Today we are going to finish this class with understanding Empowerment.   What is empowerment?  What does that word mean to you?  What does it mean when we use the word, self-empowerment?  When it comes to leadership and management, it is important for the nurse leader to understand the importance of self-empowerment and to support this feeling of competence in others as well .  When we talk about words, we need to understand the terminology used in dealing with power and empowerment.  Power refers to the ability and empowerment refers to feelings, and both of these elements are important and essential to nurse leaders as well as nurse managers (Whitehead, Weiss, & Tappan, 2010).

      Empowerment Ladder:
             1. Self-confidence
                 a. Ability to control life situations
                 b. Refuse to be a victim
                 c. Values self and others
            2. Competent
                a. Ability to do work well
                b. Caring about the quality of work
                c. Enjoying your work
                d. Feeling valued
            3. Becoming Empowered
                a. Show initiative
                b. Resolve conflict
                c. Make decisions
                d. Support and empower others

Your success as a leader not only depends on your self emowerment,but also in providing support to others.

Reference
Whitehead,  D. K., Weiss, S. A., & Tappan, R. M. (2010). (5th ed.). Philiadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis.Essentials of nursing leadership and management

 

Leadership and the Power of Words

 Today I would like to tell you a story.  A group of frogs were traveling along a fence near a barn.  There was a pail full of fresh milk at the end of the fence near the opening gate.  Two of the frogs fell off the fence into the pail. All the other frogs gathered at the edge of the fence and peered into the pail.  When they saw how deep the bucket was, they told the two frogs they were as good as dead.  The two frogs ignored the comments and kept paddling with all their might.  The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead.  Finally one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up.  He sank down into the milk and died.  The other frog kept paddling as hard as he could.  Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die.  He paddled even harder.  He churned and churned the milk until it turned into curds and created a ball of cheese. He jumped onto the ball and made it out of the pail.  When he got out, the other frogs said, "Didn't you hear us?"  The frog explained to them that he was deaf.  He thought they were encouraging him the whole time.
Click on the link to hear the moral of the story:
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Leadership and Management: The Bases of Power

Click on the Url before continuing to the the text below:http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=5423839&height=267&width=200

It is important as part of learning about leadership and management to identify bases of power that is used by others in a workplace setting. There are six bases of power (Patronis Jones, 2007).  At some point in time you will see all six of these bases.  If you are ever placed in a postion of power, it is important to remember them so that the one you choose is best for that situation and position,

 One of the most strongest power to have is known as Expert Power.  This power base is the most positive and nonaggressive way to have power because it is genuine and you have worked hard to get it.  This power indicates that you are seen as the best on the area yo comu work on.

The second most important power if it is not abused, is Reward Power.  This base is often used as manipulation, so if this power is used, be fair.  Usually this power is when one is in charge of schedules and raises.

The third power is Legitimate Power.  This bas is abour the power that is given to the individual in order to do the job, such as a DON.  It is based on knowledge, hard work and ability and it comes with a title given from the administrative department.

Coercion Power  is considered a unhealthy power base in that the person who uses this base does not have the leadership serkills necessary for the job.  The main focus of this base is to hurt and punish others.  The person also does not have the clinical skills needed as well to do the job at hand.

Informational Power is a genuine source of power in which the individual does not gossip bur rather gives accurate information that empowers everyone.  Typically it is nurse managers that have this power because of their knowledge base.

Last, the power base that is a caring power is known as Reverent Power.  This base utilizes the skill of networking to  get to know people and are willing to assist them.  This power is a power that is kind and caring about others feelings, thoughts and ideas.

These bases of power defines the types of power that exist among us today.  It is up to each one of us as to which power to use.  Power can have very dramatic effects on people, whether it is used one on one or whether it is used in a group.    Over all, power commensurate with knowledge and expertise is needed to enable nurses to provide competent, humanistic, and affordable care to individualts and improve nursing, healthcare and health policy (Patronis Jones, 2007).

                                                                             Reference

Patronis Jones, R. A. (2007). Nursing leadership and management: Theories, processes and practice. Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis.

The Use of Power: Do You know how to handle and control it?

