Personal Leadership Experience At A Toronto District...

It has been previously thought that leadership skills were innate, however on the contrary it is truly a learned skill that requires development to master. Nurses are the largest health care profession in Canada, and the majority are at the forefront of direct patient care. With that being said, their position and numbers in health care enables them to improve patient outcomes, transform the health care system, and to build individual and community capacities through the use of leadership. By developing and acquiring leadership skills through experiences, training, and education, nurses are capable of facilitating such. This paper aims to explore how I have displayed leadership in my third year placement through analysis and literature†¦show more content†¦The topics that are fundamental to this age group are injury prevention, dental hygiene, hand hygiene, and healthy eating based on the Canada s Food Guide and Dieticians of Canada recommendations. These issues among stu dents have been addressed through health promotion, and capacity building according to the students health literacy skills through lessons, workshops, and activities. Sigma Theta Tau International (2005) explains that evidence based practice is composed of research findings, patient preferences, and clinicians experiences (as cited in Cullen Adams, 2010). This leadership experience is related to the topic of evidence based practice as my role in health promotion, childhood education, health literacy and capacity building within the school has been based upon research findings, client inputs, and my experiences. For instance, how germs are spread, when hand washing is appropriate, and the length of hand washing. I have incorporated research findings, client preferences in teaching (e.g. experiments, and hands on activities), as well as my personal experiences (e.g. how to motivate and inspire children to change behaviours) into content of my lessons. In addition, I have been able t o apply evidence based practice and other literature findings related to my topics through presentations and activities, such as preventative interventions for cavities, illnesses, injury, and obesity. This topic is significant for nursing leadership and