Clinical Leadership and Management

Running head: CLINICAL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
CLINICAL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

CLINICAL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT1
Description of the event:
Mr. A was presented to the outpatient department with his accompanying wife Mrs.
B. On presentment, Mr. A complained of increased shortness of breath and palpations that
made him feel uncomfortable and uneasy. Registered Nurse S was supposed to assess the
patient and conduct the vital assessment of the patient, Mr. A. The patient, Mr. A and his wife
Mrs. B were both of Italian cultural background. RN S, on the other hand was an experienced
care professional who was working within the healthcare setting and was of a Chinese
cultural background. I was assisting RN S and happened to notice that she was not practicing
a culturally safe care and did not ask the patient about his cultural preferences before
conducting the vital assessment. As our organization is committed to providing culturally
safe and holistic patient care, I decided to have a word with RN S and tell her what was
wrong. I called RN S and asked her politely to spare a minute in order to have a word. RN S
excused herself and I mentioned it to her that she was defying the values and principles of
culturally safe care delivery. I told her that she needed to consider the specific cultural
preferences of the patient and ensure that the patient is comfortable with the treatment
process. In response, she remarked rudely, “I know what to do, don’t teach me” and left to
assess the patient. Momentarily, I felt extremely humiliated and angry and it triggered an
internal conflict. However, I decided to evaluate the event with rational thinking and
deduced the conclusion that this assessment could lead to fatal consequences which could
invite patient distrust and legal action. Complying with the duty of care, I decided to report
the event to the supervisor.
Introduction to the designated position:
I work as an Enrolled Nurse within the reputed XYZ healthcare organization that is
committed to provide quality care services in a culturally safe manner. The key

CLINICAL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT2
responsibilities that I am entitled to cover comprises of assisting registered nurses and
patients as and when required and address other activities such as administering medication,
documenting measurements, cleaning wounds, changing dressings, calibrating medical
instruments and assist in patients with activities of daily living such as walking, bathing and
eating. In addition to this, as an Enrolled Nurse I am also entitled to comply with the
protocols of effective patient care and ensure that a positive, caring and patient-friendly care
environment is reinforced within the healthcare setting so as to promote positive outcome. In
addition to this, my key responsibilities also include recording and documenting patient’s
assessment and update the patient-database with the latest information. In this case, I
accompanied RN S while she was assessing Mr. A and it was during the procedure of the
vital assessment that I noticed RN S was not exhibiting cultural competency and delivering a
culturally safe care to the patient. The first solution I could think of was to directly
communicate with RN S and point out the issue. I did the same as per my best understanding
and complying with the duty of care but the outcome was not in favour of the patient. It was
then that I decided to take a step further and escalate the event and bring it to the notice of the
supervisor.
Measures applied for mitigating the situation:
As has already been mentioned in the previous sections, on sensing that direct
communication did not have a positive impact on the event, I escalated the issue to the
supervisor adhering to the principles of the line of reporting. The supervisor called for a one
on one meeting where RN S was asked about the event and was asked to show cause for her
failure to comply with the professional standards of Nursing Practice. Initially, RN S denied
that such an incident took place and at that moment. I was then called to provide a testimony
of the situation. I narrated the incident honestly and it was then that RN S accepted her fault.
The supervisor penalised RN S and referred her to a one week refreshment training course so