Leadership Theories in Practice
Week 1 assignment Leadership Theories in Practice As you learned in NSG/416: Theoretical Development
Week 1 assignment
Leadership Theories in Practice
As you learned in NSG/416: Theoretical Development and Conceptual Frameworks, theory-guided practice improves patient outcomes because of purposeful systematic application. As you grow in the nurse leader role, you will see that the same holds true for theory-guided leadership. This assignment is designed to link leadership theory to practice and connect your past and current experience to help you grow as a leader.
Complete the Leadership Theories in Practice worksheet.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your worksheet with citations.
Leadership Theories in Practice
Review the leadership theories on pages 9-11 and Gardner’s Tasks of Leading/Managing on pages 14-15 in Leading and Managing in Nursing.
Complete the table below:
| Theory Name | Summary Definition | Practice Example | Application of Gardner’s Tasks |
| Trait Theories | |||
| Style Theories | |||
| Situational-Contingency Theories | |||
| Transformational Theories | |||
| Hierarchy of Needs | |||
| Two-Factor Theory | |||
| Expectancy Theory | |||
| Organizational Behavior Modification |
• Summarize the main points of the theory in your own words in the Summary Definition column.
• Provide an example where you witnessed the theory in practice or suggest a situation where it could be applicable in the Practice Example column. Do not restate the Application to Practice column in the textbook; provide a unique example or suggest a possible scenario.
• Correlate at least one of Gardner’s task to the theory and practice example in the last column.
Use at least five in-text citations in the table to support your summaries, practice examples, or application of Gardner’s Tasks. In the References section below the table, create an APA-formatted list to cite each resource.
Week 2 assignment
Identifying Waste
Think about the clinical environment where you work or one in which you previously worked.
Identify opportunities for waste reduction. Consider the following:
Setting: administrative, operational, clinical
Efficiency
Value to patient
Suggest process changes to improve the situation.
Write a 175-word communication to frontline staff and nurse leaders explaining your findings.
Develop a 7- to 10-slide presentation for your department.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your presentation and communication.
Week 3 assignment
Managing Quality and Risk
Managing quality often means addressing small issues so that they do not escalate into risks for the organization. This week's learning activities addressed some of the organizational challenges nursing leaders are likely to face.
Select one of the topics from this week's learning activities:
Mitigating bullying and lateral violence
Managing conflict
Using power to influence
Improving communication
Valuing diversity
Develop a plan to carry out your selected topic as a nurse leader on your floor. Consider:
Available resources: time, budget, space, industry collateral, personnel
Employee engagement
Change management principles
Team dynamics
Create a presentation to show your CNO how you plan to address the topic.
Format your assignment as one of the following:
7- to 10-slide presentation
15- to 20 minute oral presentation
450-word executive summary
Another format approved by your instructor
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.
Week 4 assignment
Leadership Change Project Framework
Leaders seek out change opportunities regularly. Innovation, critical thinking, and decision making are key to making an impact on an organization. This assignment is designed to help you look at aspects of your own clinical practice and become a change agent in your organization. Use your current or past experience to identify a change project to implement.
Step 1: Select a topic for a change project.
Review the following resources for potential change topic or process ideas:
Institute for Healthcare Improvement: Transforming Care at the Bedside
Institute for Healthcare Improvement: Hospital Inpatient Waste Identification Tool
For process change resources: TeamSTEPPS® Pocket Guide
Step 2: Identify the context for your change.
Describe the setting where the change will take place. For example, clinical, insurance, home health, or public and community.
Explain who is affected: patients, nurses, leadership, and other stakeholders in the organization.
Step 3: Review the literature to find possible solutions and evidence to address your topic.
Research sources that guide evidence-based practice to improve outcomes related to your selected topic.
Find a minimum of three peer-reviewed articles directly related to addressing your change topic.
Step 4: Create a draft implementation plan.
Summarize each article to explain how the evidence you gathered will help address your change topic.
Explain how you could use the information in the research to carry out the change in your identified setting.
Format your assignment as a 700- to 1,050-word paper or 10- to 15-slide presentation.
Include an APA-formatted reference page.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your topic, review, and executive summary.
Note: You may want to save copies of this assignment to refer to in NSG/498, Senior Leadership Practicum. In that course, you will be working to synthesize information. Although you cannot reuse it, this assignment may serve as a good starting point.