As a nurse leader or even a nurse manager, one of the things that will be attained is power.  The use of power in healthcare takes many different forms, and it does not come all wrapped up in one little box to be taken out when it is to one's advantage.  So, I ask this question, what is power? What does it mean to you?  When you think of power, what feelings do you have? 

When thinking of power, many individuals have the feeling of uncomfortableness.  In fact, in some cases, it conjures a very negative feeling.  Power is actually a new concept for us nurses and nurse educators.  There is no agreement in the nursing community as to what the power is for nursing, just like critical thinking.  When I think of the word power, several things come to my mind.  I see the color red, I see a power struggle in which two people are engaged in an argument.  I see it is a great skill to have as long as one develops it and understands the value of it.  Power is the ability to influence others through the use of energy and strength (Anderson, 2010).  One of the important facts I would like to make is, that to understand power,  one has to understand the different types of pwer so that they can be identified not only in yourself, but in others as well. 

There are six different bases of power: Expert power, reward power, legitamate power, coercion power, informational power, and referent power (Anderson, 2010).  Each of these bases of power affects people in different ways.  We will talk more about this tomorrow.  For tonight take the quiz from quibblo to see what kind of leader you are.

Reference
Anderson, M. A. (2010). Nursing leadership, management, and professional practice for the LPN/LVN in nursing school and beyond. (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis
http://www.quibblo.com/quiz/bvMdq2f/The-Four-Frames-of-Leadership

Leadership and Management: How Well Can You Communicate?

Yesterday I witnessed a situation that I would like to talk about.  There were two people, a mother and a daughter at a table at the restaurant that my husband and I were visiting.  The mother, who was dressed as though she was in a professional, maybe managerial, postion, was on her phone talking to someone about a contract of some sort.  Her daughter, in her early twenties I would hazzard a guess, reminded me of my daughter, a college student, dressed in jeans and a pretty pink tee shirt.  Her hair was long and pulled up into a pony tail.  She was impatiently waiting for her mother to get off the phone.  As she was waiting, she was playing on her cell phone looking at Mom to "hurry up" the conversation.  Mom continued to talk until the food came.  At first, their conversation was blending in with the hum of the restaurant noise.  Soon, both my husband and I noticed voices becoming louder.  Mom was angry and the daughter was too.  Mom soon became verbally aggressive in an authoritative voice and refused to listen to the daughter.  The daughter, after responding defensively, clammed up and sat sullenly at the table while Mom either ignored her or spoke with harsh tones.  Shortly after the heated conversation erupted, Mom requested the bill and they both left.

I began to wonder how would I have handled that same scenario.  I also wondered how the mother would have responded to a coworker or an employee, if she was trully in a managerial situation.  Then I thought about how we communicate in general. What is communication?  We know that communication is when one person sends a message and the other, the receiver, receives the message.  The receiver then sends the message back to the send, and this of course is feedback.  Back and forth it goes, either until the conversation is ended or the communication fails.  As we know, there are two types of comunication, verbal and nonverbal.  In the scenario described, the two types were used as evidenced by the mother and daughter's words and behavior. The part of communication that tends to get lost is the active listening that should take place between the two individuals.  Most of the time we hear the words, but do we really listen to what is being said?  Listening is crucial to identify not only the information being received, but also the emotions of the other person so that the response is appropriate (Anderson, 2009). 

As the healthcare environment becomes more complex and diverse, communication becomes an essential skill for the nurse leader and the nurse manager. In addition, there will be a need to communicate effectively, not only with other healthcare members, but with patients and their families.  As a manager, or as a nurse leader, you have the responsibility of accomplishing work and goals through others, and part of how to make this happen in the clinical environment is through successful communication (Covey, 2004).

Please watch the video and take a few minutes to think about how we communicate when we are at work, in the classroom or with our family members.  Please see the next blog for the video.  Thank you.

References

Anderson, M. A. (2009). Nursing leadership, management, and professional practice for the LPN/LVN in nursing school and beyond, (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis
Covey, S. R. (2004). The seven habits of hightly successful people. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster

Video posting "Why is Communication So Hard for Healthcare Professionals?"

