NHS FPX 5004 Assessment 4 Self-Assessment of Leadership, Collaboration, and Ethics

Name

Capella university

NHS-FPX 5004 Communication, Collaboration, and Case Analysis for Master’s Learners

Prof. Name

Date

Self-Assessment of Leadership, Collaboration, and Ethics

In this self-assessment, I delve into my experience in various organizational projects, where I had the chance to showcase my leadership capabilities and collaborate effectively with diverse teams. Leadership style sets the ground for fostering a supportive environment that encourages innovation and growth. At the same time, collaborative skills emphasize the ability to communicate effectively, resolve conflicts, and leverage collective expertise to achieve a common objective. Further, ethical consideration plays a significant role within a professional setting, emphasizing the importance of integrity, transparency, and accountability (Bornman & Louw, 2023). Drawing from personal experiences and a code of ethics, the self-evaluation aims to provide a comprehensive insight into my leadership competencies, collaborative skills, and ethical considerations in a professional healthcare environment.

Section 1: Leadership and Collaboration Experience

Focusing on a project I led as a department manager in a hospital’s quality improvement department. Our Quality Improvement (QI) project aimed to reduce emergency department patient times by streamlining processes and optimizing resource allocation. The team’s shared vision was to enhance patient satisfaction and improve efficiency in delivering care (Seelbach & Brannan, 2023). I adopted a participative leadership style, encouraging input from team members at every project stage.

The approach proved effective as it fostered a sense of ownership among team members, leading to higher engagement levels (Usman et al., 2021). I prioritized open communication and regular feedback sessions to ensure alignment with our goals and promptly address any concerns. Getting buy-in from stakeholders, including frontline staff, nurses, physicians, and hospital administrators, was crucial, and a study highlights various techniques to achieve buy-in, such as concept and intervention mapping (Knapp et al., 2022). As a participative leader, I organized stakeholder meetings where I presented data-driven insights highlighting the benefits of the proposed changes. By involving stakeholders early in the process and proactively addressing their feedback, I gained their support to the project’s success.  

NHS FPX 5004 Assessment 4 Self-Assessment of Leadership, Collaboration, and Ethics

Our decision-making processes were collaborative, relying on data analysis, benchmarking against industry best practices, and consulting with subject matter experts. One of the good decisions was implementing a triage system based on acuity levels, significantly reducing wait times for high-priority patients. The triage system helped me to take notes of respiratory, pulse, and blood flow and the patient’s consciousness to categorize (Yancey & O’Rourke, 2023). However, in hindsight, I would have involved frontline staff more intensively in the initial planning phase to capture their insights and experiences earlier in the process. I communicated our vision, values, and decision updates through multiple channels. This includes regular departmental meetings, email updates, visual aids such as flowcharts and diagrams to illustrate process changes, and one-on-one discussions with stakeholders. 

Clear and consistent communication is essential, ensuring everyone understands their roles and responsibilities and the rationale behind the decision in a healthcare setting (Germaine et al., 2020). As a participative leader, I employed several strategies to facilitate collaboration and engagement among team members and stakeholders. For instance, I established clear goals and roles for each member, ensuring everyone understood their contribution, such as the nurses’ role in optimizing the triage process. Upon arrival, they quickly assessed patient acuity levels and directed them to appropriate care areas based on urgency. They were also responsible for communicating effectively with patients by providing timely updates on wait times, expected procedures, and any delays. This allowed me to manage patient expectations and reduce anxiety.

Facilitating Collaboration and Engagement 

Regular team meetings were conducted to discuss progress, share insights about reduced wait time, and address challenges collaboratively. Open communication and active listening are considered best practices for collaboration and creating a safe space for diverse perspectives (Germaine et al., 2020). So, I ensured that there is open and active communication so team members feel heard and valued. As a result, participants communicated effectively, shared ideas, provided constructive feedback, and worked cohesively to reduce wait times in the emergency department. For example, the administrative department informed us that optimizing resource allocation and bed management has shown promising results in reducing overcrowding and improving patient flow. This was necessary for reducing wait time and continuous and quality care services in the emergency department (Dartiguelongue & Cafiero, 2021).

Actions to Motivate and Realize Vision

To motivate individuals and energize the team, I utilized some proven tactics while comparing them, and they aligned well with the transformational leadership model. Its key element is inspiration. Changing the status quo, generating innovative ideas and shared vision (Liu et al., 2023). For instance, I articulated a compelling vision that resonated with the values and aspirations of transformational leadership’s motivation and inspiration. By emphasizing the positive impact our project would have on patient care and operational efficiency, the result was a change in the status quo. A study confirms that recognizing and celebrating individual milestones or team achievements fosters a sense of accomplishment and pride (Gaughan et al., 2020).

So, I was influenced by transformative leadership to motivate by recognizing through certification, financial bonuses, or paid time-off opportunities based on performance and contribution in reducing wait times. Moreover, I recognized autonomy and empowerment, allowing team members to take ownership of specific tasks and decisions within their expertise as transformative leaders do to provide a sense of safety and organizational identity. The team felt motivated and energized to contribute their best efforts toward realizing our shared vision. The practices adopted created a dynamic and cohesive team environment, driving innovation, productivity, and successful implementation of QI projects (Gaughan et al., 2020).

