The Leadership Role of DNPs Today

1) Advocating for patients comes in many forms. As a DNP leader, you will be in a position to influence the advocacy process within an organization. How are some ways a nursing leader can advocate for patients through the policies (organizations or government)?

Although every organizational and governmental situation is unique in some fashion and will require different strategies, DNP leaders can leverage their expertise and influence to advocate for patients through multiple policy reforms. For example, engaging with policymakers to educate them concerning evidence-based solutions that would enhance clinical outcomes and access from nurses' frontline perspective are central to DNP patient advocacy. Likewise, DNP leaders can ensure that patient voices are taken into account during policy discussions while also pushing for inclusion of nursing viewpoints on advisory committees.

In addition, motivating broader nurse advocacy through voting initiatives, activism, and policymaker outreach can also serve as useful patient advocacy strategies. Moreover, besides using social media platforms for patient advocacy, DNP leaders can also write opinion articles for local and mainstream media as well as collaborate with partners in the community to launch organizational initiatives that policymakers and like-minded nursing professionals can used to model reforms.

These types of advocacy efforts are especially needed as the introduction of artificial intelligence continues to redefine the appropriate role of healthcare providers in a rapidly changing and aging society. In this regard, Risling and Low (2019) emphasize that, The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare delivery has not only provided a glimpse into an enhanced digital future but also raised significant concerns about the social and ethical implications of this evolution (p. 31). Against this backdrop, it is clear that DNPs can provide lawmakers with the empirical observations that will help shape patient-centered policies. As Risling and Low (2019) conclude:

Nursing leaders have a critical role to play in advocating for the just and effective use of AI health solutions. To fulfill this responsibility, nurses need information on the widespread reach of AI and, perhaps more importantly, how the development, deployment and evaluation of these technologies can be influenced. (p. 31)

While these measures are not especially novel, DNPs can make a difference in the decision-making process by ensuring that lawmakers and the general public are educated concerning the importance of patient-centered polices during an era of razor-thin budgets and cost-cutting initiatives (Manning & Grosso, 2011). Indeed, nurses are on the front lines of patient care and understand how policies manifest in reality in practice. As leaders serving patients directly, DNPs have a fundamental responsibility to spearhead...…all staff and ambulatory patients are invited to attend. These are well attended and are just one of the multiple aspects of her leadership attributes that make her a good QA director. In other words, the QA directors leadership style is situation-specific, making her especially effective in achieving the services mission and goals.

4) Professionalism.

At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, the QA director was probably the most professional individual I have even encountered. This individual has served in this highly sensitive and challenging role for more than 7 years and the facility has improved its Joint Commission ratings each year. In addition, she manages to maintain a sense of humor in the face of busy times and taxing assignments. Perhaps most importantly, the QA director has made it her objective to ensure that all of her staff have challenging work, opportunities for professional growth and are appropriately recognized and rewarded for their efforts. Employee morale is historically high in this QA department.

5) Business Skills.

The QA director consistently demonstrated exceptional business skills through her above-described comprehensive knowledge of healthcare economics, financial management, and business operations. These skills helped her to plan strategically and allocate resources appropriately such as planning for the periodic facility-wide educational events and procuring needed computer applications to track peer reviews of serious…