The Assignment: (4–5 pages) Explain your self-assessment in relation to the nurse leadership competencies. Be sure to identify your strengths and potential gaps in relation to these competencies. Describe at least four goals for nurse leadership development that you would like to pursue, given the results of your self-assessment. Be specific. Explain why these goals are pertinent to your development as a nurse leader. How will developing these leadership competencies support your healthcare organization or nursing practice? Be specifi

The Assignment: (4–5 pages) Explain your self-assessment in relation to the nurse leadership competencies. Be sure to identify your strengths and potential gaps in relation to these competencies. Describe at least four goals for nurse leadership development that you would like to pursue, given the results of your self-assessment. Be specific. Explain why these goals are pertinent to your development as a nurse leader. How will developing these leadership competencies support your healthcare organization or nursing practice? Be specifi

Leadership Assessment

The current health care environment is highly dynamic and requires a committed and motivated staff to deliver quality care. In this fast-paced practice, the role of leaders is critical, and nurses should have essential leadership competencies. These competencies develop over time as nurses interact with colleagues, solve health care problems, and engage in routine patient care. Self-assessment enables current and developing nurse leaders to determine their competency to lead. The strengths and gaps identified through a self-assessment allow nurses to set goals pertinent to individual development as leaders. This paper explains the results of self-assessment, goals based on strengths and potential gaps, and the relevance of the goals in the nursing practice.

Self-Assessment in Relation to Nurse Leadership Competencies

One of my high-performing areas is knowledge of the health care environment (expert level). In agreement with Sharp et al. (2018), the current health care environment is fast-paced, patient-centered, and data-driven. Also, it must focus on system transformation, improved access to care, and value-based care. Knowledge of the health care environment has much to do with understanding the features of the settings where care is provided, the broad array of services in such settings, and the relationships and methodologies required to facilitate competent patient care. Generally, I understand what patient care and patient needs entail and strategies for delivering efficient, cost-effective, and quality care.

In the current practice, nurses come across patients with different health needs. Empathy, cultural competence, and an in-depth understanding of patient issues are necessary to promote patient satisfaction (Oldland et al., 2020). Communication and relationship building enable health care providers to understand patients’ concerns, experiences, and preferences. As an active listener, I can effectively communicate with patients and colleagues in different practice areas. Active communication is also the foundation of interprofessional collaboration, enabling nurses to work in teams to deliver the required health care goals.

Like other professions, nursing has values that underpin the trust that the public has in service providers. In nursing and health care at large, the public is primarily the patients, while service providers represent health care professionals. Professionalism in health care involves services founded on honesty and compassion, confidentiality, and genuine concern for other people’s needs (Varkey, 2021). I show professionalism by being individually responsible for my actions and their consequences, paying attention to detail, and seeking creative interventions to put things right. Acting professionally also reduces the chances of conflict with colleagues, management, and patients.

A nurse cannot lead without understanding the self. In a highly diverse workplace environment, excellent leaders must trust and empower others. Like professionalism, leadership skills enable leaders to reduce conflicts since they understand how their actions, approaches to routine practice, communication, and values affect others. In terms of competency levels, my leadership skills are at the proficiency level. It is the same case with business skills. Key personal attributes in these areas include visionary thinking, valuing and acting on feedback, supporting nurse staffing, and utilizing technology.

Strengths and Potential Gaps

Adequate knowledge of the health care environment is mandatory for all nurse leaders. My strengths in this area include case management, quality improvement, and risk management skills. My knowledge and experience enable me to assess different environments, identify risks or performance gaps and propose appropriate interventions. Other strengths include clinical practice knowledge and delivery models. My strengths in communication include diversity and shared decision-makin