This course is intended to develop leadership qualities for every student who will find
themselves in professional nursing roles. Opportunities for nursing leadership are not bound to
official job title or place in the health care organization, in that client advocacy at the most
fundamental level requires leadership for relationship building and for change. Nurses in direct
care, management, education or administrative roles will benefit from the ideas, strategies, and
potential outcomes provided by knowledge of leadership principles. This course will assist every
nursing student to gain a better understanding of leadership techniques and principles and of
their own strengths for managing change.
This course is intended introduce the student to the dynamics and issues of teams, organizations,
and the health care system that require effective leadership interventions and proactive
leadership strategies. The core theme of the course is self-development of leadership attributes,
such that every student will be able to recognize effective strategies and will be able to
implement selected strategies at the appropriate time and place. To achieve this end, some self-
evaluation of traits and styles will be necessary. A review of nursing literature for
applications of leadership for success in nursing roles will be required for selected
assignments.
Course assignments are designed such that they are individually tailored within an area of focus
as selected by the student, thus supporting the specific health care or role interest of each
student. The first half of this course provides background regarding leadership principles, team
building, and organizational dynamics, while the second half of the course explores strategies
and techniques for effective leadership in times of change.
This course has weekly homework assignments or activities, which will draw upon numerous and
varied resources. These activities and assignments include information from the textbook and
contemporary nursing journals, as well as prior coursework and professional experiences.
There is a midterm due in week #4, consisting of a self-assessment assignment that
will also integrate course material. The details for this assignment are posted in the course
assignment area. Students will need to purchase the pamphlet Leadership, Temperament, and
Talent as it contains the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II that will be used in
fulfillment of this assignment. See Textbooks section of this Syllabus for ordering information.
There is a final due in week #8, consisting of personal development plan and
perspectives on career development, including the role of the nurse in matters of health policy
and advocacy.
Requirements and specific details for these papers and weekly homework are given in the
weekly assignment section of this syllabus, and may not be available for public view without an
enrollment password issued by Canyon College.
There are three books that are required in this course. The first two consist of the textbook and the companion study guide. These two textbooks may be ordered directly from WB Saunders, or from any retail bookstore. The third is a specialized pamphlet and self-assessment tool, and a link for ordering is provided for you, below.
Huber, D. (2000), Leadership and Nursing Care Management, (2nd ed.), Philadelphia:
W.B. Saunders. ISBN #: 0721676995
Nagelkerk, J. (2000), Study Guide for Huber Leadership and Nursing Care Management, (2nd ed.), Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders. ISBN #: 0721692001
Leadership, Temperament and Talent
This pamphlet includes the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II
This material is needed for the Midterm assignment in Week Four
Order direct from Keirsey or the publisher, Matrix Books ($5.00 + shipping/U.S.;
International shipping available also).
There are journal articles that the student will need to review for specific
assignments in this course. The articles and the journals may be selected by the student. A list
of Online nursing journals will be located in the course assignment section of this course for
convenience of the student. Any appropriate nursing journal article of interest from any
available source may be used for the course assignments.
Since this course is offered over the Internet, which allows students to participate at "any
time, any where," it is important to plan your time carefully. Students are expected to pace
themselves to access assignments, prepare their work and necessary research, and submit
assignments to the instructor by the established due dates. Students are expected to make use
of local resources as well as required readings.
Course Week and Due Dates.
Generally, Monday is the first of the course week, and Sunday is the last day of the course week.
Assignments scheduled for completion during a class week should be sent to the instructor via
e-mail or fax by end of the day Sunday, determined by your own time zone. If a student is sending
assignments through the postal service, please make prior arrangements with instructor, as there
is no postal delivery on Sunday. Given that this is a course about communities and environments,
and that some outside contact and independent research is necessary to fulfill assignments, some
flexibility regarding due dates may be granted by mutual agreement between student and
instructor.
Submitting Assignments - Instructions.
Students may submit work in MSWord (any version) or WordPerfect (any version) or HTML and send
as an e-mail note or file attachment. If you use another word processing program (such as Works),
please save as an .rtf file.
Formats for files received other than those specified here that your instructor cannot open
using MSWord or a Word converter program for PC or Macintosh will be returned to you for
reprocessing, and will be considered late. Any questions on formatting of your file attachment
documents, please Email your instructor with any
questions now and we can find a format that will work for your particular needs. Thanks in
advance on this matter.
Please include name, reply address, title of assignment, title of course, and date submitted on
the document itself, in addition to the e-mail text. Please indicate "NR485" in the subject line
of your e-mail.
Late Assignment Penalties.
Weekly assignments must be received by the instructor not later than Sunday midnight (your time
zone) of the week assigned. Students who anticipate that their schedule may cause assignments to
be out of compliance are advised to contact instructor at least one week in advance, as an
extension may be permitted with prior mutual agreement. Instructor discretion regarding point
penalties for any late work will be considered final.
Absentee Policy.
While this course is designed to be completed through independent study, "attendance" is
recorded through assignment submissions in a timely manner to the instructor's e-mail address
(or via post or fax). However, please note that any student who has not participated (completed
assignments) for 14 consecutive days without prior discussion with the instructor regarding such
absence shall be recommended for administrative withdrawal. The school shall make recommendations
to the instructor as to what action will be taken.
Academic Honesty.
Canyon College policies are in effect. All work must be your own. Presenting as one's own the
words, ideas, or expression of another in any form is cheating through plagiarism, and will not
be tolerated. Instructor retains the right to engage academic search services for Internet
Plaigiarism at any time on any student papers submitted for credit in this course.
Assignments will be graded based on completeness, correctness and timeliness of submissions.
There is a total of 100 points possible.
Homework.
Weekly assignments may have more than one component, and the point value for each component is
worth points as shown on the assignment detail.
Midterm and Final Weeks.
The Midterm grade is determined by aggregate point performance of work submitted in weeks 1-4
including the midterm assignment. The Final point allocation is determined through aggregate
points submitted for all weeks of the course.
Final Letter Grade.
Letter grades will be assigned at the conclusion of the eight weeks based on cumulative points
achieved over the entirety of the eight week course. The grading scale based on 100 possible
points is as follows:
