This week has been a fun one. I haven't interviewed someone, or been interviewed for a while so it was fun thinking back to interviews I have been involved in and what questions were being asked. I am not sad to say that I am happy those parts of my life are past, and I don't have any immediate plans to participate in more. The interview process can be so stressful.
One of the interviews that I hope to one day participate in is Life Flight. This is one of my dreams, to one day be a Life Flight nurse. But I will have to say that the interview process for this makes me sick to my stomach. Candidates are interviewed by their peers in a setting where you are the only candidate being interviewed by all the members of the Life Flight team that are available. Sometimes, if attendance is good, a candidate can be interviewed by 10-15 people. These are people I work with on a regular basis, who I have so much respect for. But the thought of being interviewed by them freaks me out! Maybe one day I'll have the courage to put myself in the running!
Now the thought of being the interviewer sounds kind of fun. That may sound mean, but I think it would be nice to be on the opposite side for once. I'm sure it's not as fun as it sounds, but a girl can dream, right??!?!? In all seriousness, I'm sure at times it can be so difficult to choose who to hire. In some cases there may be multiple qualified individuals, but in situations that are the opposite it would be so difficult to try and figure out who to hire when none of the candidates seem to be the perfect fit.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Friday, January 20, 2017
Reflective Journal-Week 2
This week as I was able to complete the assignment for this leadership I have started to look at leadership differently than I probably did 2 weeks ago. I look at it from multiple angles instead of just thinking about it as the "people in charge". With this being said...some of the people in these positions I do view as leaders, and others I don't. I think I have based this decision upon their actions and how they carry themselves on a daily basis. I also think of how they treat others, and how they are treated in return.
In the profession of nursing many leaders can be found. Those who apply for and obtain positions of leadership, and those who work to earn the respect of those around them. As I look at the charge nurses in the unit I work in I can identify which charge nurses fall into which category. I was able to speak with the lead charge nurse for night shift about what her expectations were upon receiving the job of charge nurse, and further the title of lead charge nurse and if these expectations were met. She laughed and her first response was...."I had no idea what I was getting myself into!". I found this comment comical, and asked her if it was better or worse than she expected. Her response was that in some ways it was better and in others it was way worse, but she did not regret her decision in taking these positions. She told me that her favorite parts of the job included: getting to know everyone better, building a stronger rapport with the doctors, learning new procedures, strengthening her clinical skills, having time to help others, and having a better understanding of how the unit works. The parts that she doesn't like as much included: dealing with difficult families, dealing with difficult staff, trying to staff the unit during busy times, cancelling staff during slow times, and being expected to know everything. The conversation was enlightening to me, and I was able to communicate to her that I look to her as a true leader on night shift.
Having strong leaders can make such a difference throughout the shift. Someone you trust, someone you know has good judgement, someone who tries to find the best solution to the problem, and someone who truly wants the team to succeed. These are the people I love working with!
In the profession of nursing many leaders can be found. Those who apply for and obtain positions of leadership, and those who work to earn the respect of those around them. As I look at the charge nurses in the unit I work in I can identify which charge nurses fall into which category. I was able to speak with the lead charge nurse for night shift about what her expectations were upon receiving the job of charge nurse, and further the title of lead charge nurse and if these expectations were met. She laughed and her first response was...."I had no idea what I was getting myself into!". I found this comment comical, and asked her if it was better or worse than she expected. Her response was that in some ways it was better and in others it was way worse, but she did not regret her decision in taking these positions. She told me that her favorite parts of the job included: getting to know everyone better, building a stronger rapport with the doctors, learning new procedures, strengthening her clinical skills, having time to help others, and having a better understanding of how the unit works. The parts that she doesn't like as much included: dealing with difficult families, dealing with difficult staff, trying to staff the unit during busy times, cancelling staff during slow times, and being expected to know everything. The conversation was enlightening to me, and I was able to communicate to her that I look to her as a true leader on night shift.
Having strong leaders can make such a difference throughout the shift. Someone you trust, someone you know has good judgement, someone who tries to find the best solution to the problem, and someone who truly wants the team to succeed. These are the people I love working with!
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Characteristics of Leaders
- Leadership requires personal mastery- Peter M. Senge, a senior lecturer at MIT's Sloan School of Management said this, "People with a high level of personal mastery live in a continual learning mode. They never 'arrive'...it is a process." To be leaders nurses need to continue learning knowing that there is always something new to learn and research. By doing this nurses can become great leaders. (www.infed.org)
- Leadership is about values- Some of the values important in good leaders are also important in good nurses and can include: Caring, Integrity, Diversity, and Excellence (NLN, 2017)
- Leadership is about service- According to the American Nurses Association, nursing, like leadership, is about providing "protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation of healing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations. (ANA, 2016) These are all examples of the services we provide as nurses.
- Leadership is about people and relationships- "As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others." -Bill Gates (Forbes Magazine, 2013) Being a leader means having followers, but to be a true leader you will empower and courage these followers to do their best, and be their best. In nursing helping those around you, and encouraging them to be better is a way to be a leader.
- Leadership is contextual-Reach for Infinity is a management development company run by Sunit Rikhi who worked for 30 years as an Intel executive. On his blog he defines contextual leadership as "knowing when and how to lead, follow and collaborate". I like that this includes collaborating and following as characteristics of a leader, and knowing when this is appropriate. Nurses as leaders also need to know when they need to collaborate with others and follow depending on the context of the situation and individuals involved. (www. reachforinfinity.com)
- Leadership is about the management of meaning- Nurses as leaders need to create a work environment that can be interpreted as positive, service-oriented, safe, and the importance of teamwork.
