Self-leadership of nurses in a critical care outreach service: The development of a conceptual framework

Globally, critical care outreach services (CCOS) were implemented in health care facilities; however, compliance with guidelines is poor. The authors have noticed that a gap exists in the literature on how self-leadership might influence nurses' implementation of CCOS. Self-leadership is about leadership applied to oneself. Critical care outreach services assist nurses with the nursing care of a patient whose health is declining. Leadership is needed for the successful implementation of CCOS.

This article aims to outline the method the authors followed for developing the conceptual framework for how self-leadership amongst nurses influenced the functioning of CCOS.

The research was conducted at a private hospital in Pretoria.

A qualitative approach was followed to provide an accurate description of nurses' experiences on their self-leadership in a CCOS. The practice-oriented theory of Dickoff (1968) was the reasoning map for developing and constructing the conceptual framework.

Bedside nurses experienced the following self-leadership strategies: constructive thought patterns, natural rewards and behaviours focused on their implementation of CCOS.

The conceptual framework was part of another study and provided the authors with a rationale that guided the authors with the development of self-leadership strategies in a CCOS.

The conceptual framework provided the authors with an understanding of how nurses' self-leadership influenced the implementation of CCOS. The conceptual framework can also assist in developing training programmes for nurses to improve their self-leadership and ultimately improve nurses' competence in providing quality nursing care to patients.