Interview with Health Care Leader

NUR 492
October 8, 2012

Interview with Health Care Leader
Leaders are someone that can be a positive influence in anyone’s life. Leaders are someone that people look up to and remember that person throughout his or her lives. The leader exerts influence by using a flexible repertoire of personal behaviors and strategies (Sullivan, Decker, 2009). The leader I chose to interview was the Infection Prevention Coordinator of the hospital. A leader needs to have personal skills, be knowledgeable, be able to adapt to his or her environment, and lead by example. The hospital Infection Prevention Coordinator in the hospital I work at has the qualities of a leader. The hospital Infection Prevention Coordinator has been employed at our hospital for eighteen years. She has held different positions while employed at the hospital. She stated that she first worked as a nurse manager in the med surge unit and ten years ago became the Infection Prevention Coordinator. She states that she has been in nursing for over thirty-five years; she got her BSN and then worked for her Master’s in Health Education. She stated that she wanted the position of Infection Prevention Coordinator to help the community as well as the hospital from communicable disease. When asked the question “How would you describe a leader?” the IPC answered, “A leader is someone that is not selfish and incorporates listening skills, communication, and being available to staff at all times.” The reason she became the Infection Prevention Coordinator was that she noticed that there were things the hospital did not offer their employees that she thought were valuable. For instance, the hospital did not have a new employee orientation that she thought was important for all new employees. She could implement this program for the hospital, she is in charge of organizing