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REFLECTIVE TRANSITION FROM FOLLOWER TO LEADER

In the pages that follow I will begin the journey of the exploration and continued development of my ability as a nursing student, and soon nurse to adapt my personality and what I have learned to that of transformational leadership and how I individually deal with leadership needs, change, and development of my own leadership abilities and style.  We are not all “born” leaders as some claim to be.  I myself would not consider myself this “born” leader type.  I have spent many years in my childhood and even as I begun this nursing school journey as an active follower.  Over the next few pages I will share my journey and changes and I developed into the understanding that in my career choice of nursing I needed to find the balance between follower and leader.[“Write my essay for me?” Get help here.]

As I have progressed through the nursing program, and have experienced the healthcare industry from the inside, instead of the outside as a patient, I have learned that the industry of healthcare is metamorphic in nature, and constantly changing.  This has caused me to believe that all nurses must adapt to this type of environment and while some tasks and areas may be well fit for the active follower, the majority of progress is best met in the healthcare field and nursing industry as a leader, with transformational qualities.  This transformational leadership style allows us and in particular myself encourages me to adapt to change, and to help solicit my unit or team members to also adapt to the changes that constantly are occurring in nursing or healthcare field in general.

Transformational leadership is comprised of the following traits; charisma, inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration.  As I entered the nursing program reflecting back I know I had charisma in my personality, and wanted the intellectual stimulation to get through nursing school and find the reward of accomplishing my goal.  I was able to consider how changes would impact me individually, but I did not always look at how changes that I made or changes that I endured would affect those others around me.  When in a team setting I tended to fall into the follower role as it just seemed easier and set me up for less disappointment if I should fail, or if the project went south.  It wasn’t necessarily the “I can blame failure on someone else”, it was just less painful.  I had the desire to succeed but didn’t want to deal with the impact of failure as a leader. [Need an essay writing service? Find help here.]

Now looking back, and allowing the nursing program to allow me to grow with a better understanding of my career, the environment that surrounds it and myself, I can truly say that I am ready to embrace change, take leadership, and help make changes happen.  As a nurse I feel that we take on leadership roles every day when we care for patients.  We are there to make a difference in their lives and help them change and become healthier after an injury, accident, or illness.  We may not always see the impact that we make immediately but as a nurse we impact and lead people through changes, sometimes very scary changes, each and every day that we are on shift.

Our leadership style as nurses can impact our patient satisfaction rates and in turn provide us with positive or negative feedback while we provide patient care.  I personally feel that I have learned in my clinical time and even in my studies the importance of how being a leader and wanting to cause change to happen and adapt to change can benefit me and my patients.  It is often that I see ways that things can be done more effectively and yet I stand back at times and wait for someone else to make the suggestion.  After seeing how much a change can impact my patients care I have learned to “speak up” and try to advocate and initiate change instead of just sit and wait for it to happen.  If we wait for things to happen we may be waiting a long time.

Throughout this program and in my clinical time I have had the opportunities to observe nurses that are true leaders and make change happen, this is the course that I am working towards taking on fully and being able to make changes happen.  As a nurse I realize that it is my responsibility to be flexible enough to accept changes in this ever changing career and it is necessary for me to be a leader to help myself grow as a nurse and provide excellent patient care.

I also realize as I transition from a follower to more of a leader, I have the responsibility to ensure that the stakeholders in the unit, my group, on the floor, in the facility are engaged in the changes that I wish to make.  It is important in this field to have the engagement of those that can help make the changes happen, and that you have the buy in that is necessary for them to believe what you say, share your thoughts, and want to help make it happen.  The trustworthiness that you build with your fellow nurses, peers in class, professors, and professionals you are engaged with in clinicals or on the floor is critical to the success that you want to achieve.  Not only is it critical in the success of implementation changes, etc. but it is critical to the rapport that you build as a leader with your team and peers.  Often times those leaders that are most respected are the leaders that listen, accept feedback from their teams, and take into account everyone’s opinions on a subject.  I am one of those individuals.  The feedback and thoughts that are provided to me from my peers is important when I make decisions.  I cannot always just rely on my knowledge and my beliefs.  The knowledge of those that choose to be followers can be valuable information as a leader.  While some in my group may not have advanced like I have from predominate follower to taking charge leader their input is still valuable in my eyes.  I know how they feel as I was once there.  I have grown, and in time I feel most will grow as well but since I have experienced the state they are in it leaves me with a feeling of need to take their input and apply it in my leadership when implementing changes. [Click Essay Writer to order your essay]

In conclusion I feel that the nursing program has given me the opportunity to gain extensive knowledge in my career, but that I have also gained in my leadership abilities and the abilities to understand the different qualities that are necessary in successful leadership.  Leadership is more than just taking charge and implementing changes.  It is doing so in a way that in understanding, compassionate, achieves the required results, but also will allow everyone in the group to work as a team and succeed.  Success in nursing is just a much an group effort across many fields, as it is an individual effort.

References

Ryan Withero, P. (2013). Transformational Leadership in Nursing. From Expert Clinician to Influential Leader. Nurse Education In Practice, 13(6),

Institute of Medicine. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. 2010.

Adeniran, R.K., Bhattacharya, A., & Adeniran, A.A. (2012). Professional excellence and career advancement in nursing: A conceptual framework for clinical leadership development. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 36, 41-51

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By Hanna Robinson

Hanna has won numerous writing awards. She specializes in academic writing, copywriting, business plans and resumes. After graduating from the Comosun College's journalism program, she went on to work at community newspapers throughout Atlantic Canada, before embarking on her freelancing journey.