Discussion board one - Coursework Example

Discussion Board One of affiliation Discussion Board One Q1. of experiences of using power in nursing unit According to Manojiovich (2007) powerless nurses very ineffective especially since they are less satisfied with their jobs while increasingly prone to depersonalization and burnout. In nursing, power refers to the notion of influencing others or mobilizing resources. In nursing is essential in influencing patients, other healthcare professionals and physicians.As a nurse in my nursing unit, I have managed to achieve control over content by acting on what I know which is nothing less than ensuring that each patient has access to quick and quality patient care.

For majority of the patients visiting my nursing unit, I have offered quality health care and for those with specialized needs I have offered referrals. This ability to work within my knowledge scope and to offer appropriate referrals have contributed to high autonomy which has resulted to informed decision making when combined with patient trends and cues. Besides autonomy, my exercise of power over the context of practice has seen me yield high quality patient outcomes. My work is in a well equipped nursing unit which is delegated to the duty of ensuring that there are nurses closely working with the patient at all time especially given that the patients are expected to acquire a changed way of life.

Additionally, the nursing unit is designed such that each nurse has equal opportunity to contribute or participate in informed decision making especially when it comes to patient needs. I believe that by possessing the power to participate in patient related decision, whether at their bedside or within the nursing unit, I get empowered and empower others which then yield overall improved patient and nursing outcomes. As a nurse, the good health of patients is something I always look forward to achieving.

According to Amer (2013) when nurses, especially in rehabilitation units, manages to effectively control both content and context of their practice, the result is high quality patient outcomes and job satisfaction for the nurses eliminating burnout and depersonalization.Q2. Negative experiences arising from taken power-over position towards me Within the rehabilitation unit, there are rewards for brilliant ideas on handling and relating to patients. However, the people in management opt to wait to reward in future other than go for rewards in the present (Sullivan, 2013).

On one such occasion, I managed to contain a difficult patient and every nurse in the unit got excited about the patient’s outcome in a week. I was not rewarded as the unit management remained quiet. However, during the next progress meeting held once a month within the organization the issue came up and credit went to the management at my expense. Like others within the unit, I felt discouraged as my efforts were credited to someone else who did not even correct the mistake to credit me.Q3.

Ways to change my response to an unpleasant situation As nurse, I understand that the as a nurse in a rehabilitation unit, and as a person, I need to have control over my own emotions by understanding, interpreting, and responding to other people’s emotions (Sullivan, 2013). The first thing I do is to understand emotions such that I can perceive them accurately. Next, I reason with my emotions by engaging them to encourage cognitive and thinking activity and in so doing I manage to prioritize what I pay attention and react to.

With my emotions well understood, I can then interpret the emotions of others such that I can manage my emotions by responding in the most appropriate way possible.ReferencesAmer, K. S. (2013). Quality and Safety for Transformational Nursing. Boston: Pearson.Manojiovich, M. (2007). Power and Empowerment in Nursing: Looking Backward to inform the Future. OJIN: Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 12(1), 1-10.Sullivan, E. J. (2013). Becoming Influential. Boston: Pearson.