Section 2: Ethics Experience

As a nurse leader, I faced an ethical dilemma regarding patient assignments during a surge in patient admissions. It was due to a mass casualty incident that happened by the collision of two buses overwhelming the hospital’s capacity. It leads to challenges in care prioritization. The hospital policy states that for effective and patient-centered care, nurse-to-patient must be at most 1:5. I faced an ethical dilemma of adhering to this ratio; however, the sudden influx of patients exceeded our capacity, leading to concerns.

These concerns surrounded patient safety, workload, and the ability to provide quality care within policy constraints. The American Nurse Association (ANA) standards and guidelines assisted in prioritizing patient safety and well-being at priority, despite the workload and policy constraints (ANA, 2020). It assisted me in making decisions by empowering me to prioritize patient well-being in challenging situations such as the patient surge. By adhering to the ANA standards, I ensure that patients get urgent care justly and that professional conduct is not compromised, ensuring nurses’ concern regarding changes in the demands of duties is recognized. 

To overcome this dilemma, I was guided to make decisions and adjust behavior in the healthcare organization, ensuring integrity, fairness, transparency, and patient-centeredness. These characteristics of guidelines are by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), which outlines standards to make ethical decisions in challenging times within the healthcare system (ACHE, 2023). To address the dilemma ethically, I took the following actions.

NHS FPX 5004 Assessment 4 Self-Assessment of Leadership, Collaboration, and Ethics

I immediately assessed the situation, including patient acuity levels, nurse workload, and available resources. I collaborated with the nursing team to understand their concerns and challenges. I communicated the challenges to hospital administration, advocating for temporary adjustments to the patient-to-nurse ratio policy during the surge to ensure patient safety and quality care. My purpose for preferring communication with the administration was that other departments’ nurses would not be able to attend to emergency patients, for their expertise is in other departments, and taking a risk at that moment would have jeopardized patient health and life.

However, I worked to allocate additional resources, meaning extra staff who can assist emergency department nurses to manage workload and address patient needs. The actions align with ACHE codes of ethics as fairness demands thoughtful decisions for organizational policy and protects integrity through communication with nurses and administration. Moreover, the acuity assessment, additional resources, and temporary policy change, all efforts aligned with patient safety and high-quality care possible in alignment to ACHE and professional code of conduct (ACHE, 2023).

Conclusion

Summarizing this self-assessment, I have reflected on my experiences in leadership, collaboration, and ethical decision-making within a healthcare environment. I have contributed to successful QI projects and ensured optimal patient care outcomes. These experiences have reinforced the importance of ethical principles, effective communication, and teamwork in achieving organizational goals and promoting a culture of excellence in healthcare delivery.

References

ACHE. (2023, December 5). ACHE code of ethics. Ache.org. https://www.ache.org/about-ache/our-story/our-commitments/ethics/ache-code-of-ethics 

ANA. (2020). Ethics and human rights. ANA. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing-excellence/ethics/ 

Bornman, J., & Louw, B. (2023). Leadership development strategies in Interprofessional healthcare collaboration: A rapid review. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 15(1), 175–192. https://doi.org/10.2147/JHL.S405983 

Dartiguelongue, J., & Cafiero, P. (2021). Communication in health care teams. Archivos Argentinos de Pediatria, 119(6), e589-e593. https://doi.org/10.5546/aap.2021.eng.e589 

Gaughan, A. A., Walker, D. M., DePuccio, M. J., MacEwan, S. R., & McAlearney, A. S. (2020). Rewarding and recognizing frontline staff for success in infection prevention. American Journal of Infection Control, 49(1), 123–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2020.06.208 

Germaine, P., Catanzano, T., Patel, A., Mohan, A., Patel, K., Pryluck, D., & Cooke, E. (2020). Communication strategies and our learners. Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology, 50(3), 297–300. https://doi.org/10.1067/j.cpradiol.2020.10.009 

NHS FPX 5004 Assessment 4 Self-Assessment of Leadership, Collaboration, and Ethics

Knapp, A. A., Carroll, A. J., Mohanty, N., Fu, E., Powell, B. J., Hamilton, A., Burton, N. D., Coldren, E., Hossain, T., Limaye, D. P., Mendoza, D., Sethi, M., Padilla, R., Price, H. E., Villamar, J. A., Jordan, N., Langman, C. B., & Smith, J. D. (2022). A stakeholder-driven method for selecting implementation strategies: A pediatric hypertension clinical practice guideline implementation case example. Implementation Science Communications, 3(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-022-00276-4 

Liu, N., Wang, L., & Yin, J. (2023). Impact of transformational leadership on the person–organization fit of Chinese nurses: The moderating effect of emotional intelligence. Nursing Open, 10(7), 4586–4596. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.1706 

Seelbach, C. L., & Brannan, G. D. (2023). Quality management. PubMed; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557505/ 

Usman, M., Ghani, U., Cheng, J., Farid, T., & Iqbal, S. (2021). Does participative leadership matter in employees’ outcomes during COVID-19? Role of leader behavioral integrity. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(12), 646442. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.646442 

Yancey, C. C., & O’Rourke, M. C. (2023). Emergency department triage. In www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557583/