Letter to the Editor by Edwards to “Growing Nurse Leaders: Their Perspectives on Nursing Leadership and Today’s Practice Environment”

Promoting Healthy Work Environments: A Shared Responsibility

November 7, 2020

Response by Edwards to “Growing Nurse Leaders: Their Perspectives on Nursing Leadership and Today’s Practice Environment” by Dyess, Sherman, Pratt, & Chiang-Hanisko (January 14, 2016)

Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to the January 2016 Volume 21, Issue 1 article titled “Growing Nurse Leaders: Their Perspectives on Nursing Leadership and Today’s Practice Environment” (Dyess, Sherman, Pratt, & Chiang-Hanisko, 2016). I have been a nurse for twenty years and have been in several leadership roles. Although I am older than the Generation Y nurses, I agree with the content of this article and the importance of embracing the views of the emerging nurse leaders. As a young nurse starting, out I had some of the same unrealistic expectations of what the role of my nurse manager should be. I had no concept of the administrative responsibilities of my nurse manager and thought being a great leader meant they needed to work directly beside me giving bedside care. Fortunately, my view changed when I had a nurse manager who took me under her wing and let me shadow her. In this article, the importance of current leaders taking the time to nurture and foster leadership talent in nurses is imperative in growing successful leaders of tomorrow (Dyess et al., 2016).

As a BSN student with plans to pursue a graduate degree in leadership, this article gave me a renewed outlook on being a leader. I plan on using the knowledge gained from this article and applying it in my current practice as clinical supervisor. Dyess et al. (2016) research findings indicate a need to bridge the gap “in communication and understanding between nurse leaders and their staff to recruit and retain Generation Y nurses into leadership roles” (Para. 40).

Thank you for your time to read my response,

Kelly Edwards, BSN, RN

Reference

Dyess, S., Sherman, R., Pratt, B., & Chiang-Hanisko, L. (2016, January 14). Growing nurse leaders: Their perspectives on nursing leadership and today's practice environment. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 21(1). DOI: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol21No01PPT04