Week 5 assignment
Daily Leadership
Nurses must strive to be leaders every day.
Collaborate with your learning team to develop 10 ways to include leadership in your daily activities.
Cite a minimum of three APA formatted sources.
Format your assignment as one of the following:
7- to 10-slide presentation
1- to 2-minute podcast
7- to 10-minute oral presentation
430-word paper
Another format approved by your instructor
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.
Week 1 discussion
Leading and Managing in Nursing, Ch. 1, 3
Read the following from Leading and Managing in Nursing:
Ch. 1: Leading, Managing, and Following
Ch. 3: Developing the Role of Leader
Exemplary Leadership: How Style and Culture Predict Organizational Outcomes
Read “Exemplary Leadership: How Style and Culture Predict Organizational Outcomes” from this week's Electronic Reserve Readings.
Leading, Managing, and Following
Search the University Library or Google Scholar™ for definitions of the terms leading, managing, and following.
Write 175-word summary in which you interpret the definitions and explain them in your own words.
Explain how the terms are interconnected and how they often play out in a clinical nurse setting.
Local campus students: Prepare to present and discuss your summary in the next class meeting.
Online students: Post your summary and respond to at least one classmate's post.
Generational Leadership
Nurse leaders have the opportunity to influence diverse groups of people. This activity is designed to challenge you to think about the opportunities that come with leading and managing a cross-generational workforce.
Members of the younger generation—those 18 to 35 years of age—have said that they want to be led, not managed.
Write a 175-word summary in which you answer the following questions:
How do you think leadership would be different for a person who leads only people between 18 and 35 years of age compared with a person whose followers are mostly over the age of 40?
What strategies would you recommend for a person who becomes the leader of a cross-generational group?
Local campus students: Prepare to present and discuss your summary in the next class meeting.
Online students: Post your summary and respond to at least one classmate's post.
Assignment adapted from Leading and Managing in Nursing (Ch. 21), by Patricia S. Yoder-Wise, 2015, St Louis, MI: Elsevier. Copyright 2015 by Elsevier. Adapted with permission.
FIRST MESSAGE #1
LEADERS
Are leaders born or made? If you think they are born, can anything be done to help someone who wants to lead but was not born a leader? If you think they are made, how are they made?
FIRST MESSAGE #2
LEADING VS MANAGING
What supervisory behaviors do you perceive as “leading” versus “managing”? Why?
Week 2 discussion
Leading and Managing in Nursing, Ch. 12–14
Read the following from Leading and Managing in Nursing:
Ch. 12: Managing Costs and Budgets
Ch. 13: Care Delivery Strategies
Ch. 14: Staffing and Scheduling
Keeping Patients Safe: Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses
Read the Executive Summary (pages 24-43) of the landmark Institute of Medicine* report, Keeping Patients Safe: Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses.
*Institute of Medicine is now called the Health and Medicine Division
Health Care Right or Privilege?
Consider the following questions:
In the current U.S. health care system, is health care a right or a privilege?
Do you think health care should be a right or a privilege?
Support your stance with two scholarly articles.
Write a 175-word summary.
Local campus students: Prepare to present and discuss your summary in the next class meeting.
Online students: Post your summary and respond to at least one classmate's post
Health Care Spending Comparison
Despite having the highest health care spending in the world, the U.S. continues to have worse health outcomes than other developed nations. This activity is designed to expose you to some of the data that results when resources are not managed effectively. As you review the tables, think about what all nurses can do as leaders to change these trends.
Explore The Commonwealth Fund issue brief, U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, to see an explanation of health care from a global perspective.
Review Exhibits 1 and 9.
Driving Health Care Costs
Explore the Kaiser Health News website to learn about some of the contributing factors in increasing health care costs. As you explore the website and review the visuals, think about your practice area. What examples can you provide for these seven key drivers?
Write a 175-word summary.
Local campus students: Prepare to present and discuss your summary in the next class meeting.
Online students: Post your summary and respond to at least one classmate's post.
Waste
Reducing and eliminating waste is essential to managing resources. Waste in health care can take many forms: materials, unneeded transport of people or items from one place to another, inventories, wait times, employees working on processes that are not valuable to the customer, arduous processes, re-work due to incompetence or lack of organization, and incorrect staff staffing levels.
The Institute for Health Improvement (IHI) developed a Hospital Inpatient Waste Identification tool.
Review the IHI resources to better understand some of the ways you can affect waste as a nurse and nurse leader.
