NUR 674 Practicum Journal: Headship

Practicum Journal: Headship

As observed throughout the course, journaling, especially during practicum, offers a valuable opportunity and tool for one to record, reflect on, and review their learning. The chance to connect various components of the course enhances overall outcomes and understanding of nursing students undertaking the course as they acknowledge the relationships between and among various activities, interactions, and results (Smith et al., 2020). The purpose of this journal is to document various activities, assessments, and learning related to the practicum site and academic experience during weeks 8 and 9.

Practicum Activities Reflection:

Weeks 8 and 9 were critical to the course’s progress as they focused on important activities like communication and the impact of leadership styles utilized by a mentor on nursing students. In week 8, I observed that using appropriate communication strategies is essential in managing diverse individuals in a team. The week illustrates the crucial role of leaders in using effective communication strategies to understand patient needs and manage people from different groups. In week 8, the practicum site and its management conducted training on critical components of effective communication between leaders and nurses. My thoughts during this week included deliberating on the importance of leadership styles that can enhance communication, especially approaches that allow nurses and other stakeholders to participate in decision-making.

In week 9, I observed the importance of mentorship through interacting more with my preceptor and other nurse leaders, especially their leadership approaches. I observed that mentors and mentees should have a good rapport and interact by valuing respect, dignity, and the boundaries existing between and among them. Mentorship provides a chance to build not just trust between the two but also enhances confidence in diverse teams (Cummings et al., 2021). I observed that my mentor uses a transformational leadership style to support her subordinates and enhance their productivity. These activities illustrated the importance of communication and effective leadership in nursing practice as illustrated by leaders.

Application of Leadership:

 Quality indicators are the basis for quality improvement and focus on detecting how effectively current systems work. Nurses employ quality indicators to support practice changes to enhance patient care outcomes. As such, quality improvement is a systematic process and approach that is data-driven to improve the quality and safety of nursing and healthcare delivery (Yoder-Wise et al., 2021). Through quality improvement indicators, nurse leaders can set goals for their organizations like prevention of falls, lowering rates of readmission, increasing the efficiency of the discharge process, and reducing and preventing medication errors and infections like catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI).

Nurse leaders and preceptors in the practicum site use quality improvement indicators in their leadership roles to accomplish many critical tasks and enhance overall patient outcomes and care delivery. For instance, they use quality improvement indicators to review patient and other medical data and analyze processes employed to offer care. Based on this information, they work to identify and determine the types and areas of improvement while highlighting areas of excellence (Smith et al., 2020). The quality improvement indicators highlight the critical role of conducting a needs assessment to determine organizational and nursing needs. The nurse leaders and my preceptors use the quality improvement indicators to monitor and evaluate the performance of nurses and the overall quality of care offered to patients (White et al., 2020). Quality care implores nurses to prioritize patient safety by reducing any possible harm that may emanate from infections, medication errors, missed care or readmissions, and longer stays in the facilities. For instance, quality improvement indicators will show the rate of hospital-acquired infections or the rate of patient falls. In the practicum site, the nurse leader and preceptor apply these indicators to evaluate the effects of implementing safety policies like hourly rounding to reduce and prevent patient falls. Quality improvement indicators also measure various metrics that include patient satisfaction, infection rates, rates of readmission, and other safety aspects.

Nurse leaders require quality improvement indicators to implement changes in nursing practice and care delivery processes. As they identify areas of improvement, nurse leaders create policies and interventions to improve outcomes and address gaps discovered through the improvement process. For instance, in the practicum site, my preceptor uses quality improvement indicators to determine the performance levels of nurses and the results of implementing interventions to reduce adverse events like falls. The quality indicators also show aspects like missed appointments and their effects on patients’ overall outcomes (Cummings et al., 2021). As such, my preceptor believes that leaders should understand their roles and rely on data through these indicators to make decisions. The preceptor ensures that all decisions and actions, especially focusing on change implementation are based on these indicators. The quality indicators also help inspire and motivate nurses who perform exceptionally in dealing with patients from diverse backgrounds.

