Professional Identity and Stewardship – Part I: Peer Interview

Interview a fellow peer in your class who works in a different health discipline than you. Begin your interview with the following questions:

What is your role as a health care team member?
How do you define professionalism and how does professional responsibility influence your work?
Do you consider leaders in your organization stewards of health care? Why or Why not?
Is it important to you that leaders exercise professional advocacy and authenticity as well as power and influence when working with colleagues? Why or why not?
In 500-750 words, summarize your interview and share your impressions of your peer\’s responses.

Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a grading rubric. Instructors will be using the rubric to grade the assignment; therefore, students should review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the assignment criteria and expectations for successful completion of the assignment.

—–Professional Identity and Stewardship – Part II: Leadership Interview

Interview a person in a formal position of leadership within your organization (e.g., a supervisor, a manager, a director). Begin your interview with the following questions:

What is your role as a health care team member?
How do you define professionalism and how does professional responsibility influence your work?
Do you consider yourself a steward of health care? Why or Why not?
Is it important to you that leaders exercise professional advocacy and authenticity as well as power and influence when working with colleagues? Why or why not?
In 500-750 words, summarize your interview and share your impressions of the leader\’s responses.

Compare and contrast responses provided by your peer (in Professional Identity and Stewardship – Part I: Peer Interview assignment) with those provided by the leader. Share your impressions of their differences and similarities.

Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a grading rubric. Instructors will be using the rubric to grade the assignment; therefore, students should review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the assignment criteria and expectations for successful completion of the assignment.

Professional Identity and Stewardship-Peer Interview

We will be reviewing an interview with a health care provider in this paper. We will provide an explanation of the interviewee’s role, professional responsibilities and views of leadership. The paper gives a description of a leader.  This paper discusses the topics of professionalism, stewards of health care, advocacy, authenticity and power.

I was thrilled to be speaking with S.M. during the interview. I was also excited to know that we live in the same State, but in different cities. Although the question and answer interview consisted of four questions only, I was able to get an understanding of her role in the health care industry, as well as what the leadership and professionalism meant to her.

Role

            S.M. is a registered nurse in the labor and delivery unit. She works at a community hospital in Parker Colorado, which is in the south part of Denver. The unit where she works combined labor and delivery, antepartum and postpartum. Recently, the antepartum was separated to become a single unit. The newly renovated unit became labor/delivery and postpartum. S.M. has worked in the unit for 12 years. She is now excited to be able to focus her primary skills in labor and delivery. She is now enjoying and is more satisfied performing her job as a labor and delivery nurse. Aside from her role as an L&D nurse, she also belongs to several committees involved in the unit. These committees are the adoption committee, bereavement committee, and lactation and unit based council. She works PRN at the moment because of her five children in school (S. Monchak, personal communication, June 1, 2016).

Professionalism

            S.M. was asked to define professionalism. According to her, professionalism is keeping up with evidence based practice, then utilizing them in practice. The most important things for S.M. is advocating for her patients, maintaining their confidentiality, and building a trusting and honest relationship. She added that professionalism significantly influence her job as a nurse.

She is being cautious about the words she uses when talking to her patients. Maintaining an open communication about her patient’s health, and the baby’s health, is the most critical part in a professional and trusting relationship. She maintains her professionalism by treating all of her patients the same regardless race, religions, past history or current practices. Treating the patient with respect and providing them the best quality of care (S. Monchak, personal communication, June 1, 2016).

Stewards of Healthcare

According to S.M., “stewards of healthcare promote positive environment within the workplace” (S. Monchak, personal communication, June 1, 2016). She strongly believes that leaders should be stewards of health care. She feels that leaders should be a good example, and keep up with new practice and current evidence. A successful leader should have a good working relationship with the team members regardless of their skills. She feels that a good leader supports and engages the staff to make changes based on new EBP. Being a stewards in health care, a leader can help other nurses function at their best levels and grow in their own skill sets (S. Monchak, personal communication, June 1, 2016).

