Exploring Leadership Roles in Nursing

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The nursing career has a growing workforce, spurred on by the high demand for caregivers. The growing need for nurses has caused in influx of new nurses, graduating from school and ready to begin their career. Although there are many different work settings for nurses, one universal aspect of assisting new nurses is nursing leadership. Leaders within nursing are tasked with assisting new nurses as well as those who are veteran nurses, and their role is indispensible. “Health leaders model the behavior expected in the organization” (Ledlow & Stephens, 2018). Susan Eckert, the senior vice-president of nursing and chief nursing executive at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, is a prime example of a nursing leader. Theories of Leadership and Transformational …show more content…

Eckert one of the most striking aspects noted as she discussed her career development and philosophy was how much I felt I had in common with her. This was not an expectation I went into the interview with, as I did not know Ms. Eckert before the interview. However, there seemed to be a great deal of similarity between her and I, how her career developed, her family of origin, and the approach she has to leadership and decision making. With this in mind it was an encouragement to keep an open mind to developing a career in nursing leadership. This is not something I originally considered when entering nursing school. However, her story and example has painted an appealing and attainable picture. Another impactful aspect of our interview was the discussion of emotional competence and spirituality. These are both topics that are discussed in theory, in the classroom. However, when on the unit floor they do not always shine forth or seem to be incorporated into practice and general acceptance. To hear Ms. Eckert speak frankly both of her own belief in emotional intelligence and of the general growing support for emotional intelligence education was encouraging. She spoke freely about her belief in the need for mature emotional competence, and the role of spirituality. This gave the impression that the acceptance of these ideas within the nursing field is greater than I had previously thought. Lastly, Ms. Eckert’s discussion of diversity also impressed …show more content…

They are influenced by their family of origin, their education, their work experience, and the people they interact with. For Ms. Eckert this has all brought her to her current career position and approach to leadership. She holds leadership not only as the challenge and difficult task that many people today see it as. She also views it as an amazing opportunity to influence others. Ms. Eckert also noted the importance of coaching others, both in their nursing development, and in their leadership potential. This is particularly important as we are facing rapid change within the nursing field. There should be a certain amount of mentorship to learn from those who have experience and to develop one’s own skill. For Ms. Eckert some of the main elements she discussed as contributing to a strong leader are the willingness to coach others, emotional intelligence, a sense of spirituality, valuing diversity, and openness to change and innovation. It should then be the hope of future nurses to emulate this idea of leadership and personal growth as members of the healthcare

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