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NRS 451 Topic 4 DQ 1 Discuss how nurse leaders serve as advocates for their employees
NRS 451 Topic 4 DQ 1 Discuss how nurse leaders serve as advocates for their employees
Topic 4 DQ 1
Jul 4-6, 2022
Discuss how nurse leaders serve as advocates for their employees. Describe how advocacy for employees affects patient care and outcomes.
Breanna Jenkins
Jul 6, 2022, 10:25 PM
Replies to Breanna Jenkins
As nurses it is our responsibility to maintain patient advocacy for our patients and for ourselves as well in order to maintain quality of care and patient safety. A charge nurse is a an example of a nursing leader. A charge nurse oversees the department and makes sure that safety in the department is being maintained. For example, just like everywhere our emergency department is short staffed, our charge nurse always speaks up for us and has called safe harbor when our house supervisor attempts to increase our staffing ratio mid shift. Our charge nurse provides a welcoming and comfortable environment. Another example, is our nursing director makes sure he approves our self schedules due to making us happy and he stated that by granting our wishes will assist in promoting our health and rest. “To be advocates and practice social justice, nurses must be armed with the knowledge and values that empower them to voice concerns and contribute to positive changes in their immediate environment” (Thomas, 2018).
” Nurses are increasingly positioned to advocate more effectively than ever before not only for patients, but also for themselves and the nursing profession” (Tomajan, nd). Advocating for employees and colleagues can positively affect patient care and outcomes if the nurse him or herself feels they have the support from the leader. This allows for any issue to be brought up to the leader and it can be addressed and dealt with. When an individual does not have the support, they may not feel motivated to go to work, may increase the risk for medication errors, and their work ethic may be poor.
References:
Thomas, J, S. (2018). Organizational culture and values. In Grand Canyon University (Eds.), Nursing leadership & management: Leading and serving. https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs451vn/nursing-leadership-and-management-leading-and-serving/v1.1/#/chapter/4
Tomajan, K. (n.d.). Advocating for Nurses and Nursing. Advocating for nurses and nursing. from https://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-17-2012/No1-Jan-2012/Advocating-for-Nurses.html
Anisa Rink
replied toBreanna Jenkins
Jul 7, 2022, 7:03 PM
- Replies to Breanna Jenkins
Hi Breanna – that’s awesome that you have such great supervisors and charge nurses. My supervisors are also good at approving our self schedules, but I have nurse friends who have supervisors that don’t pay much attention to staff preferences when it comes to scheduling and only staff according to what suits the unit the best. It’s so important that staff are happy and can take time off to relax and recharge – especially in the healthcare field. Without this, staff burnout happens so easily and quickly. It’s also great that your charge advocates for your staff to ensure safe staffing ratios. Additionally our charges will make sure we don’t get admits from the ED who aren’t appropriate for our staff – like pts who should be in ICU or ones that require constant care when we’re already at 6:1. Part of continuous quality improvement in a nursing organization involves interdisciplinary teams that contribute to making decisions that will ultimately improve patient care (Thomas, 2018).
Reference
Thomas, J. S. (2018). Organizational culture and values. Nursing leadership and management: leading and serving. (Chapter 4). https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs451vn/nursing-leadership-and-management-leading-and-serving/v1.1/#/chapter/4
- Mary Bonillos
replied toBreanna Jenkins
Jul 9, 2022, 8:45 AM
- Replies to Breanna Jenkins
Nurse leaders’ roles are multifaceted—daily responsibilities include strategic staffing management, quality improvement, and finances (Kester, 2020). Managers advocate for staff by mitigating staffing challenges; this requires understanding how many nurses are needed to staff the unit adequately and how to recruit and retain staff. In addition, managers must anticipate turnover and onboarding of competent nurses before a deficit occurs (Kester, 2020). One main factor in turnover is the work environment. Fostering and maintaining a healthy, positive work environment is essential as it is necessary for nurses’ ability to deliver safe and effective care. To achieve staffing stability, retaining nurses early and late in their careers helps to maintain overall staffing and experience levels (Kester, 2020). Strategies to improve the work environment include building relationships by being physically present in the unit, troubleshooting issues, and delivering recognition, all significant components of authentic leadership (Kester, 2020). Authentic leaders are self-aware, true to themselves, genuine, and transparent, which is more likely to have engaged, enthusiastic, motivated staff and psychologically safe cultures (Center for Creative Leadership, 2020). Focusing on and fostering a healthy work environment is strongly associated with perceived teamwork and patient care outcomes, and nurse leaders can advocate by making this a priority.
References
Center for Creative Leadership. (2020). Authentic leadership: What it is, why it matters. CCL. https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/authenticity-1-idea-3-facts-5-tips/
Kester, K. M. (2020). A multifaceted approach to tackling nurse turnover. Nursing Management, 51(6), 22–28. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.numa.0000662652.32499.22
Elizabeth Mateo Gonzalez
Jul 6, 2022, 10:17 PM
Replies to Breanna Jenkins
According to Bowles et al., (2018) every nurse has the opportunity to impact nursing profession through day-to-day advocating for the profession and practitioners. Advocacy as defined by (Stamps et al., 2021) is the act of supporting a cause or a proposal. Nursing leaders are equipped with advocacy skills including problem-solving, collaboration, influence and communication which enables them to satisfy this role. One of the ways through which nurses’ leaders’ advocate for their employees is through advocating for a safe and healthy working environment. This includes ensuring that nurses and other caregivers are provided with relevant resources they need for their safety during the care process. They also ensure appropriate allocation of resources alongside promoting a positive work environment.
Nursing leaders also fulfill this advocacy role by protecting nursing resources during budget scrutiny work flow redesign or during work flow change. In addition to that, nursing leaders also enable staffs to autonomously address their concerns. This is significantly achieved through effective communication of the employees’ concerns to the management of the health care organization. They help in addressing challenges faced by health pro Apart from that, nursing leaders also fulfill this advocacy role by ensuring the organization adopts policies and measures that are favorable to all employees (Stamps et al., 2021). This encompasses various elements including nursing working hours, shifts and other working policies. It is the role of nursing leaders to ensure reasonable and fair shifts as well as ensuring nurses are not overworked. Apart from that, nursing leaders also collaborate with healthcare team on improving
opportunities for nurses as a way of advocating for other nurses. Through the advocacy act, nurses work conveniently making them valued and satisfied and this boost their motivation to providing quality care impacting patients’ care and outcome positively.
References
Bowles, J. R., Adams, J. M., Batcheller, J., Zimmermann, D., & Pappas, S. (2018). The role of the nurse leader in advancing the quadruple aim. Nurse Leader, 16(4), 244-248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2018.05.011
Stamps, D. C., Foley, S. M., Gales, J., Lovetro, C., Alley, R., Opett, K., … & Faggiano, S. (2021). Nurse leaders advocate for nurses across a health care system: COVID-19. Nurse Leader, 19(2), 159-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2020.07.011
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Also Read: NRS 451 Topic 3 DQ 2 Describe the characteristics of performance-driven team