Reflection: an educational strategy to develop emotionally-competent nurse leaders

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Leadership Development
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Nurses transition from controlled education to complex clinical practice.
• Developing self-awareness and emotional intelligence is crucial for clinical competence and leadership.
• Increasing patient complexity and quality of care demands skilled nurse leaders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore educational strategies for nurses focusing on reflectivity.
• To promote self-awareness, communication, and compassionate leadership skills.
• To prepare nurses for leading with presence amidst change.

Main Methods:

• Integrating theoretical and experiential learning with reflection.
• Utilizing pedagogies that foster emotional and intellectual competence.
• Developing new methods for assessing learner outcomes.

Main Results:

• Reflection is a foundational strategy for developing competent nurse leaders.
• Experiential learning combined with reflection enhances leadership capabilities.
• Self-awareness through reflection improves individual and organizational performance.

Conclusions:

• Empirical evidence supports reflection's role in preparing emotionally capable nurse leaders.
• Nurturing reflective learning environments cultivates effective nurse leaders.
• Emotionally competent nurse leaders drive organizational growth and societal change.