RKOT Task 1
Student 281761
A. Certificate of Completion: IHI Open School Basic Certificate of Completion has been submitted with this paper.

B. Leadership Strategies

The most important thing that a nurse can do on an interdisciplinary team to exert leadership without occupying a formal leadership position is to adopt a leadership stance. Leadership is a characteristic not inherently possessed by everyone who is in a formal leadership position. This is a skill that can be developed by anyone. By using techniques adopted from successful leaders, each member of the healthcare team can made a difference in patient care, quality outcomes, and safety.
One fundamental leadership technique discussed in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Leadership 101 course is “to form a clearer picture of the real situation by gathering data, not just listening to opinions.” (IHI Open School for Health Professions, n.d.). A successful leader analytically reviews objective data surrounding the current situation, and then uses that data to form his or her opinion of the problem. A leader does not use the subjective data obtained from others as a basis of his or her opinion.
Objective data is indisputable and can be continually measured and repeated during a change process to definitively decide if the change has been successful (Objective v. Subjective, n.d.). Subjective reasoning can be flawed for many reasons. One that is frequently present in healthcare is emotions. In the business of providing care to other human beings, our emotions can cloud our reasoning and judgment. This can lead to our mood changing the facts to mirror our beliefs. Additionally, interpersonal relationships with those on our team and/or our patients can cloud our objectivity (Objective v. Subjective, n.d.).
Another leadership technique discussed in Leadership 101 that a nurse can use is