Leadership in Health Care Organizations Practicum - Coursework Example

Leadership in Health Care Organizations Practicum Affiliation: Integrity has always been my strongest virtue which was instilled in me from a very young age by my parents and I have always valued it. A few months ago, I was on night duty and the hospital had several accident victims brought in. It was a holiday and the hospital was short staffed. The procedure of the hospital is that patients are treated based on a triage system. A very wealthy man whose daughter had been in the accident but only suffered minor scrapes and bruises wanted her to be attended first against hospital policy.

When I refused to go against hospital’s policy, he attempted to bribe me. This is where my integrity kicked in and I sought security to escort him out of the emergency room until the time her daughter would be treated and released. Integrity is not always easy to display and especially when it involves ones immediate superior as ripple effects might be dire and not worth it in the end (Huberts, Maesschalck and Jurkiewicz, 2008). This was one of those situations I found myself two years ago in my former employment.

I was on off duty and was not supposed to come to work. However, I discovered I had forgotten some personal items and I went back to work around 8pm. I heard voices in the pharmacy but the door was locked which was strange. On investigation, I discovered my superior and another nurse taking drugs and putting them in a bag. This was stealing and I had to report it. I was however fearful of what the repercussions would be if I reported it but I did it anyway. A few months later I had to quit my job as the supervisor made my life impossible but at least I had stood up for my integrity.

Integrity demands strength and not emotions. Emotions cloud one’s judgment and hence can prevent one from acting on the integrity. In order to be able to be a person with integrity and uphold it, it is important to remember what is important and that is to make things better and not worse. Separating emotions is therefore the key point in ensuring that one leads by example. In the above mentioned case involving my supervisor, if I had allowed emotions to cloud my judgment, i would not have reported him and hence would not have been displaying my integrity and not leading by example.

Display of integrity at work will require the work to have strict rules and policies not to mention procedures that would make it easier for an employee to be able to report any case of integrity without their identity being exposed. The employees should also be protected in case their identity is revealed similarly to how the whistle blowers are protected. This will encourage most of them to engage in integrity acts more often and without fear or having to start seeking work after doing the right thing (Cloud, 2009).

The protection should be in writing and signed in the work contract. References Cloud, H. (2009). Integrity: The Courage to Face the Demands of Reality. New York: HarperCollins. Huberts, L., Maesschalck, J. and Jurkiewicz, C. (2008). Ethics and Integrity of Governance: Perspectives across Frontiers. Washington DC: Edward Elgar Publishing.