Nursing Leadership: A Self-Assessment Essay

Nursing leadership competencies address effective communication skills, high-quality healthcare providence, rational decision-making, and the ability to be responsible for extended groups of people. Indeed, aspiring DNP-prepared practitioners can assess themselves by identifying if they have sufficient skills to influence others, knowledge of their working environment and safety, and utilize critical thinking (American Organization for Nursing Leadership [AONL], n.d.). Communicational competencies can be expressed through solid organizational expertise, engaging others in specific behaviors, and facilitating discussions (AONL, n.d.). Knowledge of the working environment and the ability to operate in it can be viewed through actions taken to improve the clinical practice and education of others.

I had various opportunities to explore my leadership skills, enhance them, identify the gaps, and reveal my strengths throughout my education and nursing practice. Indeed, at school, I was a team leader of volunteering projects we created to conduct systematic support for homeless people in my local community. Participating in the projects as one of the executives felt normal to me because I have always encouraged people to follow me on any mission. That strong quality of my character was released through the ability to craft speeches and develop empathy for individuals I interacted with. Communicational skills are also crucial for leaders as they help tailor the important messages correctly and build trustworthy relationships in a team (Feldman et al., 2019). My strength of encouragement is valuable for my future DNP-prepared career because I would be capable of making positive changes for my organization and community.

Leadership is also revealed in challenging situations, and stress resistance is one of the vital personal skills to develop and maintain throughout the working experience. My practice at the acute care facility revealed that I could rationally think and react in critical situations, and I consider it a strong trait worth describing in the self-assessment. The skill of managing stressful occasions is necessary for leaders not only for proper decision-making but also for giving the team an example of proper behavior (The Joint Commission, 2017). Besides, my experience in emergencies suggested that the ability to maintain calmness helps solve conflicts and decrease the overall level of aggressiveness if it takes place in a situation.

In stressful work moments, I embrace what is happening, analyze if someone needs assistance, and identify panicking people. The latter is necessary because a leader must maintain a healthy environment around the team even in critical times, and helping the anxious ones first is the right action to take (Johannessen et al., 2019). Remaining calm in a challenging situation is my leadership strength, and I always find situations to improve and teach others to develop proper responses to stress.

Although stress tolerance and the ability to encourage others can be considered sufficient skills for being a leader and accelerating my DNP-nurse career, there are still several gaps I must work on to achieve better results. Indeed, such aspect as risk management is complex for me to address because I frequently miss essential details which can severely impact my decisions. To work on decreasing the influence of that gap, I need to increase my expertise in systems development, where all the threats would be addressed in the initial stages (Feldman et al., 2019). Being a leader means minimizing risks, and I think that pre-assessment of possible problems for my team and me is necessary as I will recognize and anticipate the details.

Moreover, I experience difficulties in self-related competencies management, such as career planning and personal accountability. In the organization where I had my first nursing practice, my mentor shared their observation that I lost my initial goals and values in pursuing a result. The attitude of moving yourself to a background and prioritizing a facility’s mission or group aim is incorrect even if it seems appropriate for a leader. To fill the gap, I need to identify my own goals related to career building and work on them in a balanced manner so that they do not disrupt my leadership responsibilities (AONL, n.d.). Furthermore, having well-developed personal accountability is helpful in decision-making and priories settings, not only in the workplace but also in normal life.

Self-assessment revealed my strong and weak skills, and, based on the competencies’ analysis, I can now describe the goals to enhance my nursing leadership development. The initial aim is to improve my influencing behaviors strategies necessary to enforce my ability to encourage others. Indeed, creating effective systems and actionable plans for others combined with proper communication can help execute large