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What nursing figure has most influenced your nursing education? Why?

There are many inspiring, excellent nurses that span the great history of nursing, but the figure that I am picking is Dr. Ildaura Murillo-Rohde, PhD, RN, FAAN. She created the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) in response to a feeling that the ANA was not supporting Latinx nurses. (National Association of Hispanic Nurses, n.d.) As a practicing nurse serving the Southwest, she was dismayed by the lack of diversity in nursing and wanted to create an organization to encourage more Latinx folks to join the profession. Thus, in 1975, NAHN was born.

I find her story inspiring not just because of her professional accomplishments, such as becoming the first Latina dean of nursing at NYU (Weiner, 2021), but because she wanted to hold the door open for others to follow behind her. It is one thing to be a remarkable individual, but it is an entirely different thing to encourage and enable entire groups of people to strive for greatness. Her example made me believe that I am necessary and that I have a place in nursing.

What are the two most useful leadership styles for nursing leaders? (cite per APA) How will each of these leadership styles help you in your future career?

The short answer is that the most useful leadership styles address the greatest need of a group or organization. I hesitate to prescribe a particular style, as that removes collaboration and influence of the whole to tackle tasks at hand. The leadership styles that resonate with me the most are the Transformational and Trauma-informed theories of leadership.

Transformational leadership is compelling because it leans away from a hierarchal, top-down approach and instead empowers collaborators to invest in the work. (Cornell, 2021) I also appreciate that this style leans on conflict resolution and listening to propel productivity.

Trauma-informed leadership is compelling to me because it feels like the surest path toward equity and anti-racism. By directly accepting and addressing the different lived realities of its members and the patient population, we can seek ways to address and undo harm. I believe this is how we can move forward as a group and be as inclusive as possible. (Koloroutis & Pole, 2021)

What is one piece of leadership wisdom you would share with nursing students as they begin their journey in nursing school?

I would suggest coming up with a mantra to tell yourself in times of doubt or uncertainty. Mine was “you can do hard things,” and I would reach to it when I felt overwhelmed or performed poorly on a quiz, or missed a key piece of an assessment. Nursing school is a lot like the first time I saw the deep end of the pool — there is a fear that comes along with the awareness that you can’t feel the bottom, and as you feel yourself submerge, uncertainty comes along that creates a panic that you will never find your way back the top. And then suddenly you are at the surface and able to take deep breaths.

A leader is able to see the big picture, rise above the immediate challenges, and stay focused on the end goal. Whether you can remind yourself of this with a mantra, an image, a totem, or whatever helps you see above the clouds, this will help you maintain perspective on what comes at the end of the nursing school experience.