Through this interview I learned that leadership in nursing looks different for each situation and team member(s) that you are working with or leading. There are obvious the basic principles of leadership that constantly remain true. My main takeaway is that there really isn’t a one size fits all solution because everybody is motivated slightly differently, needs different types of support, and has a different style of receiving help/advice. I think being an effective leader means that you have the ability to adjust your independent variables accordingly. I would rate their self awareness/management vs social awareness/management as pretty good. This person remains and calm and can connect with everybody in the way that they need to be connected with. It doesn’t surprise me as to how well she does this but it surprises me that one can stay so centered in times of “crisis” when managing people who may not be cut out for the situation. She talked about being able to find what speaks with each person individually and knowing them as a person before knowing them as a nurse. Knowing what their personality is to find ways to get the best out of each member of the team. This interview kind of gave me a behind the scenes look into her brain at work as the charge nurse. I obviously can see how she is outwardly handling things but this allowed me to see what is going on in her head as certain situations or everyday things arise. Hearing how she talks about remaining calm in patient situations but also with other colleagues because that is a skill as well. Knowing that even in the biggest of emergencies you can still take a second to center yourself or check what you need to check, basically haste makes waste obviously this is true in material situations but also in verbal ones. How to make the most out of what you’re saying to people in times that are critical. This interview just solidified what I already knew about this person but it also gave me more detail so that way I can put this to use in my own way. I will apply this knowledge in my everyday life, I think these are skills that can go way beyond the hospital. I also think that I am able to directly apply what she said about remaining calm/grounded because of sports and the stress on certain situations in sports. Since I am used to feeling that level of stress, I almost think that I do better in times of stress because that is what I am used to having to perform in.
Category: Leadership
I chose my subject because this person has taught me just about everything I need to know to be an effective nurse. She is one of the most caring, compassionate, and knowledgeable person I know. With the level of knowledge that this person has it is impressive at how she can balance her knowledge with bringing it down to the patients level while maintaining that compassionate care. This person was my preceptor for my nurse externship this summer. I have also worked with her during my licensed nursing assistant role for about four years prior to this. She is the nurse that you can go up to with anything at all she will help you with anything and if she cannot, she will help you find a way to get what you need done. This person was also a charge nurse and her leadership qualities are some that I aspire to emulate. She exudes confidence, knowledge, and calm all in one. She also helps those around her succeed and is not an overbearing leader. She is there if you need her but she also promotes autonomy and the importance of allowing everyone to feel important.
This person just recently received her Nurse Practitioners license this past January. She is someone that I hope I can live up to everything that she has taught me. I have already learned that she is able to demonstrate calm in stressful situations as well as knowledge when being able to communicate with patients in a more understandable way. I hope to be able to grow into being the calm and poised nurse that she has helped shape me to be. I aspire to be as knowledgeable as her because her patients have expressed how comfortable they feel during her care because of how thorough she is. Throughout the summer she helped me develop the confidence in myself that I can do this and that I have the tools to be successful.
Nurses play a large role in disaster response/management. Depending on the position of the nurse, you can be triaging, activating the response team, providing care to those who are injured, helping evacuate patients, coordinating with other healthcare officials/facilities are just a few. It goes without saying that no matter what the disaster or crisis maybe it is important for the nurse to be prepared and trained. This is why disaster trainings are so important because you never know when something may occur. Being prepared for the worst at all times is important because if you’re prepared hopefully, it won’t actually happen but in the event that it does you have the tools and knowledge to get through it.
When determining between provisions 2 and 5 that is the constant internal battle of being a nurse. How I personally distinguish is when I am off duty or not working, I put myself first so that when I am working, I can be the best that I can be to put the patients first. When you sign up to be a nurse you know that you will never truly get a lunch break and might not pee for 10 hours and that is just the commitment that we make. You can argue that that is not right, but it is the reality, when at work the patients are the priority. I think if take care of yourself and train your body when you’re not at work that will pay off for when you are, the stronger and healthier you are the better off you will be. Nursing is almost like a sport; you must be ready for the game each shift.
