A few years back, the client I currently work with was asked by another one of her healthcare providers to begin an exercise regimen. The client and I started meeting with a Kinesiologist to build the exercise plan and ensure proper technique. After a few meetings, I was left to take over the plan with my client and we would move to 1-2 meetings/month with the Kinesiologist. By following all the suggestions and recommendations laid out by my client’s doctor and the Kinesiologist, together with my client, we were able to come up with a plan that allowed me to transition to a leadership role implementing daily exercise activities. To this day, my client and I try to include some form of movement in her daily activities. I feel because I was led by the right professionals initially, I am now able to help my client maintain an active, healthy lifestyle.

I feel I am always an effective flower when I have good leadership.

An recent example is currently out company is going through accreditation process. As a result there is a big push for chart audits and education and compliance with getting everyone up to the company standard related to charts. One of the forms frequently not completed is Braden scale. Company requirements is monthly . Most charts it’s done on Admission and never done again. Compliance is low.

As a effective follower. I have ensured I have Lotsa of extra Braden scale sheets available to put in client charts and make it a priority beginning of every new month to chack and update clients Braden. I also advocate to nursing educators, director of nursing and supervisors and managers in between to make it an electronic document. To clarify most charting currently is paper at this organization the plan is go electronic in 2027 after accreditation process. Some things are electronic. All correspondence with Ontario health at home is electronic. COVID screener for staff and client is electronic. Trendy form for Columbia suicide scale screener is electronic and required now on admissions and if client says anything indicative of intent. This was recent addition and kind of flavour of month feel. My advocacy was to have the Braden available as electronic form. I also advocated to Director of Nursing that I personally believed that the resources being used on the paper documentation education and chart audits was waste when we are planning be moving away form paper and to electronic documentation in 2027. As a result I am now on the champion team as a beta tester for new electronic app testing.

Thank You.
Chad Peterson

Sharon,
Is it possible be able edit these posts after posting?

I remember when I just started my nursing career,I worked as a volunteer nurse after graduation to gain experience.I demonstrated leadership by first being as responsible and willing follower.As a volunteer nurse,I worked under the supervision of an experience staff nurse who serve as my preceptor.I followed the hospital’s policies and procedures ,listened carefully to instructions and accepted feedback to ensure that I provided safe and appropriate patient care. I carefully observed the proper procedure,followed instructions and clarified anything I did not fully understand.I also took the initiative to prepare the necessary supplies,anticipate the needs of the patient, and assist other staff member within my scope of practice.
Through this experience,I learned that leadership does not always mean being the person in charge.It also means knowing when to follow,being accountable for your actions ,communicating effectively, and supporting the team in achieving a common goal.By following the guidance of experience nurses while remaining proactive and responsive,I demonstrated that I could be both a dependable team member and a leader in providing safe quality patient care.

At my place of employment I am the Nursing Rehab lead. I have to take direction from many other disciplines to implement their needs into a program that will help promote more independence for our residents. I often have conversations with our PT, MD and our RAI coordinator to see how we can best support a resident. Taking the direction from the above, finding a program and then having to implement. Implementing requires having to educate both the resident involved and the staff that will be taking over the day to day implementation while i review once weekly.

In this case I am following direction from the PT and MD mostly, however then I am able to lead the PSWs into following me. It is very important that the common goal is highlighted and the instructions are clear. On review I collect feedback from staff and resident and modify program as required. Again starting the process of implementing.

Years ago I worked in OR. During my early days in the operating room, I was engaged in audits of surgical implants and instruments alongside my team leader. Initially, I followed the protocols under team leader guidance. While I initially followed her direction, I gradually improved efficiency by implementing more strategic planning and execution techniques. Over time, our communication and forward-thinking approach helped us to complete audits substantially faster. We also developed a procedural guide for nursing staff responsible for conducting these audits in future.

Going back to my days in Long Term Care, I was working as a floor nurse where I would follow the direction of the Director of Care. As a floor nurse, we have the duty to follow routines i.e medication passes, arranging the charts for doctors day, wound care, ordering medications, narcotic care, etc. We would often get further direction from the floor managers for any additional tasks. When working in this position, I always found myself helping and guiding fellow nurses when they were in need of assistance or had questions i.e wound care and emergency situations. I ended up realizing that I have a passion for teaching. There were often times where I would become a preceptor for nursing students as well as training new staff who were recruited. This gave me the opportunity to work with the team where questions could be answered and we were able to collaborate on different situations. I find that our jobs become smoother and more manageable when we have our coworkers to help guide and support one another.

I think we as nurses lead by following all the time, every day we follow and uphold the policies, practices and culture of our workplaces. We follow our leaders, but we don’t follow blindly, we question and challenge when something isn’t right, and in these actions we lead by example.
A lot, if not all the leading I do is by following. In my role I provide a lot of staff education, sometimes it is clinical, sometimes it is helping to roll out new policies and procedures or programs. I don’t usually create these changes, but I believe in them for the betterment of our resident care, and I try to bring that belief into how I teach the staff. I am not only following the direction of my supervisors though, I am also following the influence of the staff. For example if an experienced PSW tells me that the practical application of a change that directly effects their role is not realistic, we can brainstorm solutions or alternatives and I can take those to my supervisor and advocate for the adjustments.

My experience of being a follower and helping to make changes goes back several years. At that time, I was working in the nursery of a small hospital in my home country. Our hospital was often behind with procedures and accreditation. As a team, we decided to follow the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. The goal was to improve breastfeeding support by following the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. One of the pediatricians suggested creating a small group of healthcare professionals to educate the staff, improve our documentation, and provide better follow-up for new parents. I was happy that someone took the lead in this project. I joined the group responsible for staff education. Together with the doctor and another colleague, I prepared a series of PowerPoint slides. I was very proud to present them to all the staff, even though it was my first time speaking in front of such a large group. I was nervous, but everything went well. I still have those slides, even after 15 years! I guess the basics of breastfeeding have not changed that much! Looking back, I learned that being a follower does not mean doing nothing. Even though I was not leading the project, I was able to share my knowledge and skills and help the team reach its goal. This experience also gave me more confidence and showed me that everyone can contribute to positive change.

In 2015 I was working as a PSW at a LTC. However, on this day I was working with other PSW and heard a noise in one of our client’s rooms and turned out a client was stuck in a commode chair. The charge nurse was there and staff were panicking as to how to get the client out of the chair. For some reason , I said ok everyone, let’s not panic and ask the client if they are ok. And I found Vaseline in the room and I rubbed Vaseline on the client and the client was out of the chair safely. So from that day I realized that the voice of opinion is okay from anyone; it does matter if your title does not carry power.