Chapter 05: Gaining Personal Insight: The Beginning of Being a Leader Yoder-Wise: Leading and Managing in Nursing, 7th Edition

1. As a new nurse manager, you are aware of leadership, management, and followership principles. What is the first step to becoming an effective leader? a. Being an effective follower b. Taking a class on leadership c. Taking a class on management d. Getting an advanced degree

ANS: A Being an effective follower is the first step in becoming an effective leader. A leader may take classes on leadership and classes on management and secure and advanced degree. The firststep to effective leadership is effective followership.

5. The core of nursing leadership incorporates integration of unique qualities to include us as individuals. Which is not considered part of leadership integration? a. Person b. Leader c. Nurse d. Position

ANS: D Position is not considered part of leadership integration. The provided model discusses the use of nurse, person, leader, and integration of the unique personal aspect to form the integration of leadership.

19. A new nurse leader wants to be the best leader she can. The nurse takes classes, finds and leadership mentor, seeks input from her unit, and employs other strategies for leadership development. What is another strategy for the leader to develop and improve leadership skills? a. Proactive learning b. Ignoring feedback c. Being in charge d. Authoritative position

ANS: A Being an effective leader requires wanting to be proactive in their learning to develop effective leadership skills. Good leaders do not ignore feedback, they take authoritative positions when required, and do not come across as being in charge but rather as being a leader of a group.

12. The manager is using self-reflection to gain insight into improving the leadership skills. By using self-awareness what does a leader develop? a. New knowledge b. Personal growth c. Improved self esteem d. Management skills

ANS: A By using the self-awareness, and essential task for leadership the leader cultivates personal insights and new knowledge of themselves as a leader. Personal growth may or may not occur with self-reflection, improved self-esteem is not guaranteed, and management skills are not obtained.

17. At the end of a shift, the charge nurse shares with the new nurse she had done an excellent job with a difficult patient that day. The new nurse was upset by the way the family of the patient had treated her. She shared her feeling with the charge nurse. The charge nurse offered to change the assignment the following day. What is the charge nurse displaying? a. Emotional intelligence b. Comportment c. Compassion d. Management of conflict

ANS: A The charge nurse is demonstrating emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence requires an individual to relate to others based on emotions and social awareness of situations. The charge nurse displayed emotional intelligence by supporting the new nurse and offering to change the assignment the next day.

13. In developing leadership skills, one should focus on authentic leadership. The theory of authentic leadership focuses on various factors. What is the top priority in development of authentic leadership? a. Honest relationships b. Organizational task c. Accomplishment of goals d. Exploring others

ANS: A The top priority in development of authentic leadership is development of honest relationships. Valuing what each person brings to the group trusting the group, exploring other ideas, accomplishing goals, and being ineffective organizer are important. However, development and honest relationships is the foundation of authentic leadership.

3. The chief nursing officer (CNO) is appointed for the local hospital in a rural area. The nursing committee agreed with the appointment of the new CNO offered the position. What is this type of leadership position considered? a. Formal leadership b. Informal leadership c. Director leadership d. Personal leadership

ANS: A This position is an appointed/hired position and is one of formal leadership based on the hiring from the outside and the job description. Formal leadership positions often have a title and are assigned leadership by the role of the position.

1. As a nurse manager and the leader of the unit, you are aware of multiple avenues for learning leadership traits. Which avenues would you pursue for learning leadership traits? (Select all that apply.) a. Attending professional conferences b. Reading books on leadership c. Joining professional organizations d. Connecting with other leaders in the organization e. Experiences from new nurses

ANS: A, B, C, D We can learn leadership through multiple avenues. For example, attending professional association meetings, reading, and connecting with others at a local, state, or national level allow us to learn from others about their development as a leader.

16. A staff nurse is the person on the unit everyone seeks for input and asks questions. What type of leadership position is the staff nurse displaying? a. Position leadership b. Informal leadership c. Personal leadership d. Formal leadership

ANS: B Informal leaders are individuals who influence others and are engaged with those who listen and follow. An informal leader may be assigned a formal leadership position and still demonstrate that rates the informal leadership.

15. The charge nurse of a unit is asking the staff what patients they had the day before to make assignments for the day. A new nurse complains about having the same patients every day. The charge nurse considers the new nurse request at an assigned to different patient for today. What type of leadership is the charge nurse displaying? a. Informal leadership b. Formal leadership c. Favoritism d. No leadership displayed

ANS: B The charge nurse is using formal leadership to assigning patients to the nurses were today. By asking the staff she is gathering input she uses to make assignments. And is demonstrating good leadership skills. She has the authority based on the position in a formal leadership model to make the assignments for the day.

