Reflection Assignment on Poor Leadership in Healthcare

Running head: REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT
REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT
Description:
During my placement in the rehabilitation healthcare unit, I worked under a senior
registered nurse along with other student nurses. The senior registered nurse was our clinical
preceptor and she was supposed to guide us in every aspect of rehabilitation interventions. The
student nurses were working as a team under her guidance. However, the senior nurse did not
communicate effectively with us and it became very difficult for us to understand her
perspectives. She was very stern in her voice and did not promote effective communication. She
told that no one should talk unless required while caring for the patient. We were not allowed to
talk and it acted as a stress on us. Many of the members went to the senior nurse with innovative
suggestions by which the patients could be treated in a better manner. She did not want to listen
to them and cut them midway stating that they should only perform as advised and no
suggestions were welcomed. This made them de-motivated making them feel that their
suggestions were not wanted by the organization. One of the nurses was facing issues while she
was handling the electronic health records and so she asked for help from the senior nurse. She
shouted on her that this should have been taught by the university and that she would not waste
time on this matter. She advised her to follow the manual guidelines. I also went to her to tell her
that I was being burned out easily and cannot provide productivity on the floor. She told me to
handle my issues by myself and not to irritate her. Soon the higher authority raised a complaint
against her as many of the student nurses were withdrawing themselves from the placement, as
they were not getting support.

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REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT
Feelings:
I was quite upset from all the incidents that took place with me as well as with my fellow
members of the team. We were not treated well by the senior nurse and we felt disrespected. I
felt that the organization did not care for her and this affected my enthusiasm to work for the
organization. I was disappointed about the way I was mistreated by the senior nurse and I did not
feel like working under her leadership. My moral was affected and therefore, it hampered my
productivity as well. I realized that in this way, I can never learn new things in the healthcare
unit and therefore, I did not feel like going to work anymore.
Evaluation:
The poor leadership exhibited by the senior nursing professional had affected the morale
of the student nurses. The nursing students felt discouraged and they were not feeling to work
under her guidance. The most negative outcome was that the productivity was affected on the
floor and the care that they were providing to the patient was not appropriate. The nurses no
more wanted to consult with the senior nurse and therefore the care that they were providing to
the patient had high chances of errors and negative outcomes. Therefore, poor leadership of the
senior nurse not only affected the morale of the student nurses but also impacted the care of the
patients as well. The only positive part was that it helped the student nurses to understand the
aspects that a nurse leader should never exhibit. These poor experiences of the students made
them understand the ways that leaders should never treat the subordinates. These would make
them more competent leader in the future, making them not to exhibit such traits in their
leadership phase in the future (Barr and Dowding 2015).