Week 9 Assignment: Leadership Assessment Paper

Week 9 Assignment: Leadership Assessment Paper

Nurse leaders should exhibit leadership competencies consistent with professionalism, knowledge of the healthcare environment, business skills and principles, and communication and relationship management. According to American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL, 2015), nurse leaders bridge clinical and executive practices by setting the vision of nursing practice in delivering safe, timely, patient-centered, efficient, and equitable care. Equally, the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE, 2020) contends that healthcare executives, including nurse leaders, should ensure patient safety and quality by engaging the medical staff as meaningful partners, creating and sustaining a culture of safety, providing open communication and demonstrating a commitment to transparency, adopting information systems, and encouraging organizational involvement by fostering voluntary collaborations and partnerships. Since these leadership competencies are consistent with the overarching objective of providing quality care, nurse leaders should conduct leadership competencies self-assessment to identify their strengths and weaknesses, alongside informing plans for lifelong learning and development. Therefore, this paper elaborates on results from self-assessment of leadership competencies by providing personal strengths, weaknesses, goals for nurse leadership development, and why these goals are pertinent to personal development as a nurse leader.

Self-assessment concerning the Nurse Leadership Competencies

The self-assessment practice entailed aligning personal leadership skills to the five profound competencies documented by the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL), including communication and relationship management, professionalism, business skills and principles, leadership, and knowledge of the healthcare environment. According to the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL, 2015), these core competencies contain the skill, knowledge and abilities that guide the nurse leaders in executive practice regardless of their educational attainment, setting, or title. In the same breath, each of the five competencies contains themes and sub-components that form the basis of self-management for nurse leaders. For example, the leadership domain contains various “sub-competencies,” including foundational thinking skills, change management, systems thinking, personal journey disciplines, and succession planning (American Organization for Nursing Leadership, 2015). Based on a self-assessment consistent with the five domains of nursing leadership competencies, the results revealed my leadership strengths and areas of improvement.

Strengths

After assessing personal alignment to the AONL’s five domains of nursing leadership competencies, I performed better in about 80% (4 out of 5 scores) of all the competencies of leadership, communication and relationship management, professionalism, business skills and principles, and knowledge of healthcare environment. Under the leadership domain, I scored high in foundational thinking skills, change management, personal journey disciplines, and system thinking. In communication and relationship management, I performed better in effective communication skills, diversity, community involvement, influencing behaviors, medical/staff relationships, and community involvement. Under the knowledge of the healthcare environment domain, I scored high in understanding clinical practice knowledge, delivery models, governance, evidence-based practice, patient safety, and risk management. In the fifth domain (business skills and principles), I demonstrated an understanding of human resource management, strategic management, information management and technology.

Based on the results of the self-assessment practice, it is valid to argue that I demonstrate proficiency in different subthemes across the five domains of nursing leadership competencies. For example, I can adhere to all skills of effective communication, uphold/respect individual diversity during communication, build collaborative relationships with staff members, and assert views in non-threatening, non-judgmental ways. Secondly, it is justifiable to argue that I have an in-depth knowledge of the healthcare environment regarding clinical practice knowledge, delivery models and work design, governance, evidence-based practice/outcome measurement and research, and patient safety. Thirdly, I can express leadership skills in foundational thinking, system thinking, change management, and the aspect of learning from setbacks, failures, and successes (personal journey disciplines).

Apart from these competencies, the results from self-assessment practice indicate strengths in personal and professional accountability, ethics, and career planning. In this sense, I can hold myself and others accountable for mutual professionals’ expectations and outcomes, practice ethical principles and uphold organizational standards, enable others to develop their career plans through coaching, and seek input and mentorship from others. Finally, I can effectively ensure proper human resource management by participating in workforce planning, supporting reward and recognition programs, and facilitating interventions for strategic organizational management.

Areas of Improvement

Although the results from self-assessment practice indicate different strengths consistent with the AONL leadership competencies, various aspects represent areas of improvement. For instance, I did not perform well in communication and relationship building concerning organizational diversity, especially in providing a conducive environment for opinion sharing, exploring ideas, and achieving outcomes due to the constraints attributed to implicit and explicit constraints perceptions. Secondly, I should improve on some aspects of knowledge of the healthcare environment domain, including using data and other sources of evidence to inform decisions, using evidence-based metrics to align patient outcomes with organizational goals and objectives, and disseminating research findings to the patient care team members. In the leadership domain, I should improve on succession planning competency.

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Similarly, the competency of advocacy, especially through influencing policies and advocating for optimal health care in the community, represents an area of improvement in professionalism. Finally, I should improve on various components of information management and technology, including using technology to support the improvement of clinical and financial performance, participation in evaluating technologies in practice settings, and skills in assessing data integrity and quality. These subthemes fall under the business skills domain of AONL nursing leadership competencies.

Goals for Nurse’s Leadership Development and Why they are Pertinent to Personal Development as a Nurse Leader

Improve skills for organizational diversity

As a nurse leader, I am responsible for creating a conducive environment for opinion sharing, exploring ideas, creativity, and innovation to achieve organizational objectives. Therefore, it is essential to address implicit biases that compromise organizational diversity. According to Kaihlanen et al. (2019), healthcare organizations deliver care to highly-diverse patient populations. As a result, a lack of cultural understanding increases negative attitudes toward cross-cultural care and affects healthcare professionals’ ability to deliver care to culturally diverse patients. I endeavor to improve organizational diversity skills by participating in cultural awareness training and education programs and consistently evaluating my relationships with staff members.

