General guidelines for this assignment:

1. General presentation is to include 1.5 line spacing; 12 point font; 2 cms left and right margins, page numbering in the lower right of each page. Include your student number as a header on the upper right side of each page.

2. Double space between each paragraph

3. Adhere as closely as possible to the word count. A +/- 10% of the word limit is acceptable. Please indicate the word count at the conclusion.

Your word limit EXCLUDES in-text citation word counts.

4. The School of Nursing & Midwifery use the APA referencing style. It is important that you maintain consistency and accuracy throughout the assignment. Information on referencing styles can be found at http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing.

5. Save a copy of your assignment before submitting it. Please note academic staff are not responsible for lost assignments. While this rarely happens it is up to students to ensure that they have a copy of their assignment and are asked to produce it within a given time frame if their original is mislaid.

Academic integrity

Please take note of USQ's position regarding academic integrity.

Students who are suspected of a breach of academic integrity, or identified to have engaged in academic misconduct, will be referred to the Head of School, per USQ regulations: and formal investigation will proceed per the USQ academic misconduct framework.

Preamble

This assessment asks you to complete a critical reflection about leadership theory and attributes you have observed in clinical practice. The aim of the task is for you to critically reflect on the leadership style observed and to make some critical assumptions and attributes which may assist you in your future professional development. The aim is to help you connect the theory of leadership to practice events.

The task

Reflect on a recent clinical practice experience* where you have observed a situation that has demonstrated either exemplary leadership in action or where leadership was inadequate during the care and management of clients and / or staff.

Your essay should include an outline of the situation / incident (this is not included in the word limit) detailing the relevant events associated with the incident / situation, so that the reader clearly understands the situation and associated issues.

Identify who was involved, what occurred, challenges faced and the outcome.

Make sure you de-identify any information so that the people and venue involved remain anonymous.

A reflective framework is provided below to guide your analysis.

In your essay use a theory of leadership you have studied from your module activities to inform your analysis of the situation.

The essay also requires you to discuss the implications for your own leadership roles in your future nursing practice. Some of the leadership theories you have studied include:

• Transformational leadership
• Authentic theory/breakthrough leadership
• Servant leadership
• Congruent leadership

The 2000- word essay should cover the points below:

• Overview of Clinical Practice Situation (500 words approx. max): Discuss who was involved, what occurred, challenges faced and the outcome. Make sure you de-identify any information so that the people and venue involved remain anonymous, pseudonyms are fine to use.

• Introduction (100 words): State an overview of the clinical practice situation and the issues. Introduce the leadership theory that will form the basis for your critical analysis and give a brief mention of the implications for your own leadership in your future nursing practice.

• Initial reflections of the events (300 words): This section asks you to uncover your initial thoughts feelings about the event and the outcomes for all. It also asks you to think about all perspectives here (not just your own interpretation) and to uncover any implicit values / beliefs important to what happened in the event.

• Critical Analysis of the Clinical Practice situation using a selected leadership theory (900 words): You will need to draw on your understanding of the chosen leadership theory to explain the link between this theory and the actions, events and outcomes in the clinical practice situation. Analyse critically how leadership was demonstrated / not demonstrated appropriately according to the key elements of the theory and draw upon related peer reviewed literature to support your discussion.

• Implications for your own leadership practice (600 words): Explain how your critical analysis of leadership actions in the clinical practice situation will impact on your own leadership roles in your future nursing practice.

• Conclusion (100-150 words): Tie up the main issues and how they have related to the key issues of leadership theory. Briefly summarise the implications of your critical analysis on your own future leadership roles in nursing practice.

TIP:

A reflective framework for analysis is provided below and you can use the headings to guide the development and writing of your essay

Reflective framework for analysis

Reflecting on feelings and meanings (can be written in 1st person and referencing only required if you use any literature to inform any of the points below)

What initial feelings /thoughts did you have about the situation and the behaviours exhibited during the event / situation / incident?

What actions / outcomes were a consequence of the situation /event/ incident?

What inferences can be made values / beliefs underpinned the actions of those within the event / situation / incident?

What broad interpretations can be made about the events / actions of those involved and how is this supported by the values / beliefs / attitudes of self or others involved?

Critically analysing the meaning of actions / event / situation / incident (Referencing required)

What leadership concepts (or theory) are key to understanding the events of the situation / incident / event?

What actions / meanings are substantiated / not substantiated and linked / applied to the theory / literature?

Are the meanings / concepts validated / explored / critically discussed with reference to a broad range of literature?

Outcomes for professional development (Referencing required)

What strategies of leadership are detailed to address the issues next time?

The implications for your own leadership patterns are discussed, how you would approach differently / the same; the values / qualities important to achieve outcomes.

Is an action plan developed for future similar events for your own leadership roles e.g. examples are given to illustrate the range of outcomes / strategies identified from the reflection, any further learning required for professional & personal development, your own emerging philosophy of leadership.

2250 words

12 references