FIRST MESSAGE #1
REIMBURSEMENT SYSTEMS
Think about how profits are realized in varying reimbursement systems (cost-based vs. prospective vs value-based). How can this impact how nursing care is planned and delivered?
FIRST MESSAGE #2
RESOURCES AND IOM
How does managing resources relate to the IOM report on transforming the work environment of nurses?
Week 3 discussion
Leading and Managing in Nursing, Ch. 9, 10, 23–25
Read the following from Leading and Managing in Nursing:
Ch. 9: Cultural Diversity in Health Care
Ch. 10: Power, Politics, and Influence
Ch. 23: Conflict: The Cutting Edge of Change
Ch. 24: Managing Personal/Personnel Problems
Ch. 25: Workplace Violence and Incivility
Defining Culturalism
Nurse leaders must work with staff to foster respect for varied lifestyles. Showing respect to all patients and colleagues, irrespective of their cultural differences, tells staff that differences are valuable. This exercise is designed to introduce key principles nurse leaders must address in leading and managing diverse groups.
Use Google Scholar™, Leading and Managing in Nursing, or the University Library to define multiculturalism, cross-culturalism, and transculturalism.
Write a 175-word summary explaining the definitions in your own words and give an example of applying each term to a leadership situation. For example, think of a time in your practice when you, as a leader, or your leader used multiculturalism to promote inclusion among colleagues or patients.
Local campus students: Prepare to present and discuss your summary in the next class meeting.
Online students: Post your summary and respond to at least one classmate's post.
Care of Diverse Populations
One way of ensuring respect for all patients and staff is to consider how an individual's point of view, past experiences, and background affect their decisions or how they approach situations. This activity is designed to demonstrate how different organizations operationalize culturally competent care.
Think about the organization where you currently practice or one where you practiced in the past.
Does the organization have programs related to cultural/social diversity, either with relation to patient care or in understanding team dynamics?
What do the programs entail? When were you exposed to them?
If programs do not currently exist, explain why you think that is and suggest ways for your organization to integrate awareness of social and cultural diversity into the culture.
Write a 175-word summary.
Local campus students: Prepare to present and discuss your summary in the next class meeting.
Online students: Post your summary and respond to at least one classmate's post.
Assignment adapted from Leading and Managing in Nursing (Ch. 21), by Patricia S. Yoder-Wise, 2015, St Louis, MI: Elsevier. Copyright 2015 by Elsevier. Adapted with permission.
Ebook Central™ Bookshelf: Critical Conversations
Effective communication is essential to addressing challenges at all levels of an organization. This activity is designed to introduce communication strategies to work through the critical conversations that happen frequently in nursing. This text from Sigma Theta Tau is an item you can add to your leadership toolbox for future use.
Add the following book to the Ebook Central™ bookshelf you created in NSG/302: Professional Contemporary Nursing Role and Practice.
Clancy, C. (2014). Critical conversations in healthcare: Scripts and techniques for effective interprofessional and patient communication. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau.
Note: If you have not created a bookshelf, access the Ebook Central™ website from the Student Resources website and visit the help page to learn how to create your account and use your bookshelf.
Read the Preface, Introduction, and Ch. 1.
Use the Critical Conversations graphic organizer to create a one-page sheet to review when you need to have a critical conversation.
Exercising Power
Nurses use power to influence others in an effort to achieve goals. This activity is designed to encourage you to think about all the different ways you can use power to influence patients and colleagues to improve outcomes and the workplace environment.
Review Theory Box: Sources of Power on page 171 of Leading and Managing in Nursing by clicking the Discussion tab.
Give an example of how a nurse can exercise each kind of power:
Personal
Expert
Position
Perceived
Information
Connections
Write a 175-word summary.
Local campus students: Prepare to present and discuss your summary in the next class meeting.
Online students: Post your summary and respond to at least one classmate's post
Conflict Self-Assessment
Workplace conflict is unavoidable. Although it tends to have a negative connotation, it can be a positive catalyst for change. Conflict can and should be effectively managed by everyone at every level of the organization. This self-assessment is designed to make you more aware of how you could and do handle conflict at work.
Complete the Conflict Self-Assessment from Box 23-2 of Leading and Managing in Nursing by clicking the Exploration tab.
Read boxes 23-3–23-8 to see some of the appropriate uses for each approach. As you read, think about times when you have applied each approach effectively or ineffectively.
