Self-assessment Inventory – Advantages and Process
Discuss about the Effectiveness Of The Action On Nurse Leadership Development In The Future.
Nursing is a dynamic profession which requires inspiring leaders to enhance performance of nurses and achieve institutional objective. Nursing leadership is essential in health care environment for maintenance of adaptability and supporting nurses to overcome economic, technological and academic challenges in practices (Scully 2015). Effective leadership is dependent on management attributes, personality of the leaders, situation at hand and quality of followers. Mentoring programs helps in the identification of potential nurse leader and evaluate their leadership qualities that can be nurtured to lead the nursing profession (Grossman and Valiga 2016). With this context, the main purpose of this report is to review answers from a self-assessment inventory to comment on leadership potential and then discuss on one strategy that has been implemented to improve identified skills. The report also provides personal action plan regarding the effectiveness of the action on nurse leadership development in the future.
During my post graduation period for nursing education in my University, my manager had sent me a self-assessment inventory to check whether I have strong leadership attributes and values or not. The self-assessment inventory was developed by the voice of nursing leadership, the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE). The advantage of the AONE nurse leader competency tool is that it is an efficient self-development tool to evaluate skills, knowledge and abilities for the nurse manager roles. It involves the activity of rating oneself and then asking others to rate to gain an insight into strengths and areas of development (AONE 2018). I had to complete three sections of questionnaire consisting of the science, the art and the leader within section. Each section had sub-questions on which I had to score on a scale of 1 to 5 to assess leadership skills. There were various sections on which I gave myself score. The same tool was completed by my manager to give me feedback on my leadership skill. I had scored myself higher in all three sections compared to my manager. However, the feedback from my manager was very effective as I could identify my strong and weak points. As my manager had the expertise and knowledge regarding skills needed for a nurse leader, his score was most applicable to identify my leadership skills. To effectively transition to nurse leadership role, I wanted to identify weak points from manager’s feedback and work accordingly. I had scored myself 4 on presentation skills part indicating that I am proficient in presentation skills. However, my manager gave me score 3 signifying that I am weak in this area. Hence, I realized that my presentation skill is an area of focus for me and engaging in activities to improve my presentation skill is crucial to become an effective nurse leader.
Effective Nursing Leadership: Presentation Skills
After review of my scores obtained in self-assessment inventory, I had chosen presentation skills as an area of focus as it is relevant and specific to my professional context. This is because nurses have the responsibility of not only influencing colleagues and obtaining employment, but they also have the responsibility to disseminate best practice. To do so, having the skills to present thoughts and ideas in a clear manner is essential (Foulkes 2015). According to Fowler and Jones (2015), effective presentation skills help in the clear transmission of information and proper collaboration between multi-professional team. Communication skills also play a role in development of presentation skills and improving response to challenging situation in the leadership role (Arnold and Boggs 2015). Good presentation skills can also support future nurse leaders to win the trust of patients, colleagues and staffs. Although speaking is one of the important aspects of presentation skills, however written presentation skill is also necessary to ensure that the message is clear, grammatically correct and has appropriate terminology for understanding of target audience (Fowler and Jones 2015). Hence, in my professional nursing context, I need to constantly interact with patients, colleagues and staffs and having excellent presentation skills will support me to take the leadership role in a proper manner.
To improve my presentation skills, it was important that I take part in an activity that provides me the opportunity to present information to the audience. This would give me the right exposure to deliver effective and clear message in front of an unfamiliar audience. After receiving feedback from my manager, I decided to provide an in-service session to my colleague on the topic of ‘Importance of wearing TED stockings post surgery in the prevention of deep vein thrombosis’. The rational for choosing in-service session as a topic was that after researching for the role of nurse leaders in practice, I learnt that in-service training plays an important role in improving the quality of in-patient care. In the leadership role, I may have to deliver such sessions. Hence, I thought preparing for such session and getting practical experience in delivering an information to a large audience can support me to improve my presentation skills. Evidence suggests that in-service training promotes efficiency of the staff and organization, enhances technical capacity of nurses and lead to innovation. Delivery of an effective in-service education session can also encourage nurse to actively participate in future training program (Chaghari et al. 2017). Hence, with this evidence, I decided to use in-service education as a strategy to improve my presentation skills and develop my leadership potential.
