Weeks one to four have been productive and rich in gaining new knowledge in different areas of nursing. For example, during the first week I have learned a lot of new information about time management, or as it is also called self-management. I have found that I am good at managing time, however, there are some more skills that I should focus on developing such as refreshing my to-do lists daily, setting priorities in doing tasks based on their urgency, and learning to set timely goals (Olmstead, 2010; Time management assessment, n.d.). Together with that, I have discovered that being efficient in time management is important in becoming a leader and, in general, more productive person. What is more, the concepts of this approach can be used for increasing efficiency of the professional nursing organizations by, for example, keeping all the necessary information about patients and all frequently used phone numbers in one place easy to access. However, it is impossible to apply time management concepts without a strong leader in a team who will create the environment of openness and trust and monitor that everything is done in a right way and time is spent effectively.
During week two, I have learned about the personality types. That said, I have found that there is Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I also managed to determine my personality type that is Introverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving that characterizes me as the person who wants everything surrounding me to be logical and see the cause and effect connections in every event. I have found that introverted individuals frequently become good leaders (Uusi-Kakkuri & Brandt, 2015) and that they have their peculiar style of management that has such features as prompt reaction and, as a result, making crucial decisions easily and at the same time difficulties in communication with other members of the team because introverts find it unnecessary to explain the cause and effect relations that are obvious to them but not seen by others.
During week three, I have studied types of handling conflicts applied in the nursing environment such as organizational conflict theory and gender conflict theory. The difference between the two is that the organizational theory is used in the case when different departments are involved in the situation (Elena & Vallejo, 2012) while gender conflict theory implies that the parts are people of different sex. Moreover, I have added to my understanding of becoming a leader, as I found that a good leader is the one who solves conflicts easily and does not ignore the problem when it occurs.
Finally, week four was dedicated to investigating emotional intelligence that mainly focuses on the nurse’s ability to identify the patient’s mood that will lead to his faster recovery (Karimi et al., 2014). I have found that I am quite good at defining moods and emotions and that it can also be a trait of a good leader because it can be used not only to ‘read’ patients but also other members of the team. That said, the knowledge that I have obtained during week one to four was centered on leadership and characteristics of a leader.
This time, I will focus on nursing informatics and the impact it has on leadership qualities. Nursing informatics is introducing the elements of computer and information sciences to the nursing practice with the purpose of making information available to everyone who is involved in decision-making process whether it be patients, nurses or healthcare providers (Schneider, 2014). A nurse ho has the knowledge of nursing informatics can be referred to as “a nurse informaticist, a clinical informaticist, a clinical systems analyst, an informatics nurse specialist (INS), or simply an informatics nurse” (Kirchner, 2014, p. 22). However, the name does not change the functions that are using the newest technologies and information to improve the quality of nursing and patient care through matching the nursing process with appropriate tools and systems, preparing the implementation of the newest technologies in the nursing environment and teaching nurses to use it, and making sure that it works to the maximum of its potential (Schneider, 2014). They are especially needed in the era of shifting towards electronic medical records.
Proficiency in knowledge informatics can be viewed as another key to becoming a leader. Because information technology and management are the foundation of the future nursing practice development, a true leader would never ignore it and will have to deal with the challenges arising from the implementation of electronic health records to nursing organizations (Hussey, Adams, & Shaffer, 2015). The issue here is that nursing informatics can either help or hinder leadership. In the case if an individual strives for constantly becoming better, gaining new knowledge, and keeping up with the times, he/she will not ignore the necessity of studying nursing informatics, and it will help in strengthening and maintaining leadership positions. On the other hand, if the person believes that what is needed to be a leader is to possess strong character and individuality without paying attention to the latest development, he or she should not hope to remain a leader.
In the conclusion I would like to say that during the previous weeks I have discovered that my type of personality and the ability to manage time effectively can help me become a leader but if I want to be one, I should not ignore the necessity of constantly gaining new knowledge and finding ways to apply it to working in nursing organizations whether it be improving my theoretical background or undertaking practical things such as nursing informatics.
References
Elena, M., & Vallejo, R. (2012). Conflict resolution styles in the nursing profession. Contemporary Nurse, 43(1), 73-80.
Hussey, P., Adams, E., & Shaffer, F. A. (2015). Nursing informatics and leadership, an essential competency for a global priority: eHealth. Nurse Leader, 13(5), 52-57.
Karimi, L., Leggat, S. G., Donohue, L., Farrell, G., & Couper, G. E. (2014). Emotional rescue: the role of emotional intelligence and emotional labor on well-being and job-stress among community nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(1), 176–186.
Kirchner, R. B. (2014). Introducing nursing informatics. Nursing, 44(9), 22-23.
Olmstead, J. W. (2010). Effective time management skills and practices: Self-assessment questionnaire. St. Louis, MO: Olmstead & Associates.
Schneider, J. S. (2014). Nursing informatics. Home Healthcare Nurse, 32(8), 497-498.
Time management assessment. (n.d.). Web.
Uusi-Kakkuri, P., & Brandt, T. (2015). Preferred leadership behaviors by different personalities. International Journal of Business and Globalization, 15(4), 461-474.