Bullying and Lateral Violence
Part of a nurse leader's responsibility is to create an environment that fosters creativity, innovation, and success. This activity is designed to show you some of the resources that are available to leaders looking for information to address and improve bullying and violence in the workplace.
Review the Incivility, Bullying, and Workplace Violence web page from the American Nurses Association website.
Write a 95-word summary in which you:
Explain and summarize two tools or resources.
Explain how you will use the material to address organizational issues or promote positive change at your facility.
Local campus students: Prepare to present and discuss your summary in the next class meeting.
Online students: Post your summary and respond to at least one classmate's post.
FIRST MESSAGE #1
COMMUNICATION
1. We all have a primary style in communicating – one style tends to be more dominant than others. Think about your primary and secondary interactions styles. How do they impact your communication with others – e.g., supervisor, patients, and friends?
FIRST MESSAGE #2
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
1. Can teams function effectively with nurses who have great clinical skills but very poor interpersonal skills? Explain and support your answer.
Week 4 discussion
Leading and Managing in Nursing, Ch. 2, 6, 8,17–19
Read the following from Leading and Managing in Nursing:
Ch. 2: Safe Care: The Core of Leading and Managing
Ch. 6: Making Decisions and Problem Solving
Ch. 8: Understanding and Designing Organizational Structures
Ch. 17: Leading Change
Ch. 18: Building Teams Through Communication and Partnerships
Ch. 19: Workforce Engagement and Collective Action
Change Readiness Self-Assessment
Complete the Table 17-1 Self-Assessment: How Receptive are you to Change and Innovation? on page 313 of Leading and Managing in Nursing by clicking the Exploration tab.
Reflect on changes you have experienced. Knowing your change readiness score now, think about what you would do differently to make yourself more change-agile.
Team Assessment
Complete the Table 18-1 Team Assessment Exercise: Are We a Team? on page 323 of Leading and Managing in Nursing by clicking the Discussion tab.
Write a 90-word summary of how you can improve your team's dynamics, regardless of your assessment score.
Local campus students: Prepare to present and discuss your summary in the next class meeting.
Online students: Post your summary and respond to at least one classmate's post.
Driving Forces for Change
Change in health care is often related to quality. This activity introduces you the three major driving forces of the current emphasis on quality.
Explore the Health and Medicine Division*, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the National Quality Forum to understand each organization's key focus and its mission, vision, and values.
*Formerly Institute of Medicine
FIRST MESSAGE #1
CHANGE INITIATIVES
What examples of quality and safety change initiatives have you experienced in practice?
FIRST MESSAGE #2
CHANGE AGENT
Why is important for every nurse to think of themselves as a change agent?
Week 5 discussion
Leading and Managing in Nursing, Ch. 5, 26–30
Read the following from Leading and Managing in Nursing:
Ch. 5: Legal and Ethical Issues
Ch. 26: Delegation: An Art of Professional Nursing Practice
Ch. 27: Role Transition
Ch. 28: Self-Management: Stress and Time
Ch. 29: Managing Your Career
Ch. 30: Thriving for the Future
Everyday Leadership
Watch “TEDTalks: Drew Dudley—Everyday Leadership” from this week's Electronic Reserve Readings.
As you watch, think of the ways you can impact people's lives each day.
Professional Development for Everyday Leadership
Write a list of goals that you have for personal and professional development (e.g., make a public speech, write an article, hold an officer position, conduct research, gain experience as a manager). For each of the goals, identify the first small step you need to take toward achieving that goal.
Think of how this exercise relates to everyday leadership as you are writing the goals.
Assignment adapted from Leading and Managing in Nursing (Ch. 21), by Patricia S. Yoder-Wise, 2015, St Louis, MI: Elsevier. Copyright 2015 by Elsevier. Adapted with permission
Delegation
Search the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) website for their joint statement on delegation.
Review the Joint Statement on Delegation by the NCSBN and the ANA.
Write a 90-word summary explaining three ways you can improve your delegation skills as a leader.
Local campus students: Prepare to present and discuss your summary in the next class meeting.
Online students: Post your summary and respond to at least one classmate's post.
FIRST MESSAGE #1
DELEGATION
All RNs use delegation. How does delegation change when one moves into a leadership and management role?
FIRST MESSAGE #2
LEADERSHIP
What are some ways to incorporate everyday leadership into your routine at work?