Strategy for Improving Presentation Skills
The first action that I implemented to deliver in-service session was to decide the topic and content of the session. This was crucial to ensure that I arrange all important information related to the topic and ensure that the content is effective enough to empower audience and change their perception regarding specific clinical skills. I wanted to empower my audience through result oriented content. I decided to the chose the topic of ‘Importance of wearing TED stockings post surgery in the prevention of deep vein thrombosis’. I selected this topic because deep vein thrombosis is a major complication in orthopedic surgical patients and education regarding early management is necessary for nurses to prevent deep vein thrombosis (Wade, Paton and Woolacott 2017). Nurses act as the first line health care provider to manage the condition. However, lack of knowledge about deep vein thrombosis affect nursing performance. Evidence suggests that improvement in knowledge is achieved with leadership roles (Yu-Fen et al. 2018). Hence, I wanted that my colleagues get high level of training on the above mentioned topic area.
To improve my presentation skills, I researched for evidence regarding points to consider while delivering speech in the presentation session. I came across five principles to structure my presentations. Foulkes (2015) defined the five principles of presentation. The first principle stated by Foulkes (2015) was ‘To define what you are trying to achieve with your presentation’. The second principle was ‘To define my audience for the presentation and what it needs to know (Foulkes 2015). In accordance with the first and second principle, I could relate that my audience for the presentation were my colleagues and my aim was to increase my colleague’s knowledge regarding use of TED stockings post surgery. I focused on this area because evidence shows that health care professionals underestimate patient’s compliance with compression therapy (Lim and Davies 2014). Therefore, in-service session on this topic will be useful to improve clinical skills. The first two step helped me to define the purpose of presentation. Foulkes (2015) suggest that presentations should begin with a purpose and the aim of the presentation should be kept in mind throughout the presentation. I followed the other three principles while deciding on the resource and content for my presentation.
According to Foulkes (2015), the third principle of presentation is to evaluate how technology can add values to the session and the fourth principle is determine how principle 1-3 influence the structure and timing of the presentation. I took the aid of power point to arrange my information for the session. My presentation session had five important components which included introduction, benefits of the presentation, the content, summary and questions for the audience. In the content, I covered factual content on deep vein thrombosis by providing data on deep vein thrombosis prevalence and data on prophylaxis use. I gave overview about the issue and indicated strategy to solve the problem by the use of TED stockings post surgery. The content also gave education on correct use of compression stockings. I also incorporated information on the importance of measuring TED stockings and the consequences of incorrectly fitted stockings. Wade, Paton and Woolacott (2017) mentioned that fittings of brands compression stockings should be done using standardized and this can address the issue of non-compliance related to putting stockings. To further reinforce the message to my target audience, I used the summary section to remind the audience regarding important lessons from the topics and the benefits they have gained from attending the session. This strategy is in congruent with leadership skills as Stetler et al. (2014) states that communicating message in a meaningful way and reinforcing expected behavior is necessary to empower and motivate staffs in clinical setting. To ensure active involvement of listeners, I wanted to end my session with few questions. This was important to test understanding about my audience and give proper feedback to them. Blake et al. (2017) explains that audience who receive feedback place high value to the training session. My intent was that my colleagues learn and apply the information to prevent deep vein thrombosis.
Structuring the In-Service Session
The above discussion gave idea about the process that I used to structure my in-service session and develop important message for the audience. In this section, I want to give an overview about my presentations skills and communication to effectively present the content to the audience. This is in accordance with the fifth principle of Foulkes (2015), who encouraged presenters to reflect on how they want to come across infront of audience while presenting. I wanted to be very confident while speaking. Although I had confidence regarding the content I am presenting, performance anxiety was also a barrier for me during the presentation. I had the fear whether I would able to deliver good speech or not. I wanted to overcome this anxiety to strengthen my presentation skills (Bucknall et al. 2016). To reduce my anxiety, the strategy that I took was to practice with small information in a familiar surrounding. This step reduced the demands of the situation and promoted confidence. To alleviate anxierty while giving the speech, I also learnt some relaxation technique to present calmly and without any anxiety. I was always nervous while giving verbal speech to anyone in my practice. I decided to change my perception of the situation by avoiding thinking in terms of total failure. Apart from this, I took no resource help to learn about presentation style. I wanted to influence audience by my own presentation style. I tried to connect and engage with the audience by asking questions at various stages of the presentation (Blake et al. 2017). Hence, I started with few challenges, however with research on presentations skills and nursing leadership attribute, I could effectively complete the task of delivering in-service session to my colleague. I also took feedback from my colleague regarding my written and oral presentation skills to assess level of improvement in leadership skills.
