Course Description and Memo

Course Description and Memo on Leadership in Nursing

With rapidly advancing technology in today's world, especially in the healthcare industry, well-trained nurses who are well-versed in leadership competencies are called for (Heinen et al.,2019). Clinical nurse leaders, as well as advanced practice nurses, can lead the various healthcare reforms in the nursing profession if properly prepared for the diversity of their workplaces. Leadership competencies are skills that provide positive behaviors in the workplace especially when it comes to increasing quality of performance, improved project management, and even the overall leadership style in the professional atmosphere (Pidgeon, 2017). Teaching our students these skills will give them an edge in the workplace and foster strategic thinking, time- management, conflict resolution, and organizational skills all aiming to enhance their performance as healthcare providers. When it comes to implementing new models of care for patients and building work environments that promote optimum efficiency, leadership is critical (Cummings et al., 2018). Even so, one must understand that there are various styles of leadership and that each requires a specific way to enact leadership skills to have desired outcomes. In the proposed course, the different styles of leadership will be taught and thus, give a wide range of opportunities for the students to pick from, after having the advantages and disadvantages and relevant information of each.

The objective of this course will be to build an all-rounded student who will prove to be effective in the versatile healthcare industry. First and foremost, the student should be able to identify the different styles of leadership. For instance, there is a leadership style known as relational leadership. Here, leadership is not task-focused but is viewed as an interdependent effort where all the members grow together as leaders seeking to strive towards a common goal. According to the research done by Greta Cummings and her colleagues, the practices of relational leadership need to be encouraged among the health care workers as well as various institutions as it aims to enhance individual productivity and job satisfaction (Cummings et al., 2018).

Often, healthcare workers are forced to demonstrate their insight regarding the various requirements of care for a patient and this usually requires one to apply particular leadership styles to put these questions to rest (Cope & Murray, 2017). The leadership course being offered at the institution will give insight into the various leadership styles and where to apply them over two years as a parallel course. The first year will mainly involve the theoretical aspects of leadership while the last year of learning will focus on integrating the theory learned into the practice of the students in different capacities. The students will be divided into teams with each team having a diversity of professionals who will be supervised by a mentor provided by the institution. The supervisor will be present to check on the progress of their team in terms of interdependent relational and transformational leadership in the workplace. A clinical nurse, for instance, will have to coordinate and influence their patients, their families, and all other parties related to the healthcare team of the patient in a bid to integrate the care provided. With the appropriate leadership training, such a nurse will have an easy time accomplishing their end goal. After the course is done, the students will be able to apply the information gathered to their everyday professional lives encouraging more evidence-based practices. At the individual level, the healthcare worker should have developed transformational leadership qualities where their attributes and mannerism empower their team members and colleagues (Collins et al., 2020).

Alignment Table for Leadership in Nursing Course Proposal

Evaluation Assignments for the Proposed Course	Learning Objectives		External Standards in the Workplace and Other Leading Institutions
The formative evaluation method will help assess the program as it is ongoing. Here, the students will be issued mid-term examinations that will aim to test their knowledge and attitude towards the program. In addition to this, unit reflection papers and surveys can be issued to the teachers and students for them to fill out. The information will reveal the areas to improve on, where the students are lagging, and where the teachers feel need more fine-tuning to improve the flow of the program.	The short-term memory of the students will be tested as to whether they can retain information dispensed to them over a short time. The results of the tests will show which topics many of the students need more help on.		If the program is successful in the short term, students will be able to advance into other units without having to make up for the previous ones and make their training experience to be effective.
Summative evaluation methods will assess the program after a longer period. This can be after the school year, or after the entire course is done. It tests the course's standards against the standards of the other institutions teaching the same course. Here, the students are tested by giving them a standardized test after the end of the course duration. The results will determine if the students can apply the teachings of the course to their professional lives outside the school.	The long-term memory of the students as well as the efficiency of the program will be revealed and the appropriate adjustments made to ensure the efficiency of the course.		A successful program will produce healthcare professionals who value interprofessional collaboration and who are steadfast in providing the best care possible to their patients.
Accreditation from the appropriate accrediting bodies will ensure the standards of excellence are maintained in the institution. Accrediting bodies ensure that programs achieve standards that are cut across the board for all institutions providing the course. This ensures the competitive edge of an institution is maintained.	Students will be able to have a competitive advantage if they learn the course from an accredited institution and are verified to practice what they have learned without problems arising.	Having received training from an accredited institution will provide the health workers ease of transition into their various workplaces and give them priority over the others.

