Introversion in leadership

Anyone who has been reading my blog will know that I have been doing some leadership development. What has been absolutely fascinating to me in all of this, is the work I have done to help me to better understand myself. The theory and profiling that I have done is not unfamiliar to me, but the way in which we have been learning has been high impact. Group work involving the women leaders (my peers in my course) has enabled me to both understand why I feel, act and think in the ways that I do, as well as to better appreciate the perspectives of others. As one of the few introverts (Myers-Briggs definition) in the group, I have done some further reading around the area. I am particularly interested in the work of Susan Cain who herself is an introvert. I am currently reading her book (Quiet: The Power of Introverts) and it has really made me stop and think about how we organise learning in universities. We ask our students to work in small and large groups and in my experience offer students very little time to work quietly in the university environment. Yes - there are 'gaps' in the timetable and defined guided study. But I don't think that we properly consider the needs of introverts in what is a world that values extroversion. Susan Cain's work is a fascinating start in my thoughts around this area. Mainly I am happy that I am normal and not weird in the ways that I thought I was!

Students - aren't they amazing!

I have just finished marking some student dissertations today. As always, I come away from this process feeling that nursing education leads to the development of individuals who demonstrate strong academic ability, thoughtfulness in relation to the evidence-base, and commitment to the profession through their engagement with the learning process. I hope that they keep the attitudes, skills and characteristics that they have developed over the past 4 years as they move into newly-qualified roles in practice. One of the areas that interests me is how people's attitudes can change as they work in clinical areas. I realise that the last sentence is a sweeping statement and one which only applies to some people. However, I am optimistic that the change to the NMC Standards (and therefore to the education that we are all providing) will impact positively on practice - through students who are prepared for the realities of contemporary (and future) practice, and through a shift in perspective that should impact on the way in which nursing is viewed across the multi-professional team.

The UK policy divide?

I make a very obvious statement here - health policy is becoming increasingly divided across the UK nations. The stark contrast between the conversations that I was listening to amongst colleagues in London, and those that we conduct in Scotland seem to be pulling us further apart. I don't really wish to make too much of a political statement (as how can I on the one hand wish for greater similarity/joined-upness while feeling relieved that Scotland's health policy isn't that of England's?). However, it has been very interesting for me to be exposed to the realities of the changes in England - albeit vicariously through my colleagues' experiences - and to appreciate the testing times that are faced across the health sector in England. That is not to underestimate the challenges in Scotland - and the similarities in relation to the need to ensure that we deliver safe, effective person-centred care in challenging contexts. Educationally speaking, we will need to ensure that we prepare our students so that they have a voice and can use their voices to influence policy in a way that doesn't seem to have happened recently in England (despite their voices being heard, health professionals have not managed to impact in the way they would have wished in relation to the current health policy). Part of the process of transformation through education includes, for me, the development of confidence, skills and knowledge to enable our students to engage effectively with policy debate.

A tiny impact on professionalism

This may sound like a bit of a rant, but I wish that people would greet me properly when they email me. If I get a simple 'Ruth'  without a hello, hi or dear I feel like I would if the person was shouting to me down a corridor. 'Hey' is common amongst students - it must be a sign of getting older, but hey used to indicate something negative (hey, you!). Maybe it's not important but it feels like a little bit of professionalism slips away when emails address me without a simple greeting of hi/hello/dear. We as educators are role models for our students. We are also part of a caring profession. When a small slip in communication occurs (even when the communication is virtual), for me there is an equal slip towards dissatisfaction with an interaction. We all know that many complaints in healthcare stem from poor communication. Personally, I think it helps if we always use a respectful approach when dealing with people - formally, informally, electronically, in person.
Thank you for reading!

Thinking about compassion

I've been a bit quiet on the blog for a couple of reasons - returning from my trip to Australia and catching up, thinking about how best to engage through the blog with the wider academic community, and considering what I want to say about what I have been reading recently regarding compassion and education.

It seems to me that most commentators disconnect compassion from education. It is almost as if it is (probably) ok to educate nurses to degree level, but we mustn't forget about compassion (the implication for me is that compassion and education are two separate entities). I can't think of any educator that I know who would not consider that compassion/caring/attitudes/professional values etc etc were not an integral part of the degree level education that we offer students. I firmly believe that compassion should be part of the overall academic development of a student - graduate attributes reflect certain characteristics and for nursing it seems absolutely appropriate that we name this as something that we aspire to with all our graduates. I fully appreciate that nursing students need to have certain inherent characteristics. But I also strongly believe that a good education (in the university alongside practice) can assist students to develop compassion as part of an overall evidence-based approach to working with patients and others in practice.

In the land down under

Have recently arrived in Sydney Australia for the second phase of my study tour (phase 1 was Seattle). I've met up with some excellent colleagues at University of Technology Sydney. We may be on the opposite ends of the globe, but we all seem to be grappling with similar issues. I was interested to hear about UTS's push to increase research capacity within what was once a mainly teaching focused organisation. They seem to be having great success in this - through established researchers and the development of new researchers. I look forward to finding out more.

I've had a chance to hear a bit more about pre-registration nursing education in Australia and the most striking difference that I have found so far is that students do around 860 hours clinical practice in UTS over their 3 years (as opposed to the 2300 hours required in the UK). I'm looking forward to meeting with colleagues to discuss practice and some of the challenges that I've already heard about - not least the capacity in practice to take students.

The sun isn't shining, but Sydney is warm and welcoming!

Travelling.....

I am currently preparing for a trip to Australia - to Sydney - and to meet with colleagues at the University of Technology Sydney as part of my Florence Nightingale Foundation leadership scholarship. It's an exciting prospect, not least because I was last in Sydney in 1987 when my friend Sarah and I packed our bags after we had qualified and set off to see the world. We saw quite a bit of that world in Sydney when we worked as agency nurses in Kings Cross Hospital. Having only been qualified for 6 months, we certainly felt that we learnt a lot about all sorts of specialties, and about management of care in an international setting. I have  always remembered those experiences, and value the learning even now. One of the amazing things about choosing a career in nursing is the opportunities that exist for us internationally. Some of the students that are in my personal tutor group, and who finish this year, hope to travel at some point in their career. I hope they do - as moving out of our comfort zone brings something extra into our professional practice when we come home again.