Leadership Imagine Studying Your Own Leadership Strengths,

Leadership

Imagine studying your own leadership strengths, weaknesses and coming up with a five I in which a person would need to make improvements? What kinds of theories are needed? One will grasp the various leadership aspects in order to become a better person as a Registered Nurse.

These are the various strengths of mine that are worth mentioning. I am an organized person. In fact, while I take care of my patients I make sure that get them their medications in a timely manner, so that I can help them the individuals well; this means making sure that I follow doctor orders precisely as well as hospital protocol. For example, I maintain confidentiality by maintaining the Health Information Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA). Through this, I demonstrate much integrity in my work setting (Hakala, 2009). As a result, my nurse manager is pleased with my work ethic.

I also am quite intelligent, which is another trait worth considering. Since I am a Registered Nurse, I use my clinical aspects when taking care of ill patients. I have to consider ways in which to put their needs before mine, so that they get well soon. One would call this servant-leadership (Mattke, 2010). This occurs in at least 10% of work places and is quite uncommon but becoming a growing trend in society (Mattke, 2010). I would definitely say that this is my personality; hence, I am in the healthcare field to treat the whole person (mind, body and soul). I value my position, and I have to use my intelligence in order to people's lives on a regular basis (Hakala, 2009).

When I am at work, I consider myself quite assertive. This is another strength of mine that is imperativeas an RN. I have to tell those who are below what it is I need from them to do in order to fully treat the patient with the best quality of care. For example, I will tell a Certified to feed a patientwho is dysphasic. This means that the individual is likely to pocket their food while eating because of forgetting to swallow it. Usually, the CNA will provide a quarter-sized amount of food, and the person is likely to have a soft-diet. A soft-diet consists of having mashed potatoes, green beans and more. As a result of these efforts, the patient gets better thanks to the CNA and myself working together to get him or her well. A person who is usually in this condiditon has experienced a stroke or quite old in their age with the inability to actually function without nursing care (Durbin, 2009).

I use much magnanimity with my position as an RN. For example, Iwill get the patient a snack if he or she is requesting it. When he or she does not request it, I will make sure that the person is as comfortable as possible. For example, if he or she has crooked covers, then I will straighten them out. This is a small aspect of what I do on a daily basis, but my patients love it when they get this type of attention. If I have time away from writing down clincial notes, then I will take the time to listen to my patients (Hakala, 2009).

In medicine, I experience a lot of close-minded individuals; however, I strive to keep an open mind. I will do anything possible to pay attention to new ideas in order to make the environment safe, and then I bring them to the attention of my nurse manager who can decide whether or not to implement them in the near future. This means that I temporarily suspend my own judgement in hopes to gain new insight from those who are above or below me within the clinical setting I which I serve. Through making this effort, I am showing anyone who wants to vent about a situation that needs fixed much dignity and respect through the entire process. Sometimes my own co-workers come to me so that they can talk about whatever it is that is bothering them at that time. I strive to listen to their every problem, but every now and then I have to tell them that I am busy with patients, and at that point in time; the individual catches on and gets back on task on what he or she needs to do for work as well (Hakala, 2009).

Another area that is a strength for me is that of remaining as fair as possible. This means that I strive to make sound ethical decisions as a means of in quality of care and to do excellent customer service through this entire process. I will do anything possible to give the patient and visitors a good patient in the clincial setting, so that if he or she wants to go into the medical field, then he or she is inspired by my actions. Before I make any kind of decision, I make sure that I hear every aspect of the story. When I do this I strive to use active listening through this entire process. As a result, the decision made is final but made with good sound judgement through this entire process (Hakala, 2009). Now it is important to discuss weakensses of mine.

As one can tell by now, I am dedicated to my job. I get to work in a punctual manner, and I stay as late as possible to get all the work done. I will go out of my way when doing business for others; however, I will do so as professional as possible. Through my hard work, people are pleased with the results that become of their health and the education that I provide them in order to help him or her to stay better for many years to come. In the end of the day, I can go home proud knowing that I made a difference in someone's life.

Everybody has some level of weaknesses, but I am striving to improve them as much as possible. I struggle to remain humble. This is because I feel as if I know everything, but I know in reality that I do not. My co-workers and friends are apart of the issue as well because each of them have the same struggles. I am quite sure that this is something I will have to work on for the remainder of my life. Regardless, I have now taken the first step in this area of my life that I know I have to fix, which is the first step in the right direction (Durbin, 2009). This does take time to overcome no matter I have to repair in my own life as well as when others come to me for advice with their own problems. Ultimately, I feel good about myself as well with those that I impact on a daily basis.

