Last year 2020 was designated as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife by the World Health Organisation in recognition of the contributions they make, and the risks associated with nursing shortages. The Leadership Development Program (LDP) was launched as part of RSL Care SA’s support of this world-wide initiative. Since May 2020, 13 of our Registered and Senior Nurses and 2 of our Care Services Leaders have committed to an intensive leadership program to develop the current and emerging (nurse) leaders of the organisation to create strong and trusting relationships and build confidence and resilience to harness the potential of our current and emerging leaders.
Program Objectives:
- Demonstrate (nursing) leadership in developing high performing teams that have a culture of success and achievement
- Lead (health) workplace cultures through innovation, redesign and change
- Apply the fundamentals of leadership to the workplace
- Identify key factors when evaluating effective workplace performance (and patient care)
- Demonstrate self-awareness and resilience that empowers them as a (nurse) leader
- Lead a significant cross-organisational improvement project
Sessions held have covered topics
- What is leadership?
- Characteristics of an effective leader
- Importance of communication
- Differing communication styles and how to adapt our style effectively
- Self-awareness and JOHARI window
- Time Management
- Difficult conversations
- Giving and Receiving Feedback
- Change management
- Team performance and leadership
- Personal and professional values
On Friday 5th of February, the participants of the Leadership Development Program graduated after presenting their case studies and business proposals to members of the RSL Care SA Board and Management. Throughout the program, participants were placed into groups, based on their communication styles and personal profiling, and were tasked to identify areas of the business where they could see improvements could be made to benefit residents and their families. Heartfelt testimonials were also given by staff members about the personal and professional learnings they have gained from being a part of this Leadership Development Program.