Becoming Influential
Becoming Influential
Nursing 432
Athabasca University
Coreen Bradley-Mersereau
Student Number-2938698
2011-June-6
Tutor: Joanne DeForest
Introduction
Power as defined by Kelly & Crawford (2008) is the ability to achieve one’s goals by creating, acquiring and using resources to do so. Nurses over time - whether learned, cultural or related to gender-specific characteristics, have not embraced power (Kelly & Crawford, 2008). The public view of nurses as subordinates to physicians, simply “trained” to follow doctors’ orders, an overall lack of understanding as to the level of education and the kind of work nurses actually do (Sullivan, 2004) has lent to this perception. Sullivan (2004) writes about telling nursing’s story as an avenue to turn opinions around; empower nurses at an individual level, and ultimately raise the bar to a degree where nursing as a whole takes a stance to being viewed and treated as experts in the health care arena alongside other disciplines.
Nurses outnumber all other health care providers (Kelly & Crawford, 2008, p.6) in both acute care and community care settings; are the most diverse clinicians having knowledge and experience that intertwines with all other health professionals, the public and now the business world. Nurses collectively have a deeper understanding of the everyday goings-on within all areas of healthcare. The challenge is to convince those who do not recognize this attribute to tap into an invaluable resource. The message I have chosen to include in this paper will attempt to encourage and support the utilization of nurses in the area of clinical informatics, as this is an up-and-coming opportunity to recruit the experts.
Deciding on My Message
I have always had an interest in computers long before I went into nursing. As a new graduate nurse in the early 1990’s I went straight to San Antonio, Texas where at one of the hospitals I worked implemented a cutting-edge
Nursing 432
Athabasca University
Coreen Bradley-Mersereau
Student Number-2938698
2011-June-6
Tutor: Joanne DeForest
Introduction
Power as defined by Kelly & Crawford (2008) is the ability to achieve one’s goals by creating, acquiring and using resources to do so. Nurses over time - whether learned, cultural or related to gender-specific characteristics, have not embraced power (Kelly & Crawford, 2008). The public view of nurses as subordinates to physicians, simply “trained” to follow doctors’ orders, an overall lack of understanding as to the level of education and the kind of work nurses actually do (Sullivan, 2004) has lent to this perception. Sullivan (2004) writes about telling nursing’s story as an avenue to turn opinions around; empower nurses at an individual level, and ultimately raise the bar to a degree where nursing as a whole takes a stance to being viewed and treated as experts in the health care arena alongside other disciplines.
Nurses outnumber all other health care providers (Kelly & Crawford, 2008, p.6) in both acute care and community care settings; are the most diverse clinicians having knowledge and experience that intertwines with all other health professionals, the public and now the business world. Nurses collectively have a deeper understanding of the everyday goings-on within all areas of healthcare. The challenge is to convince those who do not recognize this attribute to tap into an invaluable resource. The message I have chosen to include in this paper will attempt to encourage and support the utilization of nurses in the area of clinical informatics, as this is an up-and-coming opportunity to recruit the experts.
Deciding on My Message
I have always had an interest in computers long before I went into nursing. As a new graduate nurse in the early 1990’s I went straight to San Antonio, Texas where at one of the hospitals I worked implemented a cutting-edge
References: (2011, April19). General format. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ Canadian Nurses Association. (2011). CNA certification. Retrieved from http://www.cna-nurses.ca/CNA/nursing/certification/specialties/default_e.aspx CIHI. (2011). Clinical peer support network. Retrieved from https://www.infoway- inforoute.ca/working-with-ehr/health-care- COACH. (2011). About health informatics. Retrieved from http://www.coachorg.com/health_informatics/about_health_informatics.htm Kelly, P. & Crawford, H. (2008). Nursing leadership and management: First Canadian edition Sullivan, E.J. (2004). Becoming influential: A guide for nurses. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.