 

Memo to Supervisor

            The ever-changing healthcare industry needs healthcare workers who can adapt and change with it. One of the great changes that occur is that of the retirement of the older workforce and with this, comes the hiring of a younger generation. Nurse leaders must pass on the mantle to the millennials who have rapidly become the dominant generation in the nursing profession today (Bittner, 2019).  The multigenerational nursing workforce experiences a lot of challenges especially when it comes to engagement and vigor in the workplace. The millennials were seen to be on the highest level of disengagement. This calls for the cultivation of an employee engagement culture by the nurse leaders (Hisel, 2020). Having a leadership course in the Nursing curriculum will deal with this problem. The Leadership in Nursing program will aim to provide all-rounded professionals who know how to use their transformational leadership qualities to motivate their teams to work efficiently thus, improving the overall work experience.

            Research shows that the single leadership approach when it comes to nurse management is inefficient as the number of professionals increases. Not only does this take a toll on the nurse manager, but it also leads to burnout in the leader due to an accumulation of pressure from their job.  For instance, according to a study done by Almost and his colleagues, it was noted that some workplace settings are harder to navigate than others. They cited correctional facilities to be one of the most challenging places with higher reports of emotional exhaustion and burnout among the nurses working there (Almost et al., 2020). Transformational leadership was seen to be effective in minimizing the risks of nurse burnout and improving the working environment. The course outlines the various types and styles of leadership and this enables one to know when to apply their training. The individual, as a person, will also grow as a result of being exposed to the course and thus, be able to influence and intellectually stimulate their colleagues maximizing efficiency in the workplace (Collins et al., 2020).

            The nursing profession is in dire need of nurse leaders who know how to lead a team to provide quality health care for a patient. In the clinical setting, a patient might have a large support system comprising their family, friends, and even co-workers. Knowing how to handle all these people in a bid to improve the quality of life for the patient is vital. With the right leadership competencies, one might even create a change in the patient's lifestyle by emphasizing certain values (Giddens, 2018). Nursing as a course, therefore, can seamlessly integrate the Leadership program to graduate professionals who are competent in all aspects of their professional lives.

            When evaluating the proposed course, short-term and long-term methods can be used. With formative evaluation, the students will be able to give their input on how they find the course through surveys issued at the end of every unit within the course. Standardized tests from accreditation boards will reveal the long-term results of the program and whether the students have been able to reach all the objectives stated before the start of the course. Moreover, one will be able to make changes if there are areas in the program that stress the student-centered overall curriculum. All in all, it is about striking a balance to make sure that the positives are not outweighed by the negatives, and an impartial party, will weigh this without bias (Akdemir et al., 2020).

References

Akdemir, N., Peterson, L. N., Campbell, C. M., & Scheele, F. (2020). Evaluation of continuous quality improvement in accreditation for medical education. BMC Medical Education, 20(Suppl 1), 308. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02124-2

Almost, J., Gifford, W., Ogilvie, L., & Miller, C. (2020). The Role of Nursing Leadership in Ensuring a Healthy Workforce in Corrections. Nursing leadership (Toronto, Ont.), 33(1), 59–70. https://doi.org/10.12927/cjnl.2020.26191

Bittner A. (2019). Mentoring millennials for nursing leadership. Nursing, 49(10), 53–56. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NURSE.0000580656.81188.ee

Collins, E., Owen, P., Digan, J., & Dunn, F. (2020). Applying transformational leadership in nursing practice. Nursing standard (Royal College of Nursing (Great Britain): 1987), 35(5), 59–66. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns.2019.e11408

Cope, V., & Murray, M. (2017). Leadership styles in nursing. Nursing standard (Royal College of Nursing (Great Britain): 1987), 31(43), 61–70. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns.2017.e10836

Cummings, G. G., Tate, K., Lee, S., Wong, C. A., Paananen, T., Micaroni, S., & Chatterjee, G. E. (2018). Leadership styles and outcome patterns for the nursing workforce and work environment: A systematic review. International journal of nursing studies, 85, 19–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.04.016

Giddens J. (2018). Transformational leadership: What every nursing dean should know. Journal of professional nursing: official journal of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 34(2), 117–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2017.10.004

 Heinen, M., van Oostveen, C., Peters, J., Vermeulen, H., & Huis, A. (2019). An integrative review of leadership competencies and attributes in advanced nursing practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 75(11), 2378–2392. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14092

Hisel M. E. (2020). Measuring work engagement in a multigenerational nursing workforce. Journal of Nursing Management, 28(2), 294–305. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12921

Pidgeon K. (2017). The Keys for Success: Leadership Core Competencies. Journal of trauma nursing: the official journal of the Society of Trauma Nurses, 24(6), 338–341. https://doi.org/10.1097/JTN.0000000000000322