Hiring Journal Entry

I expected to learn about the things that go into interview preparation and the way that managers handle interviewing and the interviewing process.  I also expected to learn about the way that organizations organize things and the way that hiring is done in different organizations.  I can be nervous at times going into the interview, but I never thought about the fact that the manager could also be nervous or effort that the manager puts into the interview and the process.

I learned quite a bit more than I expected to learn.  I learned about behavior based questions and the ways and types of questions that take place in interviews in order for managers to get an idea of how candidates behave and react to the situation and/or question.  The actual questions that can get asked is something else that is involved in the hiring process.  There are a number of questions that cannot be discussed in the interview process, unless the interviewee brings them up, then some of the follow up questions can be asked.

I enjoyed the process of coming up with questions to interview someone that does the interviewing for a company.  This will give the insight into how the other side of an interview is done and prepared for.  I look forward to being able to interview the person with our questions and seeing how it goes.  

The information learned in this module will be invaluable as I go forward in my nursing career.  I do not plan to be a low level employee for long.  I want to get involved in the leadership and management of a company soon, and this will be very important thing.  This will also be important the next time that I am looking for a position.  It will help me have a better idea of what to expect from the interviewer.  

This information from this hiring module has a lot of real world applications that I will be able to use for years to come.  I had a job interview for an RN position a couple of months ago, and it was a fun experience.  As I was thinking about it, there were a number of behavior based questions asked and it was a form filled out from HR that they were using to interview me.  This is pretty cool to see the inner workings of this. 

Leadership Post

This week, I was expecting to gain a further knowledge into what it takes to be a leader and the traits that go into being an effective leader.  I would also like to be able to learn the skills that ineffective leaders use so that I will be able to avoid those types of attributes. 

Watching Ender’s Game this week was entertaining.  It was fun to be able to use a movie to be able to learn of both effective and ineffective skills and to see a visual representation of those skills and traits.  I also was able to take the DISC test to see the types of skills that I have and the areas that I need to work on to be a more rounded leader. 

It was really interesting to see the different viewpoints of all team members in regards to wait makes a leader.  Being able to see what others view as traits about leaders is an interesting way to gain insight into what I really feel about it.  It is also a great way to discuss and to have a conversation about the leadership qualities. 

Leadership is a vital key in any role in a workplace, but nursing and leadership seem to go hand in hand.  After doing the leadership and nursing activity of traits and characteristics, it became much clearer in how nursing and leadership go hand in hand.  I will use this information to make sure that I always give the highest quality care to my patients as well as my team members that I work with.  While I may not have a managerial role, I will still implement the leadership skills and traits that I have learned this week. 

I really enjoy learning about what makes great leaders great.  Leaders are needed in all walks of life and I know that no matter the role that I take in my career, it is important to have great leadership qualities to fall back on in order to help with the nursing aspect. 

Leadership Qualities

This post is about leadership qualities, but leadership qualities are actually nursing qualities at the same time.  

1.       Leadership requires personal mastery – Nurses demonstrate leadership when they show competence and mastery in the tasks they perform. Nurses are deemed competent by means of a license to practice nursing (NLN 2010).

2.       Leadership is about values – Nurses are privy to a number of very sensitive topics and material that could be quite damaging to others if the information was to get out.  Nurses have consistently been rated as one of the most trustworthy professions.  The reason for this is due to the high moral character which is required of nurses in order to fulfill their daily tasks as nurses. 

3.       Leadership is about service – Nursing, while this is a job and career, is a work of service.  Nurses are constantly serving the patients that they have been assigned.  Nursing is caring, and as a nurse cares for their patient, they will be more effectively serving their patients.  

4.       Leadership is about people and relationships – Nurses are constantly meeting new people and helping new patients.  Relationships play a vital role in nursing.  Effective nurses need to be able to gain the confidence of their patients while usually only having a very limited time to spend with the patients.  If the nurse is able to gain the patient's confidence, then they will be more likely to listen as well as take advice from the nurse.

5.       Leadership is contextual – At times, nurses must make judgment calls and make meaning of things that could have multiple meanings.  They do have resources at their disposal, but it is up to the nurse to find meaning in a sometimes difficult situation. 

6.       Leadership is about the management of meaning – Nurses use communication in everything that they do.  It is important for the nurses to be able to manage the meanings of the communication that take place between the nurse and doctor, nurse and assistive personnel, other nurses and even the patients.  It is important to make sure that everyone is on the same page as far as treatments and other things that take place at the hospital. 

7.       Leadership is about balance – Nurses are always trying to find a balance in their work.  Most nurses have more than one patient at a time and have to be able to juggle all of the other responsibilities associated with their job.  It is important for a nurse to be able to spend enough time with a patient to gain their confidence, but not too much as to take time away from others.  There is a balance that needs to be struck in order for the nurse to be successful. 

8.       Leadership is about continuous learning and improvement – The field of nursing and medicine is constantly changing, adapting, and improving.  In order for a nurse to continue to practice effectively, they must be continuously learn and improve.  It is important for a nurse to also be cognizant that the material learned is evidence based, so that it is the most up to date and valid information.  

9.       Leadership is about effective decision making – Nurses have to make decisions in a matter of seconds that can be the difference between life and death.  Not only must a nurse make a quick decision, it must also be the correct decision in order to effectively save lives at times.  Nurses also make decisions about the assessments that are performed and the treatments that need to take place with a patient.  There are decisions made every shift, be it big or small, that will be done by the nurse for the patients they serve.  

