Practicum journal: authority

Week 5- Practicum Journal: Authority

Assessment Description

Journaling provides a valuable tool for recording, reflecting on, and reviewing your learning. This approach provides an opportunity for you to “connect the dots” and observe the relationships between and among activities, interactions, and outcomes.

Unlike a personal journal of thoughts and feelings, this leadership journal is a record of your activities, assessments, and learning related to this academic experience.

Write a journal entry of 750-1,500 words on the subject of authority, including the following:

Practicum Activities Reflection: Provide observations and thoughts on the activities in your practicum setting during Weeks 3-4.

Application of Leadership: Reflect on how change management is handled in your professional life. How is this related to strategic management principles? Explain your answer and provide an example.

Practicum Project Preparation: Explain how your project goals align with the mission and vision of your organization, as well as with the organizational needs. Is it important that these align? Provide your rationale.

Leadership Video Reflection: Reflect on at least two things you learned from the “Servant Leadership – Issue of Authority” video https://youtu.be/Z8yMNFMp0k8.

Use the “Leadership Journal Template” to complete this assignment.

APA style is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.

Rubric

Practicum Journal: Authority – Rubric

Practicum Activities Reflection

8.75 points

Application of Leadership

7 points

Practicum Project Preparation

7 points

Leadership Video Reflection

7 points

Mechanics of Writing (includes spelling, punctuation, grammar, language use)

1.75 points

Format/Documentation

3.5 points

Total 35 points

Leadership Journal Template

Name:

Weeks Covering: 16 weeks

Preceptor/Mentor:

Clinical/Practicum Site: SFMC

Hours Worked (past two weeks):_36__

Total Hours: __36__/150 total of all hours worked up to this point

Practicum Activities Reflection:

I selected the wound care department as the focus of my practicum because there is a significant communication problem to be resolved. It has been discovered that the department scored poorly with patients in regard to communication. My first activity was to observe the scorecards collected from patients during the last three months at their discharge or from outpatient services. Communication is an essential tool between doctors, nurses, and patients so I had to find the reason for poor communication and the solutions needed to resolve them. It was also discovered that the communication scores dropped after the hospital went through a change of ownership.

The scorecards revealed that the patients were not satisfied with the care, and they complained that the doctors and nurses do not come to ask about their well-being and do not discuss their issues with them. My second activity was communicating with the directors, nurses, and the other hospital staff to know how they communicate with the patients. The patients do not need wound care treatment only, but they require the proper care overall. If the proper care is not given to the patients, the patient flow will decrease in the coming months. The patient satisfaction level is directly related to the number of patients and the department’s reputation. The surveys will continue to be collected throughout the practicum because I want to know the effect of ownership change and staff behavior toward the patients. The ownership change might also affect the staff behavior with the patients. The last three months were proved to be critical for the patients because it was found that there were soar comments about the hospital administration.

I observed that leadership styles are essential in the improvement of communication. Communication with the patients is essential because it brings value to the treatment, and the patient’s satisfaction will be enhanced. I will continue the survey of the patients to know the other impacts. I expect that these activities will help me improve the communication process, and the patients will feel better.

Application of Leadership:

Professional responsibility and power, authenticity, integrity, and emotional intelligence are key factors of multiple leadership styles. During the observation and involvement of the preceptor activities, I felt that these factors were neglected. There was no element of emotional intelligence and authenticity in the leadership styles. During conversation with my preceptor, I realized that she favored the authoritarian leadership style with the patients and department staff. For authoritative leadership to be effective, team members must be given a clear goal to work toward and instructions for getting there. (Alqatawenh, 2018).

Various leadership styles can be implemented in the hospital, especially in the wound care department. The leadership styles are not easily changed altogether, but certain elements can be inserted into them. The first element that should be inserted in the leadership style is professional integrity. Professional integrity means that the patients should discuss the processes with the doctors, and the doctors/preceptors/nurses should give proper time to all the patients.

Professional integrity is one of the essential elements that should be inserted into the leadership styles. The next element that I would like to insert into the leadership styles is authenticity during the treatment. Authenticity in leadership means that all leaders must know their duties and responsibilities. The duty is not merely to admit the patients to the hospital and discharge them. The responsibilities include several factors like the care of patients and the proper administration of wound care treatments. The staff should discuss a patient’s condition with the family and encourage them to be involved in the care. All these elements are necessary for a patient, and if these elements are not provided there will be negative comments on the scorecard (Adi, 2019).

Last but not least, the leadership in hospital management or nursing involves protecting ethical principles. If the practices include ethics, the patients are satisfied; if there is a lack of implementation of the ethical tenets, the complaints will be increased. The principles include autonomy, beneficence, and justice. The leaders should think of these principles, and when the roots of problems and solutions are observed, they will meet a single factor known as communication. The patients have severe complaints about the lack of effective communication that should be resolved (DeConinck, 2018).

Practicum Project Preparation:

I have strong ideas about the project practicum because two essential concepts are involved. These are the leadership styles and the communication improvement. It is already explained that the leadership styles are numerous, and the leaders have to choose the appropriate one. I have planned to present the implementation of transformational and servant leadership within the department. Transformational leadership encourages the employees to learn that they are an essential part of an organization, and they have to work for the betterment of the organization. One of the essential elements that the project has made me learn is that effective leadership is essential in the success of leadership. The project has a massive role in my career because the practical observations are different from the theoretical concepts.