Leadership and Critical Thinking: What does this mean to nurses?

Today I was thinking about critical thinking as I was preparing for a classroom activity.  We know critical thinking is important to nursing, but how important is it?  How does an instructor teach critical thinking, especially to those who have no concept of what it actually entails.  Do our leaders critically think?  Does someone in a leadership role critically think?  How do we get those in leadership to learn how to critically think?
 What exactly is critical thinking?  The term critical thinking is often used to mean problem solving, decision making and creative thinking in nursing, and yet there is no widely accepted definition of critical thinking. (Fero, Witsberger, Wesmiller, Zull, & Hoffman, 2009).  So with that as a basis for critical thinking, how then can we as educators teach the next generation of nurses to learn to "think out side the box" or "creatively think" when placed in leadership roles, if we can not teach them that skill to functiona as a nurse generalist?  In critically thinking, it helps one to understand that why solutions to particular issues have failed is part of the subset of these skills necessary to think in a critical manner (Fero, et al, 2008).  With the world of nursing changing almost everyday, and with patients becoming more complex, it is important for nurse eductors to to teach students to critically think and how to practice competently in a variety of situations in which there is no clear solutions to the problem presented (Kaddoura, 2011). 
 Nursing needs leaders that can critically think.  Nursing needs leaders to improve the nursing profession and become more forthright in the provision of patient care and safety. A study by Fero and team (2009) found that approximately 25%  new graduates were not meeting the expectation of having developed critical thinking skills, and these deficiencies included problem recognition, reporting of essential datat, initiating independent nursing interventions, anticipating relevant medical orders, and providing relevant rationale to support decisions.   It seems frightening that we are releasing graduate nurses to the world, and they have very little skills in critical thinking.  Nurse educators need to find ways of equiping the nursing skills that would promote critical thinking to solve complex problems (Kaddoura, 2011).  In order to do this, educators can promote active learning and a provide prudent preparation for clinical practice by useing case-based learning (Bradshaw & Lowensteing, 2011).
  Having students learn through case studies allows them to think about the big picture and to come up with all possible solutions to that particular issue.  They can brainstorm together and look at the solutions and put it into role playing practice.  They can also role play with the issue at hand to as to develop the critical thinking and problemsolving that wourl be a necessary skill when working with complex patients.
   How do you see critical thinking?  What does this term mean to you?  Do you think you have the skills of critical thinking and leadership?  Can one exist with out the other?
Judi
                                                                                           Reference
Bradshaw,  M.  J., & Lowenstein, A. J. (2011). Innovative teaching strategies in nursing and related health professions (5th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

Fero, L. J., Witsberger, C. M., Wesmiller, S. W., Zulio, T. G., & Hoffman, L. A. (2009). Critical thinking ability of new graduate and experienced nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65(1), 139-148. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04834.x.

Kaddoura, M.A. (2011). Critical thinking skills of nursing students in lecture-based teaching and case-based learning. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 5(2). Retrieved from http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/ijoti

Leadership

I would like you to take a few minutes to sit and think before you go too far into reading this post.  Think about the tape recordings that run through your mind on the different issues that you have come in contact and how you handled those issues.  In many instances our tape recordings in our mind play over and over again and they influence not only our reactions to situations, but how we are when we are faced with similar issues.  Think about  what your greatest fear about becoming a leader contains.  Do you have pictures of great managers and leaders that you have come in contact with?  I  know I do.  For all of us to understand and use management and leadership prinicples, we need to understand ourselves and what is improtant to us.  Leadership and management, two very distinct terms that are often blended in the minds of our students, colleagues and even ourselves, without a clear and defined picture of what either term means.  One of the more finite definition that I have learned of leadership is that leadership is a collection of personal traits that is present in order to establish a vision and goals for a particular group and implement them, whereas, management is more along the lines of organizing, motivating and making sure the plan of action is carried out.

So, what are you?  Are you a leader or are you a manager? What characteristics do you believe a person needs to be a leader? When do you think the roles of a manager and a leader could conflict?  Take a few moments and pause on these questions.  We may find our answers if we take a few moments and reflect on them.

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Oliver Wendell Holmes.