4. The core of leadership is awareness. The text by Don Miguel, The Four Agreements, presents a set of agreements to enhance personal growth and awareness. What is not one of the four agreements? a. Be impeccable with your word. b. Take things personally. c. Do not make assumptions. d. Always do your best.

ANS: B The four agreements include all with the exception of taking things personally. The second agreement is to not take things personally. When a person speaks or engages a leader, it is often from their reality and not reflective of your reality. Listen to their information, and assess, then formulate decisions.

9. The nurse manager is working with a group of new nurses. The new nurses ask questions about leadership and the role of a manager in leading nursing. The manager shares she has incorporated her core values and beliefs into her role and responsibilities as a nurse manager. What type of leadership has she described? a. Positional leadership b. Personal leadership c. Formal leadership d. Information leadership

ANS: B The manager has described the use of personal leadership. This incorporates core values and beliefs of the person to improve their role and responsibilities.

20. A staff nurse wants to become a charge nurse. What is one of the most effective methods for the staff nurse to incorporate to effectively transition to charge nurse? a. Read a book on charge position. b. Integrate prior experience to new role. c. Do things the way always done. d. Change units to be a charge on different unit.

ANS: B The most effective way for transitioning to a new role is to integrate all prior knowledge and experience with the essential competencies of the new role.

8. A staff nurse is taking leadership classes in an advanced degree program as the nurse wants to become a manager. The instructor requires the students to create a journal and make notes of their feelings when they experience conflicts at work over the next few weeks. The assignment calls for the use of reflection. What is the purpose of this assignment? a. Log of conflicts which occur b. Reflection for self-awareness in conflict situations c. Assess the students conflict management skills d. Analysis of student lead conflicts

ANS: B The use of journaling, when done with self-reflection and use of value to evaluate situations and reflect, assist in self-awareness of situations. In this instance, the instructor is wanting the students to use self-awareness through evaluation of conflict occurrences.

7. The manager of a nursing unit is having difficulty working with a new graduate nurse. The new graduate nurse is excited and full of ideas she wants to try. The manager decides to journal her feelings regarding the new nurse and her feelings. What is the nurse manager practicing in this situation? a. Leadership b. Reflection c. Knowledge d. Action

ANS: B Using reflection to evaluate her own feelings, the nurse manager is practicing self-awareness to go beyond the surface and evaluate self for determination of personal feelings. This is a higher level of thinking and assist in exploring one's individual thoughts and experiences.

14. As a leader in nursing, one must seek new insights and establish personal tools to improve their lifelong learning. Which behavior by manager would be a concern for a chief nursing executive? a. Journaling for self-reflection b. Authentic relationships c. Complacent behavior d. Improved knowledge of staff

ANS: C A chief nursing officer should be concerned if a manager demonstrates complacent behavior. A manager should continually seek to improve leadership skills. All other options are ways to improve personal leadership.

10. Excellent leaders need to have or develop the skills of empathy and expressiveness when dealing with others in the workplace. This is also known as understanding and managing own feelings and emotions as well as discerning the emotions of others. What is this an example of required by good leaders? a. Social awareness b. Self-awareness c. Emotional intelligence d. Intellectual ability

ANS: C Emotional intelligence is defined as understanding and managing our emotions with the added awareness of discerning the emotions of others. Many organizations will assess leaders for their level of emotional intelligence to assist the individuals understanding their ability to relate to others.

18. Which of the following is an example of a formal leadership position on a nursing unit? a. Staff nurse b. Unit secretary c. Unit manager d. Nursing assistant

ANS: C The unit manager of a nursing unit and is a formal leadership position. A formal leadership position is defined as a role that exerts influence over others and they are in charge.

2. As a nurse manager, you are a leader in health care and on the unit you manage. Looking at the larger picture of health care and patient environment on the unit, what is your primary role when evaluating the care provided on your nursing unit? a. Focus on cost outcomes. b. Assess staff for contentment on unit. c. Ensure quality patient care on unit. d. Provide education to the staff of the unit.

ANS: C Your primary role is a nurse manager is to ensure quality patient care is rendered. You must also focus on cost outcomes, assess your staff frequently, and provide education to the staff. However, as a leader in evaluating the larger picture of health care, quality care is a priority.

6. A new graduate nurse has accepted a position in an intensive care unit. The nurse is assigned a preceptor with several years of experience. The new nurse also notices the other staff seek this nurse out for answers to questions and as a resource to the unit. What does the new nurse consider the role of the mentor nurse? a. A formal leader b. A positional leader c. An official leader d. An informal leader

ANS: D Formal leaders, positional leaders, and official leaders hold positions of leadership or titles. In this scenario, the nurse is the formal leader of the unit. The nurse is noted to be an informal leader is one who does not hold an actual leadership title, but leads from an informal position based on experience and behavior.