- Leadership is about balance-Finding balance in all things in life is important regardless of a nurses stage of life. Early on it is the balance of school, homework, new job training, family life, etc. Later on it may be the balance of RN-BSN school, work, family, etc Regardless of what stage of life one is in, finding balance allows finding success and allows for leadership qualities to develop and grow.
- Leadership is about continuous learning and improvement-Nurses demonstrate this form of leadership when they have a desire to always finding ways to expand their knowledge. This includes understanding how and why they are doing what they are doing.
- Leadership is about effective decision making- During stressful situation nurses can show their leadership by being able to make decision effectively, and delegating appropriately in order to complete the task at hand.
- Leadership is a political process- Nurses can be leaders by showing respect for those in who hold leadership roles due to their position in the unit. But not all leaders in nursing must be appointed through the "political process". Leaders can be found in many ways via their actions and standards portrayed while performing their duties as a nurse.
- Leadership is about modeling- Nurses can show leadership by being the type of nurses they would want taking care of their own families. This includes being an example that others should follow, setting achievable goals, always doing the right thing, dressing and acting professionally, etc.
- Leadership is about integrity-Integrity is viewed as one of the core values of nursing, and the definition provided by the National League for Nursing applies to both nursing and leadership "A culture of integrity is evident when organizational principles of open communication, ethical decision-making, and humility are encourage, expected, and demonstrated consistently. Not only is doing the right thing simply how we do business, but our actions reveal our commitment to truth telling and to how we always see ourselves from the perspective of others in a larger community." (www.nln.org)
Monday, January 16, 2017
DISC Personality Test
For school I was able to participate and complete the DISC Personality Test. According to the text I am strongly considered an Influential personality. I had more than double the amount of tic marks in this category than any of the other categories for the test.
According to the definition provided I am a very people oriented person who is outgoing, sociable and loves to be around friends. I thrive on social contact, and can get along with most people. I am important to an organization because I can bring and human touch, and make people feel welcome. With the aforementioned being mostly positive this definition also says that I am not good at doing tasks, I am less meticulous and not particularly detail oriented.
As I read this definition I see in so many ways that it applies to me....but there are parts of this that I don't think fit. I think this is usually the case with many similar tests. I do find my self as a meticulous and detail oriented person. In fact, one area I am frequently complimented on at work is the cleanliness of my bedside. I do not like things out of order, or messy. I like my patient's beds to be free of clutter and debris. But the social aspect is very true. One of my favorite things about work is being around my friends. I love the social interactions, and relationship building with parents and families of the babies I care for. I enjoy the relationships I have with my coworkers.
The interesting thing for me about this test is the word used to describe the group---INFLUENTIAL.
If I was asked one word to describe my personality, this word would not be at the top of my list. With this being said I find it as a compliment. Influential people are people I look up to, and would want to be like....as long as they are using the influence for good.
According to the definition provided I am a very people oriented person who is outgoing, sociable and loves to be around friends. I thrive on social contact, and can get along with most people. I am important to an organization because I can bring and human touch, and make people feel welcome. With the aforementioned being mostly positive this definition also says that I am not good at doing tasks, I am less meticulous and not particularly detail oriented.
As I read this definition I see in so many ways that it applies to me....but there are parts of this that I don't think fit. I think this is usually the case with many similar tests. I do find my self as a meticulous and detail oriented person. In fact, one area I am frequently complimented on at work is the cleanliness of my bedside. I do not like things out of order, or messy. I like my patient's beds to be free of clutter and debris. But the social aspect is very true. One of my favorite things about work is being around my friends. I love the social interactions, and relationship building with parents and families of the babies I care for. I enjoy the relationships I have with my coworkers.
The interesting thing for me about this test is the word used to describe the group---INFLUENTIAL.
If I was asked one word to describe my personality, this word would not be at the top of my list. With this being said I find it as a compliment. Influential people are people I look up to, and would want to be like....as long as they are using the influence for good.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Week 1-Intro to Leadership
The first week of school is always and exciting one. So many emotions come out...fear, excitement, stress, tiredness... But, since this is my last semester of my RN-BSN I am mostly excited to be done! Especially knowing that I have delayed this portion of my education for long enough. When I graduated 9 years ago with my ASN I knew I wasn't finished, but the years kept flying by with having kids and just life in general. So finally 8.5 years after graduating I finally convinced myself it was the perfect time to go back. Now that I'm halfway done I don't know why I waited so long. Life is always busy, and I don't think my life is any less busy than it was 5 years ago...but I think my perspective has changed. I think I now understand better now that life will ALWAYS be busy, and we have to make time for things that are important to us.
This semester one of the classes I'm intrigued by is nursing leadership. Being a floor RN, I have avoided roles of traditional leadership--like being a charge nurse. I think that I enjoy being a different type of leader. For example, I enjoy being a nurse who people look up to, one who has taken it upon herself to continue learning within her specialty, a resource for nurses for information and skill, etc. I appreciate that doctors can come to me and know that I can complete orders in a timely fashion. To me this is the type of leader I have tried to become, and I feel that I am headed the right direction.
This semester one of the classes I'm intrigued by is nursing leadership. Being a floor RN, I have avoided roles of traditional leadership--like being a charge nurse. I think that I enjoy being a different type of leader. For example, I enjoy being a nurse who people look up to, one who has taken it upon herself to continue learning within her specialty, a resource for nurses for information and skill, etc. I appreciate that doctors can come to me and know that I can complete orders in a timely fashion. To me this is the type of leader I have tried to become, and I feel that I am headed the right direction.
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