasmin, Al-Amary.
Mrs. Yasmin is someone that possesses a path-goal theory from the contingency approach
leadership theory. There are different styles to leadership which are: directive, supportive,
participative, or achievement-oriented. Mrs. Yasmin is someone that creates a goal based on the
situation and makes it easier for the follower(s) to reach that goal. With that in mind, critical
thinking and planning come into the scenario. Critical thinking is a mode of thinking about any
subject, content, or problem in which the thinker improves the quality of their thinking by
skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards
upon them (Kelly & Crawford, 2013, p.349). Based off of a previous experience, there was a
patient with no urine draining into the Foley. My instructor noticed this and acted immediately
while explaining that I must always check for everything that may affect the patient. I learned
that it is imperative to do a round check not just Head-to-toe assessment because on a unit like
this, I have little experience in comparison to the other staff nurses with these clients. Basically,
a round-check is to check the entire area for anything that can affect the patient. My instructor
immediately decided that the priority is to irrigate the catheter. Irrigation is not normally
recommended to use frequently due to the downsides such as causing trauma. However, it was
needed in this case because since the Foley was not draining, the patient would not be able to
excrete the toxins from their own body. This would affect the patients status, safety, and was
deemed top priority. So the goal here that my preceptor set in mind based off of her critical
thinking and assessment was to gather the materials needed and perform the irrigation procedure.
The goal was to get the Foley draining once again in order to allow the patient to excrete toxins
out of the body. This situation is related to the path-goal theory, in this situation it relates to the
directive leadership style. The directive leadership style according to Prof. Janets Nursing
Leadership PPT Wk. 1 Slide 35, allows the leader to provide a structure through direction and
authority; leader is focused on the task and getting the job done. Due to the nature of this
situation, the patients safety is at risk due to not being able to eliminate urine from the body.
Therefore, the leader was focused on the task of irrigating the catheter, and getting the job done
in order for the patient to be able to eliminate urine from the body once again.
Leaders are made, not born...-Vince Lombardi. This quote I believe is true because
everyone undergoes what we call learning. Once you are born, you are raised by parents,
relatives, family, or a guardian/etc. The ideals they teach you and the lessons they provide help
pave who you are and how you will act. Children that are raised by a leader often tend to follow
in that persons footsteps and have leadership qualities. Ultimately, it is up to the person on how
they use what they have learned and experienced. No person is born knowing what to do and
how to act. Leaders take into account what others have to say, use reasoning and critical
thinking, then act on a structured plan in order to reach the desired goal. A person that is born
does not acquire critical thinking right away. Rather, they are shaped into leaders based off of
their leadership qualities being improved through their life experiences. Transformational
leadership theory according to Prof. Janets Leadership Wk.1 Slide p.39 states, It is based on
the idea of empowering others to engage in pursuing a collective purpose by working together to
achieve a vision of a preferred future. Transformational leaders motivate others by behaving
with accordance with values, providing a vision that reflects mutual values, and empowering
others to contribute (Kelly & Crawford 2013, pg. 177). Based on this concept, my preceptor
who is leading my clinical experience along with the other staff, is providing me with
inspiration, knowledge, and empowering me to be able to work as a team.
Reflecting on my clinical experience so far, my preceptor is allowing me to commit to
my clinical experience and helping me change from a follower (since I am learning from her) to
a leader that can be independent. With many more clinical shifts to come, I would soon hope to
be able to be independent, confident, and able to provide leadership in the nursing environment
based off of the lessons and experience I attained. I dont believe that there are any exceptions to
this because experience and what happens in a persons life provides them with choices, how
they decide what happens after they make their choices is up to them. Not everyone decides to
lead and people who decide to lead cannot lead without followers that agree, especially in terms
of the health care environment. In order to get followers to agree, like in the transformational
leadership theory, you need to be able to inspire and empower others. I believe this can only
come with experience and knowledge. In conclusion, I believe leaders are made and shaped by
their experiences, they are not born as leaders.
References
Kelly, Patricia, and Heather Crawford. Nursing Leadership and Management. Toronto: Nelson
Education, 2013. Print.

Pre-Grad Leadership Experience Reflection Part B

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pre-Grad Leadership Experience Reflection Part B

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pre-Grad Leadership Experience Reflection Part B

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pre-Grad Experience: Leadership Reflection Part B

Submitted to: Janet Jeffery

Leadership Reflection On The Pre-Grad Experience

You might also like