If you Crave Leadership, Consider Enrolling in a LPN-RN Program
Posted On October 3,2017
LPN-RN programs cater to licensed practical nurses looking to advance their education and careers. Your LPN serves as a starting point, while the LPN-RN program allows you to delve deeper into the curriculum through an accelerated pace. After the LPN-RN program, you can sit for your NCLEX-RN exams, after which you qualify to get your RN license.
Some of the leadership roles you can take on as RN include:
Nurse Supervisor
As a nurse supervisor, you are responsible for managing your team of nurses and overseeing roles such as scheduling, ensuring your team meets all your codes and assigning nurses to care for patients. You are in-charge of all patient care in your unit, which requires careful delegating to ensure no patient feels neglected. While you will interact a lot with patients, your primary task is to ensure everything runs smoothly. If you work within a teaching hospital, you will oversee the training of all entry-level nurses and nursing interns, and monitor their progress over the years. If anything goes wrong, your team will depend on you to offer direction and to ensure you do not lose control over the situation.
Depending on the facility, you might also attend to administrative functions that influence the management of the facility. This may include designing training programs for nurses, finding talent to join your team and looking for advanced nurses to up skill your team.
Public Outreach Programs
Public outreach programs such an immunization awareness events help in educating the public and in encouraging people to take a more preventive approach to health care. As a RN, you will play a central role in the organization and management of such programs. You have to communicate to all the health care providers, ensure you have space and equipment to run the program and prepare your nursing team to deliver service and handle questions from patients. In such cases, you will coordinate different activities to ensure the programs run smoothly. If you are working in remote and poor districts, such services can make a big difference in determining the health of the public.
Mentor
As a leader in your unit, you serve as a role model to younger nurses. You need to remain firm while also providing an environment where younger nurses can learn and grow. Additionally, you must work towards continuous self-improvement so you can make sure your team is up to date with the latest industry standards.
Considerations
In addition to your nursing skills, you will need to nurture your leadership skills so you can create an environment that encourages collaboration and inspires your team to provide the best care possible. You need skills such as integrity, empathetic listening, proper oral and written communication, generosity with compliments and patience.
The LPN-RN program at Athena Career Academy gets you started on your leadership journey. Look for mentors in your industry who can help you nurture your skills and prepare you for similar roles in the future. Additionally, look for inspiration from successful leaders from other fields.