I have read a lot about leadership inefficiency and the lack of implementation of leadership styles. The project has made me learn that the situation exists in reality, and it helps me identify the real problems and solutions. I have learned different leadership styles like transformational and servant leadership, which I expect to implement in my career. Both the leadership styles are essential in the project, and the hospital management should learn them to the maximum extent (Gandolfi, 2018).

Leadership Video Reflection:

Servant leadership is an essential leadership style that many previous leaders observed in the past. The video was quite informational because it provided the lessons regarding servant leaders and the characteristics that should be present. The first thing that I have learned and am impressed with is that the leaders should understand that they are the servants of the public. They are appointed in the vital position of serving the people instead of giving them the orders. The leaders should learn that there is a differentiation between giving orders and leading the people through serving. The other aspect that I have learned from the servant leadership video is the power of a leader to listen and heal the patients. It is not only about the patients but the employees and customers. If the leader cannot listen to the employees, they do not have the leader’s personality. The leaders should always be concerned about the problems of the public and should resolve them (Nursing, 2016).

References

Alqatawenh, A. S. (2018). Transformational leadership style and its relationship with change management. Verslas: teorija ir praktika, 19(1), 17-24. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=772622.

DeConinck, J. B., Moss, H. K., & Deconinck, M. B. (2018). The relationship between servant leadership perceived organizational support, performance, and turnover among business-to-business salespeople. Global J Management and Marketing, 2(1), 38-52. https://www.igbr.org/wp-content/Journals/2018/GJMM_Vol_2_No_1_2018.pdf

Gandolfi, F., & Stone, S. (2018). Leadership, leadership styles, and servant leadership. Journal of Management Research, 18(4), 261-269. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340940468_Leadership_Leadership_Styles_and_Servant_Leadership

Adi, K. R. (2019, October). Transformational leadership and team performance: the role of innovation in Indonesia property agent industry. In 2018 International Conference on Islamic Economics and Business (ICONIES 2018) (pp. 334-338). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/iconies-18.2019.67

Nursing, A. G.-. (2016, October 10). Servant Leadership – The Issue Of Power [cc] [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8yMNFMp0k8&feature=youtu.be

© 2022. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.

Project Timeline Graphic Organizer

Grand Canyon University NUR-674

May 18th, 2022

2

1

PROJECT TIMELINE GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

The roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders for each the phase of the project are described in the table below:

Project Phases / Stakeholders	Project approval	Education development	Stakeholder education	Implementation date	Assessment of the initial outcomes	Improvement approaches & reassessment of outcomes
Clients – patients	None	Proper listening and adopting the knowledge	Active listening and sharing concerns if any	Help in adopting the strategies	Provide feedback based on the success of the strategies	Provide feedback based on the success of the strategies
Wound care management – hospital administration	Properly reading over the proposal and approving	Proper listening and adopting the knowledge	Arranging the meetings with the staff and project managers	Assisting in implementing the plan	Oversee the process	Oversee the process
Healthcare professionals	Assisting in understanding the proposal needs for approval	Proper listening, discussing the issues and proposed solution	Helping in educating the other stakeholders and self-awareness also	Adopting the strategies	Provide feedback for the project, suggestions, and recommendations	Providing feedback on the project

WEEK 6

WEEK 7-9

WEEK 7-9

WEEK 10

WEEK 14

WEEK 16

Reassessment of outcomes

After adjustments are made, a reassessment will be done to check on the improvemnts. If there are more variations, additional adjustments will be made to improve on the results.

This will be conducted as from week 16.

Assessment of initial outcomes/implementation

The project team will be responsible of ensuring the expected outcomes are realized after the launch of the plan. Any variation from the desired outcome will be rectified through making necessary adjustments (May et al, 2018).

The project team members will prepare and submit their reports to the project manager who then communicates the overall final report to the department director.

Education development

Involves development of an awareness program based on the data collected from the patient surveys and scorecards.

Involves consulting the project director/supervisor on the proposals.

The task should be completed between week 7 and week 9 as it is likely to take two weeks.

Implementation date

This marks the time at which the communication plan developed will be launched in the Wound Care Department.

It is the role of the department director to make official announcement on the launch of the communication plan. The project team will be responsible of monitoring the progress of the implementation. The launch will be conducted in a period of 3 week starting from week 10.

Stakeholder education

This will engage the members of the wound care department including the healthcare providers and members of supporting staff. The department director is responsible of coordinating the other members of the department towards participating in the exercise.

This activity will take place for a period of two weeks between week 7 to week 9.

Project approval

Involves presentation of the project to the director to have the deliverables approved.

Project details: Improving communication through developing an effective communication plan in the Wound Care Department.

The supervisor is also the department director, Ms. Sylvia Coleman.

This activity will take 1 week.

Reference

May, C. R., Cummings, A., Girling, M., Bracher, M., Mair, F. S., May, C. M., … & Finch, T. (2018). Using normalization process theory in feasibility studies and process evaluations of complex healthcare interventions: a systematic review. Implementation science, 13(1), 1-27.