Coaching and mentoring as a core competency
Coaching and mentoring should be a core competency of nurses prepared at the graduate level because of the rising need for disease prevention and enhancement of wellness in society (Hayes, 2005). The main goals of coaching and mentoring are to improve health outcomes and lower the cost of health care (Haidar, 2007). In today’s society, people face many nutritional, economic, physical, emotional, social, and cultural challenges that affect their health. Therefore, it is necessary to have professionals who possess the knowledge and skills to coach and guide them on how to improve their health and wellbeing. An important factor of holistic nursing practice is empowering people to comprehend and embrace their health conditions, have hope, and understand themselves as well as the effect of their lifestyles on their wellbeing (Hayes, 2001). For instance, living with a chronic illness is tough and expensive. Nurses help such patients understand, accept and manage their situations. They also show them how to live effectively without compromising the quality of their lives. It is also important for nurses to guide individuals, strengthen their self-belief, and inculcate the attitude that they can handle their health conditions by changing their attitudes, behaviors, and lifestyles (Hayes & Kalmakis, 2007).
A coaching activity that one can do as a nurse practitioner
As a nurse practitioner, there are several coaching activities I can do in an advanced nursing practice role. One of these activities is helping depressed patients change their behaviors and lifestyles to improve their wellness. Many people who suffer from depression lack the power, will, and knowledge to change their ways of living to improve their health outcomes. As a nurse practitioner, I would help the patients eradicate depression by helping them to understand the effect of certain habits on their health, set clear goals to change their decisions and actions, and offer information on how to achieve their goals (Hayes & Kalmakis, 2007). This would involve the application of self-reflective, clinical, technical, and personal skills gained in the course of working as a nurse practitioner (Harrington, 2011). I would apply several strategies in order to ensure that patients change their lifestyles and improve their health and wellness. These strategies would include one-on-one discussions, practical demonstration of the benefits of adopting a new lifestyle, and initiation of interactions with people who have been successful in attaining similar goals. These strategies would help the patients change their attitudes and outlook on life and realize that changing their ways of living is both easy and inevitable because others have done it. Application of clinical and technical skills would involve administration of appropriate medication while application of self-reflective and personal skills would involve changing their attitudes, behaviors, and thinking patterns.
A mentoring activity one can complete with a mentor
One mentoring activity that I might complete with a mentor that would help me to get used to the role of advanced practice nurses is an improvement of communication skills. Nurses are usually patients’ advocates and serve as links between patients and their families as well as links between patients and other hospital staff (Hill & Sawatzky, 2011). Interactions among nurse practitioners, patients, and other medical staff are very important in care delivery. Receiving mentoring on how to improve my communication and interpersonal skills would help me to acclimate to my new role as a nurse practitioner. The activity should be structured to improve its efficacy by ensuring that all aspects are covered. Effective communication skills comprise one of the core competencies of nurse practitioners that help them to improve the health outcomes of patients (Hill & Sawatzky, 2011).
References
Haidar, E. (2007). Coaching and mentoring Nursing Students. Nursing Management, 14(8), 32-35.
Harrington, S. (2011). Mentoring New Nurse Practitioners to Accelerate their Development as Primary Care Providers: A Literature Review. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 23(4), 168-174.
Hayes, E. (2005). Approaches to Mentoring: How to Mentor and Be Mentored.” Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 17(11), 442-445.
Hayes, E. (2001). Mentoring and Self-Efficacy for Advanced Nursing Practice: A Philosophical Approach for Nurse Practitioner Preceptors. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 10(2), 53-57.
Hayes, E., & Kalmakis, K. (2007). From the Sidelines: Coaching as a Nurse Practitioner Strategy or Improving Health Outcomes. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 19(11), 55-562.
Hill, L., & Sawatzky, JA. (2011). Transitioning into the Nurse Practitioner Role Through Mentorship.” Journal of Professional Nursing, 27(3), 161-167.