After the interview, I learned that strong nurses portray the characteristics of a leader through their own practice. In her position as a nurse in an assisted living facility, her role in leadership formal. She is a nurse supervisor. When asked about what resources are available to support her in her position, she stated that the nurse manager, the director of nurses, and human resources work wither her together as a team. They ensure that patient safety and quality care is provided for the residences. There are many responsibilities and characteristics that she has that makes her a leader at the nursing home. For instance, when asked how she has stayed up to date with current health practices and policies, she stated, “With the current COVID-19 pandemic, we have had to adapt to major changes at the facility. ” Her ability to adapt makes her a strong nurse and nurse leader. She explained that the facility had become closed to the public and visitors at the start of the pandemic. Today, the facility is slowly letting patient’s families in through “compassionate visits.” This means that one to two family members are allowed to visit a resident at a time after being screened and asked to wear googles and a mask. However, this is by appointment only and with limited capacity. The safety of their residences is their top priority. In her unit specifically, the memory care unit, it was not realistic to keep the patients in their individual rooms at the start of the pandemic. However, in the other units in the nursing home, the patients were required to quarantine in their rooms until weekly testing was completed and showed that there were no cases in both residences and employees. Now, the facility only requires quarantine of all residents if a residence or employee’s weekly COVID test comes back positive. This was a real challenge that she faced along with her fellow employees due to this pandemic. She understood the strain this put on the residents along with the families involved. She made sure that everyone understood why this had to be done especially at the start of the pandemic when everyone was sacred, confused, and overall unsure about the entire situation. This level of adaptability is a strong characteristic that makes her a nurse leader. In addition to these changes, she also ensured that fellow employees were diligent in maintaining their own safety for the sake of the residences. When asked how conflict is managed, she stated that she acts as a mediator to solve the issue. She gets permission from both parties to discuss what had happened, and then if both parties agree, they meet together to work out the presenting conflict. However, if the conflict is not resolved, she goes up in the chain of command and talks to the director of nursing and human resources to make them aware of the situation. Resolved or not, she stated that they must be aware. This role as a mediator in conflict makes her a strong nurse leader at the facility.

This interview influenced my feelings about nurse leadership by showing me that being a leader, whether formal or informal is an important part of being a nurse. I learned a lot about her role as a nurse in long-term care and the aspects of her position. This interview showed me that there are many aspects of her care she provides that make her a strong leader. Her role is highly important in assisted living care in ensuring patient safety and quality of life. She ensures that her care team understands what works for some patients, and what may not work for others. This ability to understand each patient, and educate other team members such as the licensed nurse assistants, medical nursing assistants, and nursing students about them shows that she is a strong leader in the facility. This new knowledge will go forward with me in my future practices as a new graduate nurse. I haven’t had experiences in long-term care, and this interview helped open up my understanding of the nurses position in this field.