Interview of Health Care Leader

Interview of Health Care Leader

Alice Bennett

NUR 492 Leadership and Management

May 29, 2012

Joy Brock MSN, RN, FNP

Interview of Health Care Leader

A leader is a person who has a vision(Kotterman, 2006). A leader has drive and is committed to achieving his or her goals and vision. Leaders focus their attention on problems that need to be fixed and will tackle the situation at hand. Leaders are determined, motivated, careful planners, and effective communicators. Leaders are positive and do not waste time and effort with negativity(Kotterman, 2006). Effective communication is more than just being able to speak and write. An effective leader's communication encourages people to work toward his or her goals. A leader is motivated and motivates everyone to contribute to the organization. All of these attributes were considered when choosing a Leader to interview. This author chose to interview L.D. who currently works as a Director of Nursing. L.D. is someone this author considers a strong leader and mentor, she is very positive and genuinely enjoys her job.

L.D. has nine years of nursing experience, the first year she worked as a staff nurse on a Medical-Surgical floor before becoming a charge nurse for the next six years. L.D. then got promoted to a management position, becoming the manager of two Medical- Surgical floors for less than a year and became the Director of Telemetry for two years and is currently the Director of Nursing.

L.D. describes a leader as someone who can motivate and inspire his or her team to meet set objectives. She further explains that a leader understands that he or she must have the commitment and support of his or her team to be a true leader. A true leader leads by example and is always open to suggestions on how to improve his or her leadership skills. L.D. also states that a leader must be patient, be a role model, and have a passion for the profession.

A leader must possess certain qualities to be effective, explains L.D. A leader is honest, supportive, understanding, firm, knowledgeable, a team player; open to change, empathetic, flexible, a good listener, and one who is constantly engaged in opportunities to increase their knowledge base. L.D.'s personal philosophy of leadership is, "never forget where you come from. As I grow in my professional career, I never forget the past. This helps me to encourage, mentor, and support future nurses and current nurses to continue to reach for the stars and if they fall to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and try again."

L.D. has encountered several learning experiences that have affected her career in one way or another. The learning experiences that have impacted her career most has been her role as a charge nurse because it was a continuous learning process. Learning how to deal with staff members and gaining their respect was one experience and learning how to resolve conflict involving patients/family members and staff was another learning experience that helped her be able to handle any type of conflict. L.D.'s previous director P.H. is the person who helped build her confidence as a charge nurse and fostered her passion and enthusiasm for the nursing profession.

Nursing is constantly evolving. As the health care industry changes and "Quality" becomes