Class 501 Unit 4 Comment 2
Purpose: Comment the Discussion (Class 501 Unit 4 Comment 2
Thing to Remember:
Answer this discussion with opinions/ideas creatively and clearly. Supports post using several outside, peer-reviewed sources.
1 References, find resources that are 5 years or less
No errors with APA format 6 Edition
To Comment
In my current practice on the medical surgical floor I work as the charge nurse each night and am responsible to be the opinion leader of our floor. Being the go-to person on the floor can sometimes be very stressful because we do not have an out of ratio charge, so I also carry patients while overseeing the floors activities. Whenever any patient is starting to decline I come to assess the situation and determine the correct next actions including calling a possible rapid response or just notifying the physician of the patient's status.
According to Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, & O'Grady (2014), opinion leaders are likeable, influential, and trustworthy to all whom they work with. One of the turning points for me to go back to graduate school was I had a patient that was post operatively that I was for certain was having stool coming out of the incision site in his abdomen. We see many post-operative patients on a medical surgical floor and over the course of almost three years I have grown accustomed of what to look for in situations. I notified the surgical PA who informed me to notify the actual surgeon. When notifying the surgeon, he assured me that it was for sure not stool and although I advocated and tried very hard to get the surgeon to understand what was going on he was sure I was wrong. A few days passed and finally the surgeon decided to come look at the patient himself and when I returned to work he had determined it was, in fact, stool that was coming out of his incision where he had a perforated bowel. This patient was taken back to surgery and was almost septic. After surgery, this patient healed and left the hospital in good spirits. It bothered me that although I knew what was wrong with this patient there was nothing I could do to fix it and in my current position I am limited to the amount of care I can provide.
Opinion leaders must be well connected to the organization, giving of their expertise, knowledgeable, respected and generous with their time (Hamric et. al, 2014). Leadership is a good quality to have as an advanced practice nurse. Especially when working in a team atmosphere, it is important to have a leader. Without one it causes chaos in the work environment and creates possible dangerous outcomes for patients. Opinion leaders tend to exert a lot of influence on others around them while alternatively, they are not as susceptible to have others influence themselves (Risselada, Verhoef, Bijmolt, 2016). According to Ridwan, Nik Muhammad, & Ismail (2011), opinion leaders are based on three characteristics: relationship or personal trust, a habit of mind for knowledge and high-level thinking, and focus for creativity and innovativeness. These characteristics assist in defining an opinion leader and are a great reference for what kind of advanced practice nurse I want to be.
Hamric, A.B., Hanson, C.M., Tracy, M.F., & O'Grady, E.T. (2014). Advance
Practice Nursing: An Integrative Approach (5th Ed.) St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Saunders
Ridwan, R. N., Nik Muhammad, N. M., & Ismail, N. (2011). Third Opinion Leadership for Decision Making Quality: The Proposed Model. Journal of Economic Development, Management, IT, Finance & Marketing, 3(2), 43-54.
Risselada, H., Verhoef, P., & Bijmolt, T. (2016). Indicators of opinion leadership in customer networks: self-reports and degree centrality. Marketing Letters, 27(3), 449-460. doi:10.1007/s11002-015-9369-7
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