DNP Leadership Philosophy and DNP Essentials

Personal Philosophy of DNP Leadership

Introduction

My personal philosophy of DNP leadership is based not only on my own experiences as a nurse but also on the education I have received throughout the years in nursing school. Leadership is a particularly important element of nursing because it is where the example, tone and conduct of what it means to be a nurse is seen first and foremost. For that reason, I take leadership very seriously, and in this paper I explain what I value in nursing leadership, what my mission statement is, what my style of leadership is, how I communicate, how I view the elements of the nursing paradigm, how I incorporate compassion into care, and how I reflect on DNP essentials

What I Value in Nursing Leadership

What I value in nursing leadership is the ability to demonstrate ethics and responsibility to other nurses. For them I serve as an example of how they are expected to act. Without nursing leadership, newer nurses do not have a standard that they can see in a person who embodies the ethics and accountability of nursing. After ethics, communication is the most important area of nursing leadership because it is the foundation stone upon which effective collaborative care is delivered.

My Personal Mission Statement as a DNP Leader

My mission statement as a DNP leader is to deliver quality care to patients and to serve as an example of an authentic leader and excellent communicator by being brief, clear, timely and complete in all messaging.

My Leadership Style

The leadership style I most often ascribe to is a mixture servant, authentic and transformational leadership. My leadership style in nursing is most frequently based on authentic leadership, the core component of which is to have a strong ethical base for all actions and decision-making. Authentic leaders also focus on being transparent and open with other so that there is never any question of being misled or lied to. For me it is important that an atmosphere of honesty be cultivated, and that example is set by the leader. When nurses feel that they can be open and honest, they tend to be more tolerant, forgiving and helpful overall in my experience: they respect their leader and learn to appreciate one another. They more readily admit mistakes and try to learn from them so as to improve.

To make sure that my nurses do try to learn, I also incorporate elements of transformational leadership into my style: I try to communicate a clear vision of what I want us all to be as nurses, and I use logic and reason to explain why I want everyone to buy into standards and evidence-based practices that are implemented. For me transformational leadership is really just part of the job, as the job necessitates that one incorporate new best practices routinely, which means making changes from time to time in how one practices nursing.

Additionally, I find that I incorporate servant leadership style into my nursing approach as well just because it helps to create a culture in which care is fostered. When patients and other nurses see that I put them first and make sure that their needs are being met, it really makes them feel valued, and they in turn value me all the more. It is a way too to make others feel empowered, which I love to do.

When I Used Ineffective Communication Techniques

Communication in nursing is meant to help foster consistency among nurses and to promote connectivity. It is also essential in preventing nursing errors and reducing the risk of important information falling between the cracks. Communication serves as the backbone of effective collaborative care and teamwork. Common communication techniques in nursing include the bedside report, the huddle, the handoff, the check-back, and the Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR).

Huddles are particularly important because they help to make sure everyone is on the same page at the start of a shift or with reference to a particular resident. When there is going to be a new arrival, a new resident huddle can be helpful. One time I failed to use effective communication techniques was when I neglected to take part in a new resident huddle that I should have been part of. Important information was shared with the group on that occasion, and my absence created a gap in intelligence for which I later paid dearly when I ended up responding to a call from the new resident. My lack of awareness created confusion for the patient, which affected the patient’s perception of the quality of care that he was receiving from us.

What I Should Have Done Differently

I learned from that experience that communication is not just a recommendation but a real necessity. If there is a huddle, everyone who can be should be there. If a quarterback calls a huddle in a game, a player who stands outside the huddle is going to be lost and will negatively impact the team. The same holds true in nursing: if a huddle is called, I want to be there because I know important information will be shared that will affect us all.

Elements of the Nursing Paradigm

Nursing

For me nursing is the provision of holistic care to a person in need so that the individual’s health and well-being can be achieved. Nursing starts with compassion and builds upon knowledge, particularly evidence-based practice. Without knowledge of how best to care for patients, compassion has nothing to climb and therefore its potential for fruit is wasted.

Patient

The patient is not just a problem—the patient is a person. Every person should be treated with respect and as an autonomous individual. The patient’s rights must never be violated and the patient should always be part of the decision-making process when it comes to his health, insofar as that is possible.

Health

Health is a state of well-being that includes physical, mental, social, financial, and spiritual attributes. Too often health is narrowly defined in physical terms, and this only serves to create obstacles to holistic care. I view health as related to the whole person and the whole person’s environment, and the person’s ability to have an acceptable quality of life.

Environment

Environment is the space in which the person lives, acts, and experiences life. Environment can include physical space as well as emotional, social, economic and political space. Environmental factors are very important to consider when treating a patient because they affect health in so many different ways.

Interrelation of the Elements

Each of these elements are interrelated because the patient is affected by the environment; health of the patient is the focus of the nurse; nursing cannot be accomplished effectively without understanding the patient’s quality of life and how the patient lives and wants to live. To provide quality care, the nurse must understand the patient holistically.

Compassion and Sister Roach’s Caring Model

The caring model of Sister Roach depends upon the nurse using compassion, competence, confidence, conscience, commitment, and comportment to deliver quality care. For me, compassion is always going to be the bedrock of the model, which is why I consider it a most important element in my nursing philosophy. Compassion is the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes and to experience life from that person’s perspective. It is about having sympathy and empathy and never judging another person no matter what. Compassion allows you to feel the pain that others are going through, and this ability creates a bond of care and concern that can motivate a nurse to perform at a high level. In my philosophy, I see compassion as the motivating force of nursing and of leadership; patients and other nurses both need sympathy and understanding. Being a patient is very trying, and being a nurse can sometimes be overwhelming. So it is important that everyone be made to feel that they have value, and that comes by displaying a sense of compassion for all people.

Role of Mentors in My Professional Career

Mentors and role models have been very important in my professional career. They have given me the support, knowledge and example of how a professional nurse should act in the field. The biggest mentor and role model I ever had was when I first entered the field; our head nurse was so dedicated to both patients and nurses that I was astonished by her concern—even for me who had just started there. It really exposed me to the type of standard and value and ethic that was expected of me. It is one thing to learn about nursing in the classroom, but to actually experience directly as a professional is something quite different—and I realized this from my head nurse in those early days. She had so much experience and understanding of the nature of the industry and of how to cultivate a positive caring culture that I looked forward to working with her every chance I had. She taught me to value other people, both nurses and patients, to be open and honest always—even when you have made a mistake—and to place compassion at the heart of my nursing philosophy.

I can contrast her as my mentor with a nurse I worked with later who influenced me negatively; she approached nursing as though it were a business and to her people were profit first. She talked in a callous manner about patients and other nurses, and it hurt me to hear her speak in this way. I resolved from my experience with her to never put down another nurse or patient or treat them as though they were anything less than real human beings, with heart, mind, body and soul.