In health care today nurses are confronted with the challenge of leading a variety of people; whether it is patients, families, co-workers or communities; the need for leadership and organizational skills are in demand more now than ever. The goal of this paper is to further discuss the purpose of my leadership development plan utilizing professionals, peer-reviewed articles, and credible websites that pertain to each of my SMART goals. The SMART goal topics that I have chosen are to improve upon my communication skills and to decrease the length of stay of clients with congested heart failure. Communication is a major component in delivering optimal care to our clients; as well as providing a cohesive and organized workplace. There
Karen also states that “communication with co-workers is fundamental to achieve a common goal and is a crucial component in influencing the staff to engage”. As nurses face an increase pressure from many directions whether it is to improve patient care or in adapting to persistent nursing staff shortages; effective communication can enhance the nurse’s ability to be proactive in critical situation and improve their overall productivity in everyday activities. My second SMART goal is to work with physicians and case management to decrease the length of stay of CHF patients in our facility. Decreasing length of stay has become top priority for many hospitals. An increase in the length of stay has translated into millions of dollars in expenses each year for hospitals. Extended hospital stays add work to an already overburdened staff, creating a less efficient work environment and requiring more resources from overstrained hospital funds. In the article Use of Multidisciplinary Rounds to Simultaneously Improve Quality Outcomes, Enhance Resident Education, and Shorten Length of Stay; the authors describe the challenge in decreasing the length of stay while allocating appropriate resources. The article suggests that “Multidisciplinary teams broadening their scope to the general inpatient medical wards have produced improvements in satisfaction and LOS” (O'Mahony, Mazur, Charney, Wang, & Fine, 2007). The article proposes that utilizing a multidisciplinary approach