I am also not a creative person. In fact, I am focused in on the data more so than the actual person itself. When I am asked to find a solution, I immediately look at what was done and not think of insightful ways to fix it. Sometimes I look up to my peers in order for them to give me advice on how to handle the situation. For example, I have a CNA that is frequently late to work and her attitude is horrendous. I have no idea how to solve this problem, except to give her more work because of it; consequently, my workers have noticed this, and I am having bring it to my nurse manager to see if there is anything she can do. I know that I can offer that person a ride, but I would not feel professional and do want to put myself at risk by taking on an unneeded responsibility. As a result, I have a dilemna that could pose problems in the future. This is one of my examples I could give in regards to this issue, but at the same time I know I need to work more so on becoming more creative in my chosen field since I have done this now for 16 years.

Sometimes I am not very hospitalable because of focusing so much on my daily job at the hospital as an RN. This means that I end up putting myself first in most situations. I guess this means that I need to take care of my priorities and rearrange them accordingly. For example, when I am scheduled to have company, I will not allow them to stay for more than three days, and if they want to stay more than that, then I enforce that each of them should stay a hotel or motel. I know that this is not becoming of me, which is why I am working on it, especially as it gets closer to the holiday season.

Another weakness is that of not having much of a sense of humor. I am a serious person most of the time. Many of my family and friends tell me that I need to have some fun, but it seems as if I do not know the meaning of this concept because of my intellect. The times in which I actually any kind of humor is when I am extremely tired and delirious because of it. Regardless, I need to enjoy life to the fullest.

I also need to become a better listener. This means that I drop everything at that time in order to listen to others better. As of right now, I selectively hear what is spoken to me and get the key points out of each conversation. Sometimes I will give positive feedback, while at other times I will not give good quality answers that someone is requesting for at that particular time. I really believe that as I learn to use my ears more than my mouth I will become a better person because of it, and my own friends, family and co-workers will see the change in me as well. Now it is important to disucss my five-year plan on what I plan to do (Durbin, 2009).

I have much to discuss in regards to my plan in order to enhance my capacity to serve as a leader. The first is that of wanting to become a Nurse Manager at my workplace. I know that this is a huge responsibility, but I am confident that I can do this. Here is what I believe I need to do in order to achieve this goal. I need to go above and beyond what is asked of me in regards to my position.

For example, this means taking time to listen to others better, having a sense of humor when it is needed, using sensitivity and so forth. If my co-workers need anything, then I help them out with their patients when they are out on lunch. In other words, I need to learn to re-prioritize in order to meet the needs of others in a more efficient manner. Furthermore, I seek to stay as current as possible with nursing practices as a means of trying to become the best RN possible. I am sure that people that I work with will want to do the same by modeling my behavior, despite the fact that my work requires it as well on an annual basis. Most of the time we ask each other questions on how to handle a specific scenrio, but that is not always easy to do. I have to put myself in what the other person is experiencing, so that I can actually figure out how to help him or her through the entire process.

In order for this to come true, I need to take business management classes. As of right now, I am aware of how to take care of patients and to make sure that it is of high quality; however, I have no idea on how to manage others. My level of managing currently is that with myself and to assist my co-workers as needed. I hope to take some additional leadership courses as well. The areas of leadership I am most interested in becoming better at is that of transformational and servan-leadership (Mattke, 2010).

As a part of my plan, I would like to take better care of myself. This means exercising regularly or taking the time to eat healthy. Through this, I will have more energy with the possibility of doing a better job at work in order to prevent making any kind of mistake from patient care. By me taking part int this, I am able to model the example for every person I work with who practices medicine at my work. Through this effort, I feel empowered as well as the CNAs who are striving to get into the position I have already achieved as an RN.

Another thing I can do is order food for those in my workplace. This will make me more hospitable. Through this, I will become a better person. For example, I will no longer strive to put myself last, but when I am others they will become first because of it. When I call in the order on the phone and provide all the money to the person who is dropping it off, my co-workers will respect me more by going out of my way for my colleagues.

I can consider beoming a better leader by taking time out of my schedule to put together staff parties under the assistance of the Nurse Manager. This will demonstrate my leadership skills to those in management and my eagerness to one day become a manager myself overseeing all my fellow nurses. As a result of taking this necessary step, I would have the opportunity to make a positive impact on each of my colleagues who have studied nursing or management as such myself. I would learn what it means to become humble through this process. In fact, my ego would decrease as I begin to think of others before myself. As a result, I would slowly change and start treating others differently with true genuine caring.

People would see how dedicated I am to my job and to others because of taking these small steps. I hope that in the next five years that I am promoted in the hospital to become a Nurse Manager. In fact, this would become a dream that is fulfilled in the near future. My co-workers would become quite pleased by knowing how hard I worked in order to get into this type of a position. They would see my dedication and integrity.

For example, my nurse friends would see that I have frequently got into work on time and waited patiently to find out where I was assigned as well as who I was taking care of when I was scheduled to work. Many would see that I care about my job by remaining as punctual as possible and rarely calling into work sick. However, if I am ill for any reason, then I would call in and make sure that it is not more than two days because I would do anything possible to avoid having to get permission to get back to work with a doctor's note. This is because it requires much time and money for me that is lost that I would need in order to survive to take care of myself.