Write a reflection of 750-1,000 words in which you identify your strengths and
weaknesses related to the four content areas below:
Personal and professional accountability
Career planning
Personal journey disciplines
Reflective practice reference behaviors/tenets
Discuss how you will use your current leadership skill set to advocate for change in your
workplace.
Identify one personal goal for your leadership growth and discuss your implementation
plan to achieve that goal.
While APA form
Nurse Manager Skills inventory
In this reflection paper, my weaknesses and strengths are identified which are related
to the 4 content areas. These four content areas include: professional and personal
accountability, personal journey disciplines, career planning, as well as reflective practice
reference behaviors. This paper also provides a discussion of how I will use my current
leadership skill in advocating for change in my place of work. Lastly, one personal goal for
my leadership growth is identified and a comprehensive discussion is provided about my
implementation plan to attain that goal.
Personal and professional accountability: in regards to this content area, my strength
is that I have plans in place for education advancement as I seek to continue my education.
By advancing my career, my aim is to climb the career ladder and get a higher nursing
position in my workplace. With my continuing education, I seek to be a nurse manager and
not to remain as a junior nurse. However, my weakness is that I have not done any self-
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assessment and neither have I established any action plans. Hence I have competent
experience/skill as regards to personal growth and development. I have expert practice
regarding ethical behaviour and practice given that I always observe practice which supports
nursing standards as well as scopes of practices. For instance, I always respect every patient
and the confidentially of their medical condition. As regards professional association and
involvement, my weakness is that I have novice experience given that I am not a member in
any suitable professional association which facilitates both networking as well as professional
development. I have competent experience in certification given that I seek to achieve
certification as clinical nurse specialist. This nursing field basically entails developing
consistent standards for quality health care and work with nurses to make sure that those
standards are attained (Carter et al., 2010; Garner, 2011).
Career planning: I have expert practice as regards to knowing my role. This is
primarily because I have proper understanding of my current job description and
requirements and I have compared those to the current level of practice. I have expert practice
in knowing my future and this I consider as my strength. This is because I have plans of
where I want to go in my career, that is, to be a clinical nurse specialist, and I also have plans
on how to get there, that is through continuing my education. Moreover, I clearly understand
the needs of healthcare in future and where I would fit as a clinical nurse specialist.
Regarding positioning myself, I have competent experience given that I have developed a
career plan that gives me direction whilst providing flexibility as well as capacity to adapt to
future scenarios (Tomajan, 2012).
Personal journey disciplines: I have novice experience as regards shared
knowledge/council management, and this I consider as a weakness. This is because I lack the
knowledge of, and skill in, managing councils which promote and encourage shared learning.
However, I have competent experience as regards action learning since I am able to employ a
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few techniques of action-learning to problem-solving, and personally reflecting on decisions.
I also have competent experience in reflective practice given that I have some knowledge of
reflection as leadership behaviour, although I lack active practice of reflection as leadership
behaviour.
Reflective practice reference behaviours/tenants: I have expert experience in regards
to holding the truth and this is one of my key strengths. I possess integrity which is a vital
leadership value. I have a weakness regarding appreciation of ambiguity since I always find it
difficult to function comfortably amidst an ambiguous environment. Nonetheless, I have
expert practice regarding diversity as a vehicle to wholeness given that I appreciate diversity
in all its forms including religion, generational, gender, ethnicity, race and sexual orientation.
I am able to hold manifold perspectives without judgment and this is my other strength given
that I have expert practice in it. In essence, I can create and hold a space so that many
different viewpoints are considered before decisions are made. Moreover, I have expert
practice in discovery of potential since I am able to search for and find the potential not just
in myself, but in others as well. I also have expert experience as regards quest for adventure
toward knowing given that I have developed a constant state of learning for myself. I have
competent experience in regards to knowing something of life. This is because to some
extent, I can use reflective learning and translation of that learning to the task presented to
me. Furthermore, I have competent experience in regards to nurturing the emotional and
intellectual self. This is because I always strive to increase my knowledge of the world.
Lastly, I have competent experience in keeping commitments to myself since I have, to some
extent, been able to create the balance which renews and regenerates the body and spirit so
that it can keep on growing.
I will utilize my current leadership skill set to advocate for change in my workplace
by advocating for a healthy and safe work environment. I will also use it to effect change and
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improve quality of care that will in turn improve the patient outcomes. The one personal goal
for my leadership growth is to be a nursing leader – a nurse manager at a leading healthcare
organization. My implementation plan to attain that goal is to advance my professional career
in nursing and further my education, and enhance my performance as a nurse practitioner so
that I can be considered for that leadership position.
References
Carter, N., Misener, R. M., Kilpatrick, K., Kaasalainen, S., Donald, F., Lukosius, D.,
Harbman, P., Bourgeault, I., & DiCenso, A. (2010). The Role of Nursing Leadership
in Integrating Clinical Nurse Specialists and Nurse Practitioners in Healthcare
Delivery in Canada. Nursing Leadership; 23(10)167-185.
Garner, C. (2011). Leadership Skills are a Must for Today’s Nurses. Boston, MA: CRC
Press.
Tomajan, K. (2012). Advocating for Nurses and Nursing. The Online Journal of Issues in
Nursing; 17(1):4