Zhanna Seitakhan,

Senior nurse of the therapy department of Еmergency hospital, Aktobe. Kazakhstan.

Nursing Leadership

Is it real in our country, given our peculiarities, our mentality?

We talked about this with Zhanna Seytakhan, senior nurse of the therapy department of the emergency hospital in Aktobe. How do I understand nursing leadership? How thorny is this path, the path of leadership in healthcare in general? Why should we speak about this with nurses? What can I do to strengthen leadership in my workplace based on my experience in healthcare? Will I be able to explain the need for leadership not only to my fellow nurses, but also, most importantly, to the management of the clinic – the chief nurse, the head of departments, the chief physician? All of these questions came to me immediately after I learned more about the Center of Nursing Excellence (CNE). I want to try to go further into the matter As I understand it, leadership is the ability to absorb knowledge and apply it in current work in such a way as to motivate others not to turn the work process into a routine, but to seek and find those methods and means of execution that lead to the best result of the whole process. And yes, I say “yes” to this kind of leadership!

And now we will adapt it to nursing … For more than a century, a certain attitude to the specialty “nurse” has developed, and it is by no means a leader. The nurse has always been a performer, shall we say, a secondary specialty, with no prospects. We live in a society of stereotypes, and breaking them is not easy. This is concerning reality. But time does not stand still, especially now, in the world of not even daily, but every minute changes. This means that healthcare must keep pace with the rapidly changing world, trying to change it for the better. The development of leadership in Nursing will help this, as it will increase the responsibility and role of the nurse in the process of organizing medical care. What gave me confidence in developing leadership in Nursing, or rather in its existence in general? Any undertaking does not pick up momentum right away, and sometimes stalls in place … For various reasons, including purely psychological ones, both for doctors and nurses. Doctors are used to leading, nurses are used to listening and doing. And it is difficult to change the way of thinking of both. To date, the situation is that a nurse with a higher education continues to work in her usual workplace, the degree of responsibility and its meaning have not changed. As you can see, before and after, but there are no differences … In general, I am an optimist, but  take it with a pinch of salt. Still, leadership in Nursing is the far and beautiful future? Are we only at the seed-scattering stage? I end up with hope…

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