Using quality improvement indicators has a significant effect on patient outcomes and the organization. By identifying and addressing gaps and areas of improvement, nurse leaders ensure that patients get the highest quality care (White et al., 2020). For instance, quality improvement indicators that lead to the implementation of changes in the organization like fall prevention and reducing missed care lead to improved patient satisfaction, lower possibility of adverse events, and reduced readmission rates. Again, through quality improvement indicators, nurses implement evidence-based practice (EBP) interventions to improve patient outcomes as they integrate patient values and preferences, best and current evidence, and clinical expertise in patient care interventions.

Using quality improvement indicators significantly impacts the organization as they are instrumental in addressing gaps, and challenges to quality care delivery. The organization can enhance its reputation through quality indicators as regulatory and accreditation agencies use such metrics for quality assurance. In this case, models like value-based purchase by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implore organizations to offer quality care to get reimbursed. Therefore, quality improvement indicators allow the organization to align with the regulatory requirements that reimburse facilities for the quality of care offered and not quantity. Policymakers also use these indicators to develop new approaches or interventions to reduce issues like nurse turnover, and nurse burnout, and enhance the overall welfare of nurses and other healthcare workers in the facility (Yoder-Wise et al., 2021). Accreditation by regulatory agencies requires quality improvement indicators. Therefore, the organization can attain accreditation by having positive quality improvement indicators.

Practicum Project Preparation:

Possible and actual barriers can influence and impact the implementation of selected practicum activities in the practicum site. Such barriers hinder the effective realization of set goals for the implementation of the identified nursing intervention to improve access to mental health services. The actual barriers to implementing the proposed intervention include sufficient resource allocation, communication challenges emanating from diversity in the organizational teams and aspects, and collaboration among the various healthcare workers and professionals in the practicum setting. Again, the implementation requires support from the management and ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements (Khuwaja et al., 2020). For instance, sufficient resources for the implementation include time, funding, materials, and equipment. Communication challenges in this implementation include effective engagement with all stakeholders, access to information on areas of improvement, and overall messaging to various units within the organization.

Overcoming these barriers is critical to implementing and attaining the goals of the proposed project and its implementation. As such, to overcome or handle these barriers, engaging all stakeholders, developing a communication plan, and using evidence-based practice (EBP) interventions will be critical. Further, effective communication and applying an appropriate leadership model will help overcome these barriers. The implication is that addressing these barriers will be critical to attaining the overall goals of implementing the project in the facility for better access to healthcare services

Leadership Video Reflection:

The video, “Servant Leadership-Issue of Headship,” offers insightful lessons and ideas on leadership. The two things learned from this video include understanding the concept of servant leadership headship. The first lesson is that being a leader does not imply that one is the head. A leader should guide, support, and enable team members to attain their best. The core lesson is that one does not have to be a head to demonstrate leadership but can show leadership attributes by inspiring and motivating others and building teams (GCU Media, n.d). The implication is that servant leadership implores the leader to serve and support and not to command and control the subordinates.

The second critical lesson that that leadership is about improving people’s welfare and focusing on a shared or common goal. Leaders inspire others to believe in their vision and work through engagement and communication will all stakeholders. Leaders should support their teams and focus on the staff’s welfare as opposed to advancing personal or other interests (Hafsteinsdóttir et al., 2020). The video is categorical that leaders play a critical role at various levels of people’s lives, from organizational to individual levels. Therefore, they should strive to model the best attributes and values to inspire their subordinates.

Conclusion

Effective nurse leaders focus on developing knowledge and personal interactions with patients and colleagues to attain better outcomes through efficient processes. The practicum activities in weeks 8 and 9 showed the importance of effective communication and using quality improvement indicators to enhance outcomes. They also show the importance of addressing barriers to project implementation and understanding the concept of headship in leadership. The implication is that nurse leaders and preceptors can implement changes by leveraging quality improvement indicators and using appropriate leadership approaches to motivate and inspire their subordinates to attain set goals. The video on leadership shows that the concept of headship implores leaders to model better attributes and focus on engaging all stakeholders to attain better outcomes within their organizations.

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