NUR 674 Topic 1 Discussion Question 1
As the national professional organization of more than 11,000 nurse leaders, the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) is the voice of nursing leadership. Innovative nursing leadership requires that nurses in leadership positions are competent. Executives can use these competencies as a self-assessment tool, helpful in identifying possible areas for growth. Aspiring nurse leaders can use them in planning personal preparation for their careers. Health care organizations may utilize them as a guideline for job descriptions, expectations, and evaluations of nurse leaders. Nursing leadership/management is as a specialty as any other clinical nursing specialty (Richards, 2019). It requires proficiency and competent practice specific to the executive role. AONL advances the professional development of nurse leaders through innovative and competency-based learning experiences. AONL offers in-person and online programs for executives, directors, managers, and clinical leaders to serve nurse leaders at all stages of their career journey. Topics include health care finance, certification review courses, shared governance, and emerging leader competencies. The overall mission is to transform health care through expert and influential nursing leadership. While focusing on the vision of Nursing leadership, one voice advances health fo
r all.
Emotional intelligent is important in nursing practices because it helps to understand people better (Whitney, 2018). Self-awareness is one of the important elements in emotional intelligent and it is the capacity to notice and comprehend your own feelings. Being conscious of the impact of your actions, moods, and emotions on other people goes beyond simply being aware of your own feelings. Developing self-awareness as a leader will strengthen not only individual performance but organizational performance as well. Ultimately, the immense amount of understanding, trustworthiness and wisdom that self-aware leaders possess equips them with critical skills for success.
AONL’s annual meeting draws thousands from the nurse leader community and features more than 50 sessions and nationally renowned keynote speakers. The organization drives positive change with a collective voice to influence health care transformation. In collaboration with the American Hospital Association, AONL ensures the perspective and needs of nurse leaders are heard and addressed in public policy issues related to nursing and patient care. AONL’s advocacy activities include the federal legislative and regulatory arenas and promote the value of nursing leadership and its invaluable contribution to the more excellent health care team in pursuit of quality patient care (Morse & Warshawsky, 2021). With more than 11,000 members, AONL brings together an inclusive network of nurse leaders who celebrate diverse perspectives and embrace new ideas. AONL serves leaders at every stage of their leadership journey, from emerging leaders to seasoned executives across the care continuum. The organization’s more than 40 affiliates play an essential role in helping nursing leaders forge strong links with colleagues in their state or region.
AONL is committed to developing and disseminating core competencies for nurse leaders in various care settings
and responsibilities. These competencies have been developed by experts in the nursing leadership field and approved by the AONL Board of Directors. AONL offers evaluation assessments for nurse leaders looking to improve their skill set. Through these skills assessments, leaders can evaluate their skills, knowledge, and abilities for the nurse manager and executive roles. The simple exercise of rating personnel and asking others to rate their leaders provide tremendous insight into hidden strengths, blind spots, and areas for development. Weak areas include working with others effectively, understanding and incorporating effective changes, and understanding personal responsibilities associated with changing (Nghe et al., 2020). Strengths include working effectively individually, setting task-related goals, and identifying strategies that will improve the overall health of the patient and the community. As health care continues to evolve, nurse leaders must lead the way. Whether you are a new nurse manager, in an executive role, or somewhere in between, the AONL Nurse Leader Competency Assessment Tool empowers leaders with an awareness of personal strengths and the areas one can further develop to ensure continued growth. Use this essential tool based on the widely recognized AONL Nurse Leader Competencies to evaluate and advance skills, knowledge, and abilities, regardless of one’s professional role or care setting. Separate assessments are available for nurse managers and nurse executives. Self-assessment, 180-degree assessment, and organizational assessment are examples of AONL. When taking the self-assessment, one will gain access to establish a focused plan for the ongoing leadership development.
