The Leadership Influence in Nursing Profession

Professional Identity and Stewardship Having conducted an interview between me and a colleague who is a registered nurse working in the same hospital, there are several issues that stood out for me in terms of the professionalism and the ethics therein as well as the effect of the professional approach to nursing on the career or the daily work of the nurse. It also brought out the perspective that my colleagues have on the aspect of teamwork in nursing in general.

The nurse indicated that he was a member of several teams in the hospital but one that stood out for him was the quick response team that is more voluntary and f which he is the coordinator of communications and response. This team consists of energetic nurses who are willing to terminate even their holidays to attend to any emergency that may emerge and overwhelms the normal level of staff members.

He indicated that his role of passing communication on the type of emergency, the needed response, the place to respond to and the preparation needed by the hospital to handle the emergency has significantly impacted on his commitment to do more and feel part of the hospital more. He has also learnt to give helping hand to colleagues even where he is not compelled to.

According to the nurse, professionalism is not only the acquisition of the essentials of being a nurse and ability to deliver the required services to the patients as stipulated by the training manuals and the related researches, but going beyond the basic training and certification to the ethical consideration of the patients, meeting their special needs, empathizing with their condition and initiating collective response to the challenges that the nursing profession may face in general.

This, he indicates, has enabled him to have an open approach to challenges, always asking where he is not sure and also helping where he can, correcting where he sees the nursing ethics being overstepped, hence making the nursing work within the organization friendlier and easier.

In the hospital, the nurse considers the leaders as good stewards of the health care since they work to inspire professionalism especially among the newly recruited nurses through the regular trainings and seminars as well as exchange programs that the leaders initiate to enable the nurses within the hospital to have a wider perspective of the health care process and also experience different environments with different challenges within the health care systems.

The nurse considers it a matter of significant importance that professional advocacy is keenly implemented and taken into account in the daily operations within the hospital. As SEAP (2015) indicates, professional advocacy involves helping other colleagues and patients express their wishes, views and needs to the influential people within the organization who make the decisions, an act which they would otherwise not been able to.

The nurse sees this as a way of empowering people who are vulnerable and marginalized within the organization and making each individual be an authentic part of the organization. The nurse expressed firm belief in servant leadership in the nursing profession and the strength in consultative nursing processes that take into account not only the professional aspect of nursing but also the social aspect and the team spirit. He also expressed considerable embrace for professional advocacy and the providing an enabling environment for all to optimally perform in their duties.

PART II The second interview was with the supervisor of one of the departments who sought anonymity but gave significant details on the team approach and leadership within the hospital and his department in particular. He indicated that his role as a team member in his department is to provide leadership direction and inspiration to those under him so that they can find value in approaching departmental challenges collectively.

He indicates that the fact that he is a team player requires him to lower his position at times and give a listening ear to the junior members of the department and at times following their suggestions. The departments supervisor indicated that professionalism in nursing as a whole must involve the strict following of the stipulated procedures, the adherence to the rules and guidelines laid out by the management and ensuring that the assigned duties are done to the required standards by any means possible.

He seems to emphasize on the ability of the employees to push themselves to the limits to achieve what they must. This view of professionalism makes him check better the levels of adherence to professional dictates among the employees working under him. In terms of being a steward of health care, the supervisor firmly believes that by so ensuring that each member of his team meets the needed threshold, he is directly contributing to the health care within the entire hospital and hence a good steward of the heath care.

Also indicates that apart from just the employees in his department, he also takes care and is answerable about the implements and supplies that are within his department, and by so properly accounting for them, he is a steward of the health care. As a supervisor, he considers professional advocacy as a central aspect in his daily duties.

He takes up the responsibility of not only observing and noting the collective and individual challenges that there are within his department, but also pushing for the help, solution or accommodation of these challenges that his members of stuff may be having. He has significant influence and powers to help change the thinking of the managers and chief executive officers of the hospital in a manner that benefits the vulnerable of his team members. In his submission, he was emphatic.