Professional Advocacy, Authenticity, Power and Influence

It’s very important, S.M. believes, for leaders to possess professional advocacy, authenticity, power and influence. She believes that when leaders adopt these aspects, they are more likely to gain respect and compliance.  This will provide better leads and good outcomes. She feels as if people turn away when leaders use their power instead of their relationship. There is more struggle and hesitation to make changes when power is involved. The nurses like to work in teams, and feel they are valued and heard better over inferiority vs. superiority relationships. This type of relationship is seen in many cases. For instance, the nurse/physician relationship. This type of relationship is ineffective. When leaders establish a good relationship and advocate each team member, the staff is more satisfied and willing to cooperate (S. Monchak, personal communication, June 1, 2016).

Professional Identity and Stewardship – Part I: Peer Interview

I tried to contact a peer in my class to interview and get her views on Professional Identity and Stewardship.  Since she did not respond in time, instead conducted an interview with Jisha Mani.  She is a nurse who works with me in the same hospital but on different floors.  She works as a floor nurse in the medical surgical unit.  I personally met her and asked her four questions regarding professional stewardship.  The short interview reflected on her role as a professional nurse in the healthcare field.  She portrayed accurately on professionalism and leadership roles in her nursing career and practice.

What is your role as a health care team member?

I feel my primary role is to provide patients with effective and safe care. As an RN, I actively collaborate with different team members including physicians and different therapists.  I also coach and educate nursing students, nurse techs and works alongside them.

How do you define professionalism and how does professional responsibility influence your work?

Being a professional means setting a high personal standard and values in a work environment. It is the ability to care for the patients with integrity, competency, empathy and consideration.  Professionalism can also be seen in a person’s total appearance, including dress. A person’s appearance if not up to the standard and values set by the organization, it can project an image of incompetence and sloppiness.  If a nurse does not take the time to have a proper appearance, then the patients might doubt the nurse’s ability to take good care of them. When a patient feels that they are being cared for by real professionals, they feel confident and reassured that they are in good and safe hands.   Professionalism also means how one conducts oneself at work, the way we communicate with people around us and also coming to work prepared and loose talk. I feel that I have to be the strongest advocate for my patients; the professional responsibility to the patients comes first and foremost to me.  I also feel the responsibility to uphold the high values and standards set forth by the organization and that guides me in all my decisions

Do you consider yourself a steward of health care? Why or Why not?

I consider leaders in the organization stewards of health care.  Stewardship in healthcare setting calls for acting in the best interest of the patients entrusted to them and at the same time catering to the needs of the supporting staff.  I feel that the leaders in the organization as stewards of healthcare promote the importance of having a positive work environment.  The leaders in the organization always appeared to show a positive attitude and were easily approachable irrespective of their position in the organization.  Jisha was especially vocal in her praise of her immediate leader, the nurse-in-charge, though her stewardship was confined to her unit.  I feel that the efforts of my boss made my unit a great place to work.  I also feel that all nurses are stewards by being organized and taking care of the health of their patients.

Is it important to you that leaders exercise professional advocacy and authenticity as well as power and influence when working with colleagues? Why or why not?

It was an emphatic ‘yes’, when I asked her if it is important to her that leaders exercise professional advocacy and authenticity as well as power and influence when working with colleagues. She went on. I strongly feel that when a leader shows those skills in the workplace they gain the respect and honor of all the other members of the staff.  If the staff members look up to their leaders for guidance then the greater the influence they have on them, making them perform at a greater level.  Authenticity can affect not only the nursing work force, but the health care delivery system as a whole. Power may mean different things to different people, but for me, power lies in the knowledge and expertise of nursing practice.

Author’s Impressions

Great leaders will always be able to influence and implement decisions for the betterment of the organization and mastering the art of influence is the key to effective leadership.

Professionalism combined with its responsibilities, play an important role in the life of a nurse delivering quality health care.  It is professionalism that makes a nurse garner respect from the colleagues, nurse leaders and motivate them to accomplish and work in a higher level.  Both I and Jisha are fortunate to have nurse leaders that we can look up to with confidence for guidance and who are influential and stewards of healthcare.  These leaders stand firmly for their staff members, support, and guide and encourage them to be better versions of themselves at the same time maintaining a balance of authenticity, power and influence.

References

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