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Prepared Nurse Leaders: The Benefits of Getting a BSN

N450 Leadership amd Mnagment

6/22/2021

Prepared Nurse Leaders: The Benefits of Getting a BSN

Leadership in nursing practice is among the most crucial and significant aspects based on the role it plays in promoting a successful practice and profession. Nursing leadership is associated with a wide range of merits, including inspiration and motivation of nurses, who are the major workforce in the healthcare sector. In addition, nurse leaders entail individuals who focus more on learning more, advocating for patient interests, and ensuring they excel in the nursing profession. For this reason, nursing leadership is a major discipline that influences activities in healthcare, especially when dealing with patients. Furthermore, nurse leaders are expected to make conscious leadership decisions and choices that positively affect nursing operations in medical centers. However, gaining such leadership knowledge and skills requires taking specific courses that provide relevant information regarding nurse leadership. In this sense, this essay focuses on nursing leadership, the significance of getting a BSN, and how the knowledge can be applied to make better choices and solve nursing dilemmas.

Nursing Leadership

Nursing leadership plays a central role in many areas of the healthcare industry worldwide. According to Balsanelli et al. (2018), leadership in nursing practice becomes successful when each team member works towards accomplishing medical care goals and objectives. Furthermore, nursing leadership involves various qualities, including supportive, inspirational, and encouraging, which affect how leaders interact with followers and patients. In other words, successful nurse leaders require such characteristics if they are to carry out their duties and tasks effectively. Additionally, Balsanelli et al. (2018) explain that nursing leadership styles also present certain outcomes in healthcare, such as promoting patient rights and ensuring they are provided with the best and most desirable care. Therefore, nursing leadership comes with several impacts on client outcomes and healthcare.

Impact of Nursing Leadership on Healthcare and Client Outcome

Leadership in the nursing profession is associated with various impacts on client outcomes and healthcare. First, nursing leadership contributes to reduced medical mistakes and errors that could prove fatal to patients. One notable effect of leadership on client outcomes involves its improvement of patient safety and desirable patient care. Competent nurse leaders also encourage motivation and staff retention, which positively impacts client outcomes by ensuring the most qualified nurses remain in medical centers. Additionally, nursing leadership contributes to establishing a positive healthcare work environment. Nurse leaders are responsible for creating settings that favor both patients and medical personnel in healthcare environments by applying their leadership skills and making better choices (Balsanelli et al., 2018). Thus, nursing leadership plays a core role and has a major impact on client outcomes and healthcare.

Ways in Which Nurses are Leaders

Nurses display their leadership capabilities and prowess in many ways. For example, nurses must make decisions that affect medical results and patient outcomes daily, making them important decision-makers. According to Murray et al. (2018), nurses are accountable for making choices that contribute to safer medical care provisions. For this reason, their role as decision-makers in healthcare qualifies them as leaders. Furthermore, nurses are leaders because they facilitate activities in medical centers. As an illustration, nurses ensure a connection between patients and doctors, making it easier for them to exchange vital information required for successful patient treatment. Thus, nurses display their leadership prowess by making decisions and facilitating the association of physicians and patients.

Importance of Effective Leadership Choices and Actions in Nursing

Notable roles of nurse leaders entail carrying out relevant actions and making effective leadership choices in the working healthcare environment. Several reasons can be linked with the importance of making practical choices and sticking to effective actions. To begin with, making rational choices in nursing enables effective resource use and saves time. Quinn (2017) explains that nurse leaders are responsible for the effective use of resources in healthcare settings. For this reason, the choices they make determine whether time and other resources will be used for the benefit of patients. Moreover, pursuing practical actions and making effective choices in nursing is crucial because it affects many areas, including provision of care, medical personnel motivation, and performance.

Benefits of a BSN education for Nurse Leaders

Nurse leaders can reap a wide range of benefits from pursuing a BSN education, particularly from non-clinical nursing courses and general education courses. For example, nurse leaders that seek to perfect the art of organization benefit largely from non-clinical nursing courses. Most non-clinical programs offer combined subjects that are a good fit for nurse leaders, such as computer science and health science. Secondly, pursuing a BSN education via general and non-clinical courses enhances flexibility. Nurse leaders are expected to be flexible, and gaining knowledge and skills from such courses can help them achieve flexibility.

Non-Clinical Nursing and General Education Courses

How Nurse Leaders can use knowledge, Concepts, and Skills

Nurse leaders require different skills, extensive knowledge, and an exceptional understanding of non-clinical nursing and general education courses. For example, skills such as agility, self-awareness, decision-making capability, and team-building skills are important in the nursing leadership field. Secondly, nurses also gain extensive knowledge from the courses, especially concerning their leadership choices, situations, and healthcare management expectations (Poorchangizi et al., 2019). Additionally, dealing with patients is another important concept that nurse leaders gain from pursuing general education and non-clinical nursing courses, such as the Standards of Nursing Practice course (non-clinical) and the Introduction to Informatics for Healthcare Professionals (general education).

Standards of Nursing Practices (N211)

This non-clinical nursing course is significant and useful in dealing with a situation that involves patient rights. The course focuses on information regarding applying ethical knowledge to find solutions to ethical dilemmas. As an illustration, in the patient scenario, as a nurse leader, Amanda deserves to know the truth about the treatments and surgical procedures. Based on the N211 non-clinical course information, it is the duty of a medical professional, such as the nurse, to tell Amanda the truth about her status. While Amanda may struggle with the information, it is ethical to let her know and understand what is required for her treatment. Other aspects, including nonmaleficence and autonomy, also play a part in Amanda's case.

