Greatness is never achieved with an idle mind; instead, it's the purposeful actions and decisions you make that separate the good from the great. An exceptional Nurse Leader is one who has the innate ability to inspire and motivate their team. They adapt to the changing environment with ease, and positive momentum; sharing the vision, gaining their team's emotional engagement to understand and tackle the challenges ahead as they all work toward a common goal as one unit. The key traits associated with this type of leadership involve inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, idealized influence, and individual consideration. When I think of a transformational Nurse Leader, Andrea (Andi) Horton instantly comes to mind.
Andi has a lot on her plate on any given day, but that doesn't stop her from participating in and empowering us to strive for continuous improvements in ourselves, our practice, and our performance for our patients. Andi not only encourages lifelong learning and input for practice improvement, but she also creates the culture through mentoring and modeling Kata on a daily basis. When our team is brainstorming to figure out a way to help a community member who may be in dire straits, she always has an idea or suggestion that helps us find a way to help.
Her mind and words are always focused on helping those in our community who need it the most. She works side-by-side with all of us. A great example is when we worked together on a couple of Saturdays to unclutter, clean, redecorate and supply essentials and food for a single father of two teenagers who was dying. Our efforts led to a moment when he was able to watch the Super Bowl with his children in their living room, something they had been unable to do for years. Unfortunately, he passed away shortly thereafter but we gave his children a special memory they will have forever.
Andi is an excellent transformational leader not only in our hospital but our community. She exhibits all the key competencies required of someone in her position, plus so much more. Andrea inspires and motivates those around her, creating a positive momentum that strives for continuous improvement for excellence within ourselves, our patients, and the future of health care.