Literacy Leadership Is Generally Described

¶ … Literacy

Leadership is generally described as the ability to direct or guide others and to contribute to their knowledge and professional growth. Effective eaders have knowledge, understanding and a vast comprehension of what an organization requires to conduct business in a manner that allows growth to its shareholders and the company.

The ability to process information efficiently and effectively is key to becoming an effective leader, and organizations seek individuals with certain characteristics that will drive the organization to success. A leader is competent when he or she is knowledgeable. And can apply learned theory in order to accomplish established goals.

Leadership/Scholarship

Leaders must have a scholarly perspective of the constraints an organization faces, meaning there must be an application of critical thinking when making decisions. According to Lipman (2002), critical thinking is interpreted as "skillful responsible thinking that facilitates good judgment

." Leaders can analyze methods and develop strategies that fit the organization by using critical thinking skills, and beyond that they can tackle constraints and risks an organization may encounter even before these become large problems. When leaders connect their research to practice, they become true scholarly practitioners and are able to challenge their own ideas, changing current beliefs and practices and creating new strategies (Winter, Griffiths & Green, as cited in Thomson, 2007).

Understanding the importance of information literacy, effective health care leaders have implemented many systems and resources to keep the professionals informed regarding the latest technology and research finding such as online medical references and Internet-based continuing education. Many health care institutions have adopted the Evidence-based practice as a scientific research model for clinical decision-making and for quality care improvement.

One example of this is the development of myocardial infarction protocols, which is just one of the many measures implemented based upon such research outcomes. The goal of these protocols and the changes to them is to increase survival rate. A throughput time process was developed for emergency room units to improve patient satisfaction by increasing patient flow and decreasing the waiting period. This is just one specific example of the use of proper information literacy leadership that is being practiced in healthcare institutions.

Information Literacy in Health Care

Surgical procedures were complicated in the past, and required long hours to be completed. The patient's recovery phase required increasing length of stay. Today, surgeries are increasingly faster and more minimally invasive. For example, the conventional brain surgery approach to removing brain tumors was through craniotomy (removing piece of the skull). Today, a new procedure has been implemented where the tumor is removed through the nose resulting in faster recovery with less pain and scarring. Health care is a field where information is constantly and rapidly changing, rendering yesterday's procedure obsolete in the light of today's advances. This makes information literacy imperative in the field.

Nurses specifically are expected to be information literate people to increase competence, because every day a new treatment, medication, or procedure is detailed or made available for use. Remaining properly and adequately informed is essential for a nurse as much as for any other medical practitioner, and perhaps even more so. As the primary caregiver in many medical situations, a nurse's knowledge can go a long way towards improving a patient's quality of life and reducing their risks.

According to Diaz, Massialas, and Xanthopoulos (1999)(as cited in Lauer & Yodanis, 2004) "as with illiteracy in general, being globally illiterate limits a person's ability to fully understand, participate and succeed in the world

" (par. 4). Nurses are expected to be globally and culturally literate because America is a culturally diverse society. When certain non-medical and seemingly unnecessary requests are made by a patient, nurses need to remain culturally literate by respecting and carrying out those wishes whenever medically and practically feasible. Being globally literate requires the professional to have an understanding of other cultures.

According to Stein, (as cited in Lauer & Yodanis, 2004), American students tend to be globally illiterate. A large amount of empirical research and anecdotal evidence from various perspectives documents, stresses the need to improve informational literacy throughout the American educational system (Schutt & Hightower, 2009; Zabel 2004). Without such improvement, education and knowledge will simply stagnate, and perhaps even regress. These authors do not agree on all of the specifics of what is lacking or how to address this lack, but there is a general consensus that American students especially are lacking in information literacy aptitude in a multicultural setting.