While engaging in the activity of providing in-service education session to provided information related to the use of TED stocking to prevent deep-vein thrombosis, I learnt about the intricacies of presentation skills. The five principles of presentation skills was very useful learning resource for me as it guided me regarding ways to develop a clear message and present information to target audience. I will use these principles throughout my practice whenever I am supposed to verbally present information to any staff. Another useful exercise for me during this activity was that I could address nervous and anxiety that I experience while delivery speech to a large and unfamiliar audience. The lessons that I learnt from this activity will positively assist me in my leadership journey. My personal action plan to facilitation professional development is to constantly take part in delivering such sessions in the future. In this way, I can become a confidence and efficient presenter which will eventually help me to transition from nurse role to nurse leadership role in the future. Verbal and written presentation skills are pivotal for quality care and improving briefing process with staffs (Barton, Bruce and Schreiber 2017). Nurses who aspire to develop as nurse leader should focus a lot on their communication and presentation skills to transform practice and achieve optimal patient outcome.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The report gave a personal reflection on the activity that I engaged in to identify weakness in leadership skills and plan appropriate action to improve my leadership skill. By completing AONE self-assessment inventory, I identified presentation skills as a weak area for me in the leadership journey. Hence, I took part in delivering an in-service session to my colleagues. The process of planning the content of the session and the strategies to overcome anxiety in delivering speech helped to overcome my weakness in presentation skills. Similar activities are needed by newly placed nurse today to identify an area of focus and work on them to effectively fulfill the responsibility of being a nurse leader in the future.
References:
AONE 2018. AONE Competencies Assessment. Retrieved from: https://www.aone.org/resources/online-assessments.shtml
Arnold, E. C., and Boggs, K. U. 2015. Interpersonal Relationships-E-Book: Professional Communication Skills for Nurses. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Barton, G., Bruce, A. and Schreiber, R., 2017. Teaching nurses teamwork: Integrative review of competency-based team training in nursing education. Nurse education in practice.
Blake, S.C., Kohler, S.S., Culler, S.D., Hawley, J. and Rask, K.J., 2012. Designing effective healthcare quality improvement training programs: Perceptions of nursing and other senior leaders. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 3(5), p.66.
Bucknall, T.K., Forbes, H., Phillips, N.M., Hewitt, N.A., Cooper, S., Bogossian, F. and First2Act Investigators, 2016. An analysis of nursing students’ decision?making in teams during simulations of acute patient deterioration. Journal of advanced nursing, 72(10), pp.2482-2494.
Chaghari, M., Saffari, M., Ebadi, A. and Ameryoun, A., 2017. Empowering education: A new model for in-service training of nursing staff. Journal of advances in medical education & professionalism, 5(1), p.26.
Foulkes, M., 2015. Presentation skills for nurses. Nursing Standard (2014+), 29(25), p.52.
Fowler, D.L. and Jones, D.J., 2015. Professional Presentation Skills Development in a Graduate Nursing Program. Journal of Nursing Education, 54(12), pp.708-711.
Grossman, S. and Valiga, T.M., 2016. The new leadership challenge: Creating the future of nursing. FA Davis.
Lim, C.S. and Davies, A.H., 2014. Graduated compression stockings. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 186(10), pp.E391-E398.
Scully, N.J., 2015. Leadership in nursing: The importance of recognising inherent values and attributes to secure a positive future for the profession. Collegian, 22(4), pp.439-444.
Stetler, C.B., Ritchie, J.A., Rycroft?Malone, J. and Charns, M.P., 2014. Leadership for evidence?based practice: strategic and functional behaviors for institutionalizing EBP. Worldviews on Evidence?Based Nursing, 11(4), pp.219-226.
Wade, R., Paton, F. and Woolacott, N., 2017. Systematic review of patient preference and adherence to the correct use of graduated compression stockings to prevent deep vein thrombosis in surgical patients. Journal of advanced nursing, 73(2), pp.336-348.
Wade, R., Paton, F. and Woolacott, N., 2017. Systematic review of patient preference and adherence to the correct use of graduated compression stockings to prevent deep vein thrombosis in surgical patients. Journal of advanced nursing, 73(2), pp.336-348.
Yu-Fen, M.A., Yuan, X.U., Ya-Ping Chen, X.J.W., Hai-Bo Deng, Y.H. and Xin-juan, W.U., 2018. Nurses’ objective knowledge regarding venous thromboembolism prophylaxis: A national survey study. Medicine, 97(14).
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