10.   Leadership is a political process – Politics is all about relationships and management of those relationships.  Whether the nurse likes it or not, politics is everywhere.  In order for a nurse to have a successful career and be successful in their shift, they need to gain the confidence of others and to make the relationships so that they are not working alone in their tasks. 

11.   Leadership is about modeling – Nurses are to be models to their patients. It is very difficult for a nurse to tell a patient that they should stop smoking if the nurse is doing the very thing they told their patient not to do.  Nurses are constantly in a teaching role and as such need to be living the things that they are teaching or else the teaching will be very ineffective. 

12.   Leadership is about integrity – Nurses are entrusted with very sensitive information on a daily basis about individuals.  There are HIPAA guidelines and requirements that have been set up to help protect health information, but I hope to think that nurses would keep the information on a need to know basis regardless of HIPAA.   

Disc Test

I just finished taking a personality test known as a the DISC test.  DISC stands for Dominant, Influential, Steady, Conscientious.  I was not quite sure how I would do on this personality test, except I was fairly sure that I would not be the dominant personality.  It is just not who I am.  This doesn't mean that I can't be if the situation requires it, but it is not usually my nature to be so.  There were fifteen questions that I had to choose a specific adjective describing myself.

The results from the test were as follows:  

Dominant - 2

Influential - 5

Steady - 4

Conscientious - 4

This tells me a couple of things.  First, that I am an influential person, which is not overly shocking to me.  Second, while I may be influential, I'm more of a hybrid of a number of different personalities.  I'm not sure if this is a way of diagnosing myself with multiple personality disorder or just realizing that I try to strike a balance in who I am, which I feel is a good thing.  I don't think this was a new revelation about myself.  I know that I'm someone that puts a lot of thought into things and can be easy to get along with while being able to influence others.  

The way that I have tried to lead in the past is usually by example and by gaining the trust of those with whom I am working.  I believe that the people will work better when I am working side by side with them, even though I know this is not always the case.  This will help me to realize the strengths that I have and the types of people I will need to surround myself with in order to have a team that is made up of individuals from all backgrounds and personality types to have a well rounded team.  

The knowledge gained from this test will help me to be sure that if I truly want to be more well rounded, then I need to work on attaining the personality traits of the dominant more than when it is called upon to do so.  I need to take risks and be adventurous with myself.  I could be a bit more outgoing and have another weapon in my arsenal of leadership to help others to follow me!!

Below are a list of the results from the personality test that I took and what each category means.

The results of the DISC Personality Test will tell you the various degrees of each personality trait you are. If you have most of your checks on the first column, then you are a D(dominant) person.

D (Dominant)
A dominant person generally is a direct, positive and straightforward person. He likes to be in charge, do things fast and wants immediate results for his efforts. He is a determined, independent person who likes to solve problems and face challenges.

People who belong to this category are probably the sales superstars and the kind of strong, entrepreneurial leaders. They are people you want to have around in your organization. They are very results oriented and you can expect to see things getting done efficiently. However, they have very low patience and you must continually engage them to keep them in the organization.

They will stay with you to the extent that they feel that following you helps them to achieve their personal goals for their life. Also, they might be cause for some conflicts between people because they’re more task oriented and they would probably step on some toes along the way. Be careful about putting two D's in the same team, conflict will always arise from two strong-headed individuals.

If you have most of your checks in the second column, you’re an I(influential).

I (Influential)
An influential person is a very people oriented person. They are friendly outgoing, sociable and they often are around friends. They define themselves by their relationships and they thrive on social contact. They can get along well with most people because they are generally interested in people.

These people are important in an organization because they bring the human touch to the organization. They can make newer people in your organization feel welcome and a sense of belonging.

However, these people are generally not very good at doing tasks well; they are generally less meticulous and would miss out certain details in their work. Learn to use these people accordingly because while they may not perform certain tasks well, they are essential to building an relationship-based organization.

If you have most of your checks in the third column, you’re an S(steady).

S (Steady)
Most Singaporeans, or Asians fall into this category of personalities. Steady individuals generally thrive supporting a D(dominant) leader and doing the work behind the scenes.

These people are loyal, have good self-control, often good listeners and tend to want to avoid disagreements and conflicts.

They are good in an organization because you need people who can be supportive and loyal in your organization. Not everyone can be the one to receive the honour, not everyone can be the head of a team or an organization, but the S(steady) individuals are usually happy where they are. That’s why S(steady) people are absolutely essential for any team to work.

S(steady) personalities generally work well in support roles like managerial roles or as assistants to heads of departments.

If you have most of your checks in the fourth column, you’re an C(conscientious).

C (Conscientious)
Conscientious people are very useful in any organization; they are precise and given to detail. They are very systematic people and they need a lot of information when performing a project. They are like the S(steady) people and they would choose to avoid conflict and tend to be more accommodating to others.

When you are planning something in your organization, you need conscientious people to be around to check you. Sometimes they are able to see things that you can’t, and have foresight about particular events or scenarios that might arise and make provision for them.

You can use this simple test and do it with your team in about 10 minutes or so. When people understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, you’ll find that they are more willing to adapt and compromise for each other’s shortcomings.

That is how you must be as a leader too. Understand that your team has different personalities and leverage on each of their strengths to make your organization a stronger one.

My introduction

My name is Paul Shuman.  I am a nursing student at Utah Valley University currently working on my BSN.  I am creating this reflective journal to help in my progress in the Nursing Leadership course (NURS 4500) to be able to look back on this course for some valuable insight that I may have forgotten.  Leadership is such a vital tool.  This is not only in nursing, but in any career and also in everyday life.