Nursing Stewardship Christianity Paper

Introduction

In nursing profession, stewardship has evolved as a crucial issue of nurse leadership. In the Genesis, the Almighty God chooses humans as the stewards of all creation (Fouché, 2011). In Genesis 1: 26-30, God says that they will make man in their own likeness and image, and will have dominion over all the other creations. Therefore, God anticipates man to become His stewards with all the creations on the earth. Stewardship is the act of holding a property in trust of another person. The values of compassion and care linked with determined bedside nurse require an attitude toward stewardship (Downs, 2008). Becoming a successful nurse needs the judgment, the planning, the caring, the skills, and the compassion. Moreover, nurses need to focus on the ever-changing character of the profession (Elgi, 2007). In a successful long-term care, the values of stewardship are needed to plan the future. Nurses should also adapt to servant-leadership style that requires listening, empathy, healing, awareness and perceptions, stewardship and foresight (Downs, 2008).

Servant leaders require listening skills in order to value the ideas and opinions from others. A nurse should develop the skills that help in conflict resolution and participation at every level and build a culture in the community. A servant leader is also determined to empathize with others (Downs, 2008). Nurse leaders can promote empathy by doing tasks with the nursing assistants. They should also understand the root cause of unacceptable behavior that can help them to improve. The concept of healing is also crucial to nursing as they seek wholeness. Therefore, servant-leader should serve as a healing force.

Additionally, they should appreciate the value of spirit in every individual that acts as therapeutic agent. Nurses should use awareness to know the issues of values, ethics, and power. The servant leader uses awareness to incorporate several aspects in developing a holistic position (Downs, 2008). They should also be persuasive in decision making in the organization.

Powers of persuasion help nurses to establish the culture of harmony and cooperation in the nursing environment. Therefore, they use persuasion instead of dictating rules. A nurse-leader should also have a vision or idea that shows how to improve things beyond the traditional methods of delivering care. A servant leader should be foresighted which helps him or her to see beyond the projects and possible outcomes (Downs, 2008). A nurse should also develop flexible schedule that helps others to develop their capacities, and on-site childcare benefits. They should also be committed to build a community that encourages every member to contribute to the whole.

Nurse stewards are able to make significant change in the profession because they have the ability to apply their characters such as courage and self-discipline (Murphy, 2009). With emerging new responsibilities in the profession, partnership with nursing research will be highly essential to establish a mechanism of assessment and evaluation. Unlike medicine where medical diagnostics is properly defined, nursing looks for patterns because it is holistic, and both intuitive and artful (Buppert, 2008).

Nurse leaders who utilize stewardship in their career can help other nurses in developing the practice of being present to patients as they attempt to end suffering, illness, and disease experience (Elgi, 2007). In promoting and preserving the capacity of nurses to respond to patients with sensitivity, both practicing nurses and nurse stewards may facilitate to the emergence of quality environment in health care.

In being available to clients, the nurse should appropriately understand the moral character of the experience of others or interpret the kind of situation another person is living in order to choose principles and values to act upon (Buppert, 2008). The future nurse stewards will be directly involved in working with nurse practitioners aiming to change the practice environment where they work. In this regard, they transform the practice environment to become more engaged, healthy, and positive (Elgi, 2007). Nursing stewardship involves accreditation and regulatory aspects of the profession. Additionally, nursing stewards collaborate with regulatory boards to enhance the standards of practice and certification, which support the nurses in health care delivery. Nurses should apply stewardship just like land stewards.

The land stewards care for the land in a manner that it improves and maintains its health. In this regard, nurses should apply stewardship to care for the patients in a way that improves or maintains their health. It also helps in decision making because a nurse steward is required (Elgi, 2007). Furthermore, nurse stewards may contribute to nurses’ transformation in the epistemology of practice by utilizing the concept of society of inquiry in hospital units. Therefore, nurses may appraise cognitively and emotionally their experience in nursing with one another (Buppert, 2008). Successful nurse stewardship requires combing the art of wifely and husbandry. Nurses should concentrate on the stewardship of health utilizing their hard and soft nursing skills (Elgi, 2007).

Conclusion

In the book of Genesis 1:26-30, the almighty God makes man the stewards of all other creation. Therefore, man holds a crucial role in holding God’s trust in leadership roles. As a nurse, I should adapt to servant-leadership style that requires listening, empathy, healing, awareness and perceptions, stewardship and foresight. In addition, I require listening skills to value the ideas and opinions from others. As a nurse steward, I will be able to make significant change in the profession because I have the ability to apply traces of my character such as courage and self-discipline. Furthermore, I will contribute to nurses’ transformation in the epistemology of practice by utilizing the concept of society of inquiry in hospital units.

References

Buppert, C. (2008). Nurse practitioner’s business practice and legal guide. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett.

Downs, F. C. (2008). The servant-leadership worldview in long-term care nursing. Annals of Long Term Care, 15(8), 36.

Elgi, R., (2007). Nursing and the Art of Stewardship. Med-Surg Nursing, 16(5).

Fouché, N. (2011) Stewardship in health care, in the nursing profession, and of self. Gale, Cengage Learning

Murphy, N. S. (2009). Nurse leaders as stewards: The Beginning of Change. The open nursing journal, 3, 39.