Student Nurses in the 21st Century - Pillar for the Outcome of Transformational Leadership in the Nursing Profession
As a student nurse and an attendee in the recently concluded 2nd Nursing and Midwifery Leadership Conference which held in the University of Ghana, Accra, 8th - 12th of April 2019, nothing hit me more than the realization that the hope and the future we seek in the nursing profession rests in the hands of fellow young nurses in their formative years.
It was an opportune period to be part of a great conference of stakeholders targeted at documenting demands and practices for health promotion, enhanced healthcare provision and enhanced access for the achievement of sustainable development goals. The emphasis therefore, was on capacity building for enhanced health promotion strategies towards the achievement of sustainable development goals.
What though is the provision of enhanced health promotion and healthcare access without capacity building, leadership development and policy implementation?
In the Conference of about 500 delegates, a question was asked by one of the facilitators, "How many of you Nurse Leaders and Managers seated in this hall today, went through a leadership training before your appointment in your current leadership position?" No hands at all went up.
It explains a background. It tells a story.
An important step to leadership development is capacity building. As student nurses, expanding our capacities, enlarging our coasts, changing our narrative begins now. Only with this, we are prepared to receive opportunities and leadership roles to enhance patient care. As a means, effecting the change in the Nursing and Midwifery profession we seek.
Beyond the academic stuff and passing examinations, what else are we really doing to stay relevant? Relevance in our various student bodies, political relevance, relevance in the healthcare system we are training for.
One of the facilitators further stressed on the culture of self ownership, personally and professionally. Channelling this to fellow students, we just might have been too comfortable playing the victim's role in our profession.
A complain would often go "Oh, the matrons are frustrating". They've always been, we know. How about we learn to really listen, develop our communication skills, raise our confidence level, and express our opinions better?
Another would go "Clinicals are draining". Understandable. Teamwork and collaborative care though, can be effectively utilized to cushion and strengthen each member of the team, still with the goal of achieving patient satisfaction.
Next? "We don't have clinical mentors". While that's true, the realization is it begins with us. Self development and ownership starting now, means we can be better mentors for the next generation of Nurses. It's a pathway. Setting it right means they won't have to go through what we are going through.
It's called "Taking Ownership".
Besides our technological exposure, the mind of a Millennial is young, ready to listen, ready to innovate, ever evolving. It is our advantage. Let's utilize it.
Fellow Millennial Nurses, let's not lose our savour.
A good call to development in the nursing sector, but also to every healthcare professional to be better to give better.
ReplyDeleteThank you.