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José is with the Elders at Home Program for his public health nursing clinical. He is assigned to Mr. and Mrs. Santos, a couple in their 70s struggling to manage their healthcare needs and stay in their home in an older inner-city neighborhood. Mrs. Santos provides primary assistance for her husband, who has advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). After a recent hospitalization, Mr. Santos received home care services from a home care nurse, respiratory therapist, occupational therapist, and home health aide. These services were reimbursed by Medicare because Mr. Santos met the criteria of potential for rehabilitation and progress toward independent living. All went well. Then a 60-day health assessment resulted in a determination that Mr. Santos was no longer eligible for home care services. He was referred to the county public health. Elders at Home Program but has been resisting a home visit. José wonders, “I am just a student nurse. What can I do?” He sighs, “Well, it looks like my preceptor has handed me a challenge I can't avoid. Isn't there a chapter we are supposed to read on leadership in public health nursing?
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JOSÉ'S NOTEBOOK: COMPETENCY #12 Demonstrates Leadership in Public Health Nursing with Communities, Systems, Individuals, and Families
Seeks learning opportunities when working with peers, organizations, and communities
Demonstrates ability to be flexible, adapt to change, and tolerate ambiguity while working in an unstructured environment
Seeks from and provides consultation and support to peers and community partners
Responds to population health needs in collaboration with systems and communities
Contributes to team efforts to improve the quality of care provided to client populations
Prioritizes and organizes workload, time, materials, and resources to maximize benefits to clients and stakeholders
Participates in the political process to advocate for changes in health and social policies that affect population health, workforce health, and public health services delivery
Source: Henry Street Consortium, 2017
USEFUL DEFINITIONS Advocacy-Based Leadership: Advocacy-based leaders are motivated by the needs of others to take actions to improve others’ health and well-being.
Authentic Leadership: Authentic leaders are reflective practitioners whose actions are consistent with their values, ethical standards, and convictions (Murphy, 2012; Wong, Spence Laschinger, & Cummings, 2010).
Leadership: Leadership is the process and art of influencing, motivating, and leading others to achieve shared goals.
Leadership Journey: The leadership journey is a lifelong process of self-discovery, self-efficacy, and goal-directed actions.
Shared Leadership: Shared leadership refers to the concept of being an effective team member (Avolio, Walumbwa, & Weber, 2009).
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Leadership in Public Health Nursing Practice
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Leadership is often taught as a separate course in the nursing curriculum. So, you may be asking, why is leadership content included in this book? Why is there a separate leadership competency? Isn't leadership the same no matter where it is practiced?
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Leadership theories are certainly applicable to all forms of nursing practice. However, there ...