Question: Building Power as the New Nurse

You have been an RN for 3 years. Six months ago, you left your position as a day charge nurse at one of the local hospitals to accept a position at the public health agency. You really miss your friends at the hospital and find most of the public health nurses older and aloof. However, you love working with your patients and have decided that this is where you want to build a lifetime career. Although you believe that you have some good ideas, you are aware that because you are new, you will probably not be able to act as change agent yet. Eventually, you would like to be promoted to agency supervisor and become a powerful force for stimulating growth within the agency. You decide that you can do a few things to build a power base. You spend a weekend designing a personal power-building plan.

ASSIGNMENT: Make a power-building plan. Give six to ten specific examples of things you would do to build a power base in the new organization. Provide rationale for each selection. (Do not merely select from the general lists in the text. Outline specific actions that you would take.) It might be helpful to consider your own community and personal strengths when solving this learning exercise.