Introduction to Informatics for Healthcare Professionals (HS 200)

The course focuses on computer-related knowledge that can be applied in healthcare settings. In this course, knowledge concerning healthcare information systems and specialty applications is an important part of the nursing discipline. In Amanda's case, the knowledge can promote and enhance the patient's confidentiality and privacy, especially due to her previous struggles with self-appreciation. In addition, comprehending concepts about healthcare informatics is crucial since it plays a core role in evaluating political, legal, and social aspects impacting patient care related to Amanda's case.

Scenario 1: Patient Rights

The scenario involves a fourteen-year-old girl in medical settings following a large tumor in her groin area. The patient experiences adverse feelings about herself and compares her physical appearance to those of other girls. After a CT scan, it was revealed that the patient has an enlarged lymph node and has female and male gonads. Although, in contrast, the patient's parents object to the disclosure of information to the patient regarding her status, the surgeon advocates for information disclosure. The scenario presents a case of patient rights involving the right to medical information and an ethical dilemma. The dilemma, in this case, entails causing stress to the patient, particularly after her initial comparison with friends. Making effective choices and settling for practical actions offers notable guidance to dealing with the situation.

Action Plan

Dealing with cases of patients' rights is common in medical care settings and, for this reason, nurses must be prepared to offer solutions. In Amanda's case, several steps can be taken to ensure a solution is presented. First, Amanda deserves to know what problems she is experiencing and the medical procedures required. However, in many laws, states require that children under the age of 18 be accompanied by a guardian or parent responsible for providing informed consent. Since Amanda is under the adult consent age, the parents are responsible. For this reason, it is important to note the demands of the parents before disclosing anything to Amanda. In other words, the parent's decision not to inform the patient stands since they are accountable for informed consent.

The leadership choice made in this scenario is largely affected by the situation and relevant aspects of medical provision. First, nurse leaders must understand the challenges of dealing with different patients, including children under parental care. According to Chotai et al. (2017), informed consent for children before surgery is important, but the major consent lies in parents' approval. Additionally, from the non-clinical nursing course, I understood that other principles such as autonomy affect care provision. For this reason, I chose to stick to the parents' decision not to disclose information to the patient due to consequences.

Plan Implementation

Implementing the action plan will take several relevant steps involved in solving a medical-ethical dilemma. First, I will discuss the patient's right to information and consent before surgery with the parents. Secondly, I would take time to listen and understand their concerns about disclosing the information to the patient. Thirdly, I have to explain to the parents the significance of letting their child know the problem and the medical procedures she is about to go through. Informed consent is important in patient rights and medical procedures, particularly surgery and other ethical aspects (Butts & Rich, 2019; Chotai et al., 2017). However, since the parents provide the informed consent aspect for a child under 18, I would stick with their decision.

Need and Benefit for Effective Leadership Styles and Choices

Effective leadership choices and styles present numerous benefits in many areas, including medical care settings. First, making better leadership choices increases inspiration and motivation among working personnel, leading to improved performance. Secondly, using practical leadership styles positively impacts working personnel, promoting teamwork and collaboration (Bahadori et al., 2018; Sullivan, 2018). Furthermore, there is a need for effective management and leadership choices thanks to its support of a working environment.

In summary, leadership in nursing is an important aspect that affects many areas, including patient care and medical personnel interactions. Knowledge and skills gained from pursuing a BSN education for nurse leaders, including non-clinical nursing and general education courses, plays a central role in promoting better nursing leadership. Making desirable leadership choices and adhering to relevant actions boosts client outcomes and mitigates medical errors. Additionally, nurse leaders must be ready to apply learned knowledge, concepts, and skills in their daily activities as leaders in medical care environments.

References

Bahadori, A., Peyrovi, H., Ashghali-Farahani, M., Hajibabaee, F., & Haghani, H. (2018). The relationship between nursing leadership and patient satisfaction. International Journal of Medical Research & Health Sciences, 5(10), 134-141. https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ijmrhs&volume=5&issue=10&article=023

Balsanelli, A. P., David, D. R., & Ferrari, T. G. (2018). Nursing leadership and its relationship with the hospital work environment. Acta Paul Enferm., 31(2), 187-193. 10.1590/19820194201800027

Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2019). Nursing ethics. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Chotai, P. N., Nollan, R., Huang, E. Y., & Gosain, A. (2017). Surgical informed consent in children: a systematic review. Journal of Surgical Research, 213, 191-198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2017.02.047

Murray, M., Sundin, D., & Cope, V. (2018). The nexus of nursing leadership and a culture of safer patient care. Journal of clinical nursing, 27(5-6), 1287-1293. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.13980

Poorchangizi, B., Borhani, F., Abbaszadeh, A., Mirzaee, M., & Farokhzadian, J. (2019). The importance of professional values from nursing students' perspective. BMC nursing, 18(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-019-0351-1

Quinn, B. (2017). Role of nursing leadership in providing compassionate care. Nursing Standard (2014+), 32(16-19), 53. 10.7748/ns.2017.e11035

Sullivan, E. J. (2018). Effective leadership and management in nursing. AJN The American Journal of Nursing, 98(6), 16L. Person Education, Inc.