Leadership Development in the Nursing Student

I am your typical type A honors nursing student. In several of my clinical courses, I received constructive criticism regarding my performance. The common theme throughout each rotation was leadership, or the lack thereof. I was itching to do something to break the trend. In our syllabi under expected course outcomes it said things like, “integrate principles of leadership,” and, “assume a leadership role.” To me, this was far too vague and there had never been a mention in the syllabi or the classroom of how leadership is defined or what it should look like in the nursing field. My goal was to create an experience that would allow me to understand leadership, and to identify and develop my skills as a leader, particularly in the field of nursing. I quickly found through my initial literature review that leadership is a very lucid term and it can mean something different to each individual. I analyzed the different types of leadership styles and identified which one I wanted to emulate. I then threw my introverted self into a leadership role that mirrored aspects of a clinical setting and was mutually beneficial to those involved. I created a student nurse mentorship program in the College of Nursing, pairing freshmen one-on- one with upperclassmen. I also worked with student mentors in three URI 101 classes, helping them integrate a new self-care assignment into the course. The purpose of the mentorship and lesson plan was to assist freshmen in assimilating to a college lifestyle with a demanding curriculum. Along the way I documented my experiences in a journal and translated what I learned throughout my project into my clinical experience. In the end, I completed a self-analysis to evaluate my growth and to determine where I can continue to improve in my nursing career