Clinical Leadership

 Clinical Leadership
Clinical Practice situationGreat nurse leaders and mentors have the power and potential to transform and empower student nurses to become the great nurse leaders of tomorrow. As a student nurse, I had the opportunity to work with many and different in attributes registered nurses and experience various styles of both good and bad leadership skills. I have gained knowledge and skills from working with them that will be valuable to my future as a registered nurse. I had the opportunity to observe, ask questions and have many discussions with experienced and new nurses.

One of my most recent and memorable clinical placement in an acute-care medical ward in a hospital setting I had the chance to work with a great nurse whose leadership skills were exemplary, inspiring and eye-opening to observe. I will call this nurse MJ for this assignment. MJ was an experienced senior registered nurse working in the medical ward for several years. I worked with MJ as a student nurse for over three shifts, and one of the first things I observed about MJ was her excellent communication skills, passion for her role as a nurse and the dedication she had to the patient’s care needs. I was instantly attracted and impressed by MJ’s quality of nursing care and effortless exemplary leadership skills. She possessed excellent clinical proficiency and the ability, time and attention to details for her patient care needs even in stressful situations.

I can remember my last shift working with MJ, one of my patients was deteriorating quickly and needed resuscitation. I became anxious and flustered and forgot all the protocols relating to managing patients declining. The patient’s family members also happened to be at the patient’s bedside which made feel even more under pressure. In that situation, MJ remained calm in her reaction, acted swiftly and also explained the procedures to me as she took part in the interventions. MJ was kind and interested in supporting my growth as a nurse and willing to include me in real-life learning opportunities such as how to manage a deteriorating patient. MJ was sensitive and reassuring to the patient’s family. MJ was mindful of the intense family relationship during the stressful situation and was able to communicate with them in a delicate way about the situation and procedures.

I also got to observe the effect of nurse MJ’s leadership skills from a different point view regarding the influences she had on other nurses who I worked with on another occasion. On one shift I worked with another registered nurse, I will name TJ who was a more junior nurse compared to MJ. TJ and I were finishing an early change one day, and we were preparing for handover to the afternoon staff. That day I observed TJ acting a little uneasy and wanting to make sure all tasks were done, and all issues thoroughly addressed for the patients so that MJ who is taking over from us would not be disappointed with any loose ends. I felt like nurse TJ wanted to impress MJ considering her actions at the time and a comment she made to me in private saying “MJ always worries too much about everything and asks too many questions at handover.” It was interesting to see TJ behave in such manner and how much somewhat positive influence MJ was having on her just by her presence.

Introduction

In this essay, a clinical practice situation will be reflected upon where a senior registered nurse demonstrated exemplary leadership skills while being a receptor to a student nurse on clinical placement. Furthermore, in this essay, the theory of transformational leadership will be employed as a foundation to analyze the clinical practice situation critically and scrutinize how the nurse demonstrated exemplary transformational leadership during the case. In conclusion, this essay will give brief mentions of the of the implication of my leadership in my future nursing practice.

Initial reflections on the events

Initial thoughts and feeling about my experience working with nurse MJ over the three shifts can be described as being on a learning journey and highly educational. It felt like inspired and impressed by her work ethics, excellent clinical skills and excellent time management skills and the ability to prioritize tasks. Observing MJ carry out her work and respond to the difficult situation with so much confidence, calmness and with such commitment to uphold procedures and protocol was admirable, respectable and honorable. Working with MJ in a situation where my patient was deteriorating and being met with pressure required me to think and act quickly in my response. In that case, a feeling of nervousness and anxiety came over me causing me to become flustered and confused on how to respond appropriately. MJ could have chosen to take over the situation, stepped me to the side and handled the situation on her own since my initial reaction was anxiousness and confusion to the case. On past experiences of a simila