KOT Task 1: Becoming A Leader In Health Care

KOT Task 1
Western Governor’s University

KOT Task 1
B. Leadership Strategies A nurse can exert leadership without occupying a formal leadership position by taking a leadership stance. In the course, Becoming a Leader in Health Care, it describes leadership as an attitude and not just a position (Reinertsen, 2009, p. 2). Leaders take responsibility for problems and look for ways to solve them. The nurse on an interdisciplinary team serves as a leader by acting as a patient advocate and by coordinating with the other team members to work towards a common goal for the patient. The nurse is instrumental in directing the care and communicating the essential issues in the patient’s care to the whole team. Communication is an essential part to the healthcare team. The nurse communicates with all the members of the team the vital information and ensures follow up care is received. This coordination of care and effective communication leads to positive patient outcomes and increased patient satisfaction.
For example, the nurse may identify a problem with a decrease in hand hygiene compliance. The nurse can solicit ideas on how to solve the problem. The nurse may also bring forward some of his or her own ideas to solve the problem like more dispensers outside of each room and visual reminders to staff to do hand hygiene that are not following the procedure to increase hand hygiene compliance. By doing this nurse is acting as a leader by taking responsibility for a problem. The leadership stance is a lets solve it attitude towards problem resolution. (Reinersten, 2009, p.