Track the progress over time by retaking and comparing each assessment result. The 180-degree assessments broaden one’s perspective with insights from a trusted colleague on individual strengths and growth areas. Built upon the widely recognized AONL Nurse Leader Competencies, take the AONL 180° Assessment for targeted feedback to help leaders excel in their role. Organization assessment is the benchmark and elevates the collective competency of the nursing leadership team. Gain a full view of the organization’s collective strengths and areas for development with the AONL Organizational Assessment, based on the AONL Nurse Leader Competencies for managers and executives (American Organization for Nursing Leadership, 2019). Align the team’s skills with evidence-based practice to empower and elevate the organization’s leadership. Select ten or more nurse leaders to participate, with at least three participants per assessment category manager and executive. Participants will receive reports based on their assessments and an aggregated organizational account to benchmark and focus leadership development efforts.
References:
American Organization for Nursing Leadership. (2019). American organization for nursing leadership | AONL. American Hospital Association. https://www.aonl.org/about/overview
Morse, V., & Warshawsky, N. E. (2021). Nurse leader competencies. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 45(1), 65–70. https://doi.org/10.1097/naq.0000000000000453
Nghe, M., Hart, J., Ferry, S., Hutchins, L., & Lebet, R. (2020). Developing leadership competencies in midlevel nurse leaders. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 50(9), 481–488. https://doi.org/10.1097/nna.0000000000000920
Richards, K. (2019). AONL competencies create a win. Nurse Leader, 17(6), 542–545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2019.02.002
Changes in the healthcare industry have created great challenges for leaders of acute-care organizations. One of the greatest challenges is ensuring a competent nursing staff to care for patients within this changing environment. Patients are more acutely ill and have shorter lengths of stay, placing greater demands on nurses who must demonstrate competency in caring for increasingly complex patients in a continually changing healthcare environment. Competency assessment involves more than a checklist and a test. Hospitals are required to assess, maintain, demonstrate, track, and improve the competence of the staff. Competency assessment is an ongoing process of initial development, maintenance of knowledge and skills, educational consultation, remediation, and redevelopment. Competencies are an important part of the work world. They are a part of a continual process to help ensure that the organization provides a high-quality care to its customers and patients. Having a competency for nursing leadership should also be integrated. Nurse leaders, because they have or can develop many of the qualities that will be required to deliver care, and because of the increasing breadth of their responsibilities, are well placed to lead the business of caring on their administration’s behalf. Leadership assessment can be effective in helping them to understand and manage change and to lead their organizations forward.
Reference
AONE, AONL. (2015). AONL Nurse Executive Competencies. Chicago, IL: AONE, AONL http://www.aonl.org/competencies
Heinen, M., Oostveen, C., Peters, J., Vermeulen, H., & Huis, A. (2019). An integrative review of leadership competencies and attributes in advanced nursing practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 75(11), 2378-2392. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14092
Roussel, A., Thomas, T., & Harris, J. (2019). Management and leadership for nurse administrators (8th ed.). Jones and Bartlett Learning
Hello Carolee
The AONL is an organization I have had a goal to join since I became a leader. I had thought it not time until I became a leader but AONL supports aspiring leaders as well. As you stated the AONL supports all nurse leaders new and old through the competency tools, certification, advocacy and much more(AONL, 2022)I admire the support the AONL gives to nurse leaders, at time Nurse Leaders are lost in the shuffle. As a nurse leader, one must set goals, lead, support and guide those they lead yet one cannot remember to lead themselves and set examples of leadership. AONL advocates for nurse leadership and drives positive change as a collective whole in federal and local trends(AONL, 2022). In times of crisis such as the pandemic it is imperative for a nurse leader to support and be supported. A nurse leader is strong but having support of groups like AONL, other leaders to help, and guidance to build a strong team(AONL, 2022). A nurse leader is only as strong as their team, the ability to learn to care for oneself is a trait nurse in general are typically not good at and leaders are worse I feel. Setting examples of how to support one another while caring for self is a powerful tool, one cannot care for others if their tank is empty. I have found the AONL to have some valuable resources to pull examples from to lead and support through the pandemic and beyond. Thank you for a great post, being vulnerable and sharing the amazing resources of the AONL in detail.
Deanna
AONL. (2022). American organization for nursing leadership. https://www.aonl.org/