Enhance personal skills for incorporating evidence-based practice into daily practice

Nurse leaders are responsible for supporting all the tenets of evidence-based practice (EBP), including reviewing internal and external evidence sources to inform decisions and implementing evidence-based recommendations from these sources. According to Sevy Majers & Warshawsky (2020), nurse leaders should cultivate a culture of inquiry, deliver successful outcomes, and apply evidence to management decisions. While evidence-based practice improves care outcomes and quality, I would develop personal skills by reinforcing my competence in accessing, appraising, and applying evidence to inform clinical and management decisions.

Bolster knowledge and skills for succession planning

Healthcare organizations’ leadership should derive insights from the determination to build professional skills, management of human capital, and the ability to influence others by identifying and valuing their talents positively. Nogueira et al. (2019) contend that leadership does not take concern positions, privileges, or status. Instead, it should follow morals and ethical examples. As a nurse leader, I should advance the competence of succession planning as a sign of ethical example and the determination to value and develop other people’s talents and abilities to ascend to higher positions. I would train them and provide the technical and professional support necessary for developing their leadership competencies.

Improve advocacy competencies

Advocacy is one of the professional codes for nurse practitioners. According to Abbasinia et al. (2019), it entails public support for or recommending a particular cause or policy and the process of working as an advocate. Nurses are responsible for acting on behalf of patients and communities and championing social justice in providing care. Advocacy is essential in protecting patients’ and communities’ rights, values, benefits, and well-being. As a nurse leader, I must uphold this role as an intermediary between care consumers and providers. I would improve advocacy competencies by using my experience to lobby policymakers, participating in policy development and implementation, joining professional associations representing nurses’ rights, and influencing healthcare policies and programs.

Conclusion

The American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) documents various domains of leadership competencies for nurse leaders and executives. These competencies provide opportunities for self-assessment to identify how individuals perform concerning different subcomponents of the five competency domains: leadership, communication and relationship management, professionalism, business skills and principles, and knowledge of the healthcare environment. The major purpose of self-management is to identify personal strengths, weaknesses, and potential areas of improvement. Therefore, this paper elaborates on results from self-assessment of leadership competencies by providing personal strengths, weaknesses, goals for nurse leadership development, and why these goals are pertinent to personal development as a nurse leader.

References

Abbasinia, M., Ahmadi, F., & Kazemnejad, A. (2019). Patient advocacy in nursing: A concept analysis. Nursing Ethics, 27(1), 141–151. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733019832950

American College of Healthcare Executives. (2020). The healthcare executive’s role in ensuring quality and patient safety. https://www.ache.org/about-ache/our-story/our-commitments/policy-statements/healthcare-executives-role-in-ensuring-quality-and-safety

American Organization for Nursing Leadership. (2015). Nurse executive competencies (pp. 1–11). https://www.aonl.org/system/files/media/file/2019/06/nec.pdf

Kaihlanen, A.-M., Hietapakka, L., & Heponiemi, T. (2019). Increasing cultural awareness: Qualitative study of nurses’ perceptions about cultural competence training. BMC Nursing, 18(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-019-0363-x

Nogueira, A. L. G., Munari, D. B., Ribeiro, L. C. M., Bezerra, A. L. Q., & Chaves, L. D. P. (2019). Nurses’ expectations about the succession of leaders in the hospital context. Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, 27. https://doi.org/10.1590/1518-8345.2833.3178

Sevy Majers, J., & Warshawsky, N. (2020). Evidence-Based decision-making for nurse leaders. Nurse Leader, 18(5), 471–475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2020.06.006

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Week Nine Assignment Detailed Instructions
Assignment: Leadership Assessment
What personal strengths do you have that would make you an effective nurse leader? What potential gaps might you need to address to improve your ability to be an effective nurse leader?
As a future DNP-prepared nurse, you will be called upon as a leader in your field, a leader in your practice, and a leader in your organization. Throughout your program of study, you will develop the skills, strategies, and knowledge to not only harness this role successfully but to do so at a high level of achievement and performance.

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However, everyone must acknowledge both their own strengths and weaknesses, as a leader, and identify potential areas of improve to enhance these capabilities.

Assignment: (5) pages
To Prepare:
• Review the nurse leadership competencies presented in the Learning Resources for this week.
• Reflect on these competencies, and consider your strengths and potential gaps in relation to these competencies.
• Consider potential goals for your leadership development in relation to the nurse leadership competencies presented.
The Assignment: (4–5 pages)
• Explain your self-assessment in relation to the nurse leadership competencies. Be sure to identify your strengths and potential gaps in relation to these competencies.
• Describe at least four goals for nurse leadership development that you would like to pursue, given the results of your self-assessment. Be specific.
• Explain why these goals are pertinent to your development as a nurse leader. How will developing these leadership competencies support your healthcare organization or nursing practice? Be specific.
Reminder: The College of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The Sample Paper provided at the Walden Writing Center provides an example of those required elements (available at https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general#s-lg-box-20293632). All papers submitted must use this formatting.

Grading Rubric:

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Learning Resources to use for references provided by instructor and school. Please use it first; if you need to go outside, it’s ok.
• https://www.ache.org/about-ache/our-story/our-commitments/policy-statements/healthcare-executives-role-in-ensuring-quality-and-safety
• https://www.aonl.org/resources/nurse-leader-competencies
• https://search.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/training-leaders-culture-quality-safety/docview/2202726368/se-2?accountid=14872
• http://www.healthcareleadershipalliance.org/
• https://search.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/designing-pilot-testing-leadership-intervention/docview/2241967041/se-2?accountid=14872
• https://www.jointcommission.org/-/media/deprecated-unorganized/imported-assets/tjc/system-folders/topics-library/sea_57_safety_culture_leadership_0317pdf.pdf?db=web&hash=10CEAE0FD05B6C3A4A1F040F7B69EBE9

Week 9 Grading Rubric

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