The Modern RN's (r)Evolution: How to Thrive and Succeed Through Empowerment

By Cristina Carballo-Perelman M.D.

The Modern RN's (r)Evolution is a book written for nurses to help them become empowered in their profession. Eleven attributes specifically geared for nurses are described with worksheets to assist develop these attributes personally.
The corporate infrastructure is also examined in the context of the nursing profession, with the goal of identifying the factors within these entities that are necessary to support nurses in their empowerment journey and acquisition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jul 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543940718

Book preview

© CristinaCarballo-Perelman, M.D. 2018

Print ISBN: 978-1-54394-070-1

eBook ISBN: 978-1-54394-071-8

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Table of Contents

DEDICATION

PREFACE

Introduction

The Glass Analogy

Having a Glass

Glass Half Empty

The Glass Half Full

PART ONE

ATTRIBUTES AND EMPOWERMENT

CHAPTER 1

Confidence

SYNOPSIS

WORKSHEET ON EXUDING CONFIDENCE

Chapter 2

Teamwork

SYNOPSIS

WORKSHEET ON BEING A TEAM PLAYER

Chapter 3

Honesty

SYNOPSIS

WORKSHEET ON HONESTY

Chapter 4

Compassion and Empathy

SYNOPSIS

WORKSHEET ON BEING COMPASSIONATE AND SHOWING EMPATHY

Chapter 5

Respect

SYNOPSIS

WORKSHEET ON RESPECTING OTHERS

Chapter 6

Humility

SYNOPSIS

WORKSHEET ON HUMILITY

Chapter 7

Acknowledgement of Others

SYNOPSIS

WORKSHEET ON ACKNOWLEDGING OTHERS

Chapter 8

Remaining Calm

SYNOPSIS

WORKSHEET ON ACHIEVING CALMNESS

Chapter 9

Courage

SYNOPSIS

WORKSHEET ON DEMONSTRATING COURAGE

Chapter 10

Wanting to Achieve Success

SYNOPSIS

WORKSHEET ON ACHIEVING SUCCESS

Chapter 11

Enjoying Your Work

SYNOPSIS

WORKSHEET ON ENJOYING LIFE

PART TWO

THE WORLD OF CORPORATE MEDICINE

Chapter 1

The Business Model

Chapter 2

Corporate Internal and External Social Responsibilities

The Importance of an Internal CSR in the Company You Work for or Want to Work For

The Relationship Between CSR, the Human Resources Department, and You, the Employee

Chapter 3

How to Use Your New Attributes to Empower Yourself at Work

FINAL WORKSHEET

HOW TO EVALUATE CORPORATE NONMALEFICENCE

Conclusion

AUTHOR BIO

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to all the nurses I have worked with who have dedicated their careers to the improvement of their patients’ lives, and the lives of their patients’ families.

I have watched them work tireless hours, often without any acknowledgement from their healthcare team.

I have watched them hold a patient’s dying hand, or hold a dying baby when families were too scared or not present.

I have watched them give comfort, ease pain, listen, and serve as their patients’ advocates despite criticism from others.

They are an amazing workforce who are the eyes, ears, and hands of physicians. They deserve the respect and acknowledgement as equal members of the team who are necessary to help heal the patients they treat.

Without them, the healthcare team cannot do the necessary job required for healing to occur.

This book is written to acknowledge the status they deserve within the healthcare team, and to advocate for the recognition they have earned. Simply put, they are vital and equal members of the entire healthcare team.

Finally, I dedicate this book to my daughter, Rachel, who is an awesome Pediatric Hematology/Oncology nurse, and I am so very proud of her and of the work she does for her patients and their families!

PREFACE

Before I venture into the world of the modern RN, I must give a nod to the amazing history of nursing that has brought us all to the place we are today. I cannot write about the awesome accomplishments nursing has brought to the field of medicine without mentioning the role that Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) had in creating a profession that allowed women (at the time) to be trained in the healing arts and to be recognized, not as low-class workers, but as a learned group of individuals capable of assisting in improving healthcare for all citizens. Nightingale’s contributions were impressive and helped create the foundations of nursing seen today in the United States. The first professional nurse in the United States, Linda Richards (1841–1930), was trained under Florence Nightingale, and upon her return to the US, Richards pioneered the founding and superintending of nursing training schools across the nation.

I would highly recommend that you continue to explore this rich history of nursing. It brings to light the obstacles women faced to be seen as true leaders in the field. In addition, it will remind you that although much has been accomplished since then, so much more still needs to be done to continue to catapult the nursing profession to be fully recognized as the important and equal partner and adjunct of the medical profession it truly is.

Perhaps you’re wondering, Why would I read a book for nurses that was written by an MD?

Well, I have worked side by side with nurses throughout my career as a neonatologist. Nurses are, and have always been, my eyes, ears, and hands for each patient we have taken care of together. I know that without them, I cannot do my job. I have seen their struggles against others who have disrespected their medical opinions, as well as others considering them nothing more than scribes and servants, taking down the orders and robotically performing the tasks at hand. It is because of this, that I have felt the need to speak out and advocate for this noble profession to continue to advance and be the respected group of professionals that they deserve to be, because they already are!

Let’s face it, because females make up the majority of the nursing profession (at 91%), I believe that women issues are intimately tied to the problems still plaguing nurses today. As the practice of nursing has moved into the corporate world, I believe that the predominance of women in nursing has kept the profession from advancing to the same degree as the traditionally male-dominated realms of healthcare have experienced. This continues to be true even as men enter the nursing profession and women become physicians. This stagnancy is in part because the definition of each role has been assigned certain descriptions that seem to pertain to one sex, despite the fact that both men and women are qualified for each profession.

Modern social psychologists describe the differences between men and women based on which group promotes the self and which promotes the group. They explain how that promotion of the self or the group is then manifested at work and in relationships. In general, women tend to be viewed as having more communal traits, which are described as dependent, nurturing, and submissive, hence their tendencies toward picking certain careers, such as nursing and teaching. These communal traits lend to them promoting the group. Men, on the other hand, are more often viewed as having agentic traits, which position them as strong, action-oriented, and independent.

These agentic traits gravitate towards the promotion of self. Even though, at first blush, these characteristics may seem like innocent descriptions of the norm, the implication, of course, is that the agentic traits trump the communal traits, since the former represents personal power while the latter de-emphasizes the self and envelops the group or community.¹

Unfortunately, these traditional gendered traits—agentic (male) versus communal (female)—lend themselves to artificial expectations on how each group should act. Men are expected to demonstrate agentic qualities, rarely displaying communal values, to be considered true leaders. Women, on the other hand, are expected to display the communal characteristics, which does not bode well for women in positions of traditional leadership.

It seems as though many can’t see that a combination of these traits could create a balanced and strong addition to the workplace.

If we then apply these