My initial thoughts about the use of electronic health records in nursing were that it is used to document vitals, assessment findings, and medical history. I was pretty blind to the fact they can be used for so much more than just nurses and providers. With the presentation from last Wednesday, I was able to see that there are so many more people involved in the process of documenting in electronic health records and without all those various aspects involved that would not allow all the types of healthcare providers to provide the most holistic care possible. To me modern medicine seems more holistic and in my opinion, this is just another step in that direction.
I will apply what I learned about electronic health records to enhance the care that I provide in two ways. One I will take a deeper dive into the charts of the patients that I am working with to see if there is information in there that would be beneficial for me to know in hopes to provide quality holistic care. Two I will take my documentation process more seriously knowing that this can be used to help other healthcare providers down the line, not only will this help healthcare providers but in turn make the patients care and experience better. I always knew that accurate timely documentation is important but not to the level that I do after the presentation from HIN.
Trauma exposure impacts the whole person, as healthcare providers we are not only treating the patient as well as the family. The patient might have obvious physical issues, but they need to be looked at wholistically because in my opinion the psychological and spiritual welling being is almost more important. There can be long term physical ailments but if we ignore the mind and only treat the physical, we are only looking at half of the person. I will apply the trauma informed care principles in all my patient interactions. I think it is important to treat everyone the same and treat them like family. Part of this is addressing their past whether it’s good or bad. I will go into it always assuming that the patient has some form of trauma, personally I believe that everyone has some form whether small or big it doesn’t matter to that person it is a “traumatic” experience and we need to support them in a way that speaks to them the loudest. Long-term impacts of adverse childhood experiences can range from physical to emotional/mental and beyond. A few that come to mind right away are PTSD, anxiety, depression, cardiac issues, diabetes (from unhealthy eating and physical activity habits), as well as skeletal abnormalities. I think as healthcare providers this is one of the most important aspects of our care because it helps us develop trust and rapport with our patients, without trust and rapport there is a significant lack in the healing relationship.
There are many factors that influence the health of the vulnerable and marginalized populations. So many that I cannot possibly name all of them in this post. The ones that come to the front of my mind are the elderly, children who are in the “system”, and access to health insurance. People who cannot find jobs that provide them with the opportunity to have access to health insurance or the elderly/early elderly people who are on the cusp of Medicare and Medicaid. There are many factors that go into this but just in the way that we are all raised and brought up in this world sets you up for the person you will become and the opportunities you have. I feel that it also has to do a lot with your personality, there are people who are born into very privileged homes and come into adulthood with inadequate drive and skills to be a successful adult and then there are those who are thought to have no chance at surviving this world and have the most beautiful success stories. Because of this wide range I feel that it is hard to pinpoint very specific ideas as there are so many. Job opportunities, money, support systems, and upbringing are the ones that come to my mind first.
I do not feel that we will ever be able to solve healthcare disparities as this is what makes the world go around. However, I do think that there are always ways to improve. It can be as simple as recruiting and helping people find jobs that provide health insurance. Education is huge and starts young, creating a health conscience vision that our younger population will understand and buy into will make a huge difference. Also providing support groups and systems, the first one that comes to my mind is for new first-time parents, both for moms and dads, it is a team sport. There are also ways that as healthcare providers we can help connect with our patients more by meeting them at their level and learning about where they come from and why they made the decisions they made to put them in the predicament that they are in today. There are so many ways to improve, and it is a revolving door but starting small and working our way up is the only way we can start. We can sit here and think about it and keep coming up with ideas but until people take initiative nothing will change. By taking initiative I don’t just mean the healthcare system workforce, I mean as a country as a whole, everyone needs to do their part in order to live a healthier lifestyle not just those who are providing the care.
