Reflection on Leadership and Provision of Care (Essay Sample)

Reflection on Leadership and Provision of Care
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Reflection on Leadership and Provision of Care
In the early 19th century, care for the sick was a role given to low class women or those who were too old to get jobs elsewhere. However, Florence Nightingale changed the narrative of what nursing entails while she tended to wounded soldiers in the 1850s (Smith, 2019). At this time, nurses were needed in large numbers due to recurrent wars that placed soldier’s lives in harm’s way. Nightingale campaigned for improved hygiene in hospitals that tended to soldiers as unhygienic areas would exacerbate bacterial infections on injuries (Smith, 2019). Her campaign led to a drastic reduction in deaths due to infections. I consider Nightingale a transformative leader as she came from a wealthy family but chose to follow a career path set aside for low class women. She also encouraged professional nursing and the creation of education centers for nurses.
Nursing is a career predominated by women, a gender that suffers from oppression to date. People in the healthcare industry place nursing as a functional career where nurses only follow physician orders, and seldom take part in strategic decision making. I aim to play a role as a transformative leader to eradicate this view. Transformational leadership is where one works with their team to identify challenges and that implement change (Asif et al., 2019). Like Nightingale, I often try to advocate for my fellow nurses and patients to ensure equality and the achievement of nurse and patient rights. I also strive to increase gender equality in the healthcare system to avoid misconceptions surrounding the nursing profession. Further, transformational leadership includes embracing full partnerships and equality among nurses and physicians (Asif et al., 2019). Such partnerships, with adequate respect and collaboration