Emotional Leadership in Health Care
The Florence Nightingale Leadership Scholarship was one of the most memorable experiences of my career and my report is a poor articulation of the profound effect the personal and tailored development programme has had on me as an individual and as a leader.
At the time of application I was Nurse Consultant, Critical Care, a post which I had held for 12 years and I had recently been appointed to the role of Associate Director of Nursing, Acute Care, a role that is carried out as an additional responsibility.
My motivation for the Scholarship application was to improve effectiveness in my role as a leader, especially in relation to patient and staff safety and organisational effectiveness. My personal development was tailored around the results of the diagnostic assessments and I attended the following activities:
- Leading Change through Organisational Renewal ( LCOR)Programme
- Co-Consulting groups facilitated by Sue Machell
- RADA communication skills programme ( London)
- Florence Nightingale Alumni Conference ( Edinburgh)
- Personal Transformation for Leaders course (Cranfield University)
- Scholars Study Tour to Northern Ireland
- Florence Nightingale Foundation Annual Conference
- Systemic Team Coaching Certificate Training ( Academy of Executive Coaches)
I also benefited from the opportunity to meet, visit and teleconference with the following people to inform and develop my project ideas;
- Jill Maben
- Michael West
- University College Hospital London hosted by Natasha Phillips, Assistant Chief Nurse
- Eastbourne Hospital, hosted by Lucy Scragg, Assistant Director of Nursing
I have been stretched out of my comfort zone and enabled to see things from a different perspective. Although this has been challenging at times, I have been well supported in my learning and development by my mentor, my colleagues, Liz Robb and a professional coaching arrangement.
My patient care improvement project took some time to decide upon, in part because there are many potential areas of work. Eventually I chose to focus on the contribution of Nursing to patient safety and experience. This was an area which other organisations had begun to develop and I felt I had much to learn from them. The aim of my project was to formalise the role of the band 8a senior nurse to reflect the importance of visible senior leadership for staff and patient safety, quality and experience. This journey has developed my leadership skills through working with trade union, human resources, corporate nursing and service directorate colleagues. Progress to date, although slow, includes a workshop of 30 band 8a staff and above (registered nurses and non-nurses). A second workshop is planned to address the key issues arising from the first workshop which are; role clarity, role induction / expectations and streamlining processes.
Following the Scholarship, I remain in my Nurse Consultant and Associate Director of Nursing roles with a renewed appreciation of the flexible portfolio and work streams this brings. What happens next will be a matter of considering or creating opportunities to work on where my passion is. I am motivated and passionate about the impact of staff wellbeing on patient safety and experience and I want to work as a leadership and quality improvement coach to design and deliver healthy workplace cultures where staff are engaged and where patients receive safe, effective compassionate care
My gratitude and thanks go to my sponsor Garfield Weston Foundation and the Belfast Trust, particularly Janet Johnson and Brenda Creaney, The Florence Nightingale Foundation, especially Liz Robb and her wonderful team. My mentor Trish Morris Thompson, Sue Machell and all my scholarship colleagues.