Leadership Lessons Top 5 skills every nursing leader must develop

Описание: Leadership Lessons Show Notes



About The Nurse Shark Academy



Welcome to the Leadership Conversations segment of The Nurse Shark Academy Show, where Tina Baxter, your host, shares leadership topics of the day.



My mission is for you to own your seat at the table of nurse entrepreneurship, gaining confidence, skills, and freedom to live your life on your own terms. You will dream big and expand your consciousness as an entrepreneur. The Nurse Shark Academy Show is looking for nurse entrepreneurs, innovators, and business leaders to guest on the show. If you have always been curious about how to be an effective podcast guest, sign up for our webinar at www.thenursesharkacademy.biz (http://www.thenursesharkacademy.biz) .



About your host



Tina M. Baxter is an advanced practice registered nurse and a board certified gerontological nurse practitioner through the American Nurse Credentialing Center (ANCC), who resides in Anderson, Indiana. Mrs. Baxter has been a registered nurse for over twenty years and a nurse practitioner for 17 years in the areas of mental health, gerontology, and health education. She is the owner of Baxter Professional Services, LLC, a consulting firm which provides legal nurse consulting services for attorneys and insurance professionals; wellness and chronic disease management coaching; and customized educational and operational resources to healthcare organizations. Mrs. Baxter teaches stress management strategies to clients of all ages and offers virtual as well as online classes. She is listed as an Alignable Local Businessperson of the Year in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. She is the founder of The Nurse Shark Academy® where she coaches nurses to launch and scale their businesses. She is the host of The Nurse Shark Academy Show© which interviews and spotlights nurse business owners and leaders in healthcare. She is a public speaker and has spoken on numerous topics on a national level. She is a contributor to articles on electronic and print media such as Entrepreneur.com, The Minority Nurse, LinkedIn, as well as a guest on numerous podcasts.



To reach your host, https://hihello.me/p/30801bee-4180-44....



Podcast Title: Leadership Lessons



Episode: Top 5 skills every nursing leader must develop



Host: Tina Baxter



Powered by: The Nurse Shark Academy



 



Welcome back to The Nurse Shark Academy Show, where we empower nurses to lead boldly, build profitably, and impact their communities with confidence. I’m your host, Tina Baxter, and today we’re diving into a topic that every future—and current—nurse leader needs to hear.



Whether you’re supervising your first team, running a department, or stepping into entrepreneurship, the skills we’re about to explore are the backbone of effective leadership in nursing. These aren’t just nice-to-have abilities; they’re the difference between burnout and balance, chaos and clarity, surviving and scaling.



So let’s get into the top five skills every nursing leader must develop—and how you can start strengthening them today.




1. Emotional Intelligence: The Superpower of Leadership




Emotional intelligence, or EI, is the art of understanding emotions—your own and those of the people you lead. In nursing, this is especially important because clinical stress, trauma exposure, and fast-paced environments can amplify emotions on any given day.



Scenario:

Imagine a nurse who’s consistently running late. You could reprimand them immediately, but a leader with high emotional intelligence pauses and asks, “What’s really happening here?” After a quick conversation, you learn they’re caring for a sick child at home and experiencing caregiver fatigue. The solution shifts from discipline to support, scheduling flexibility, or resource referral.



EI doesn’t make you soft. It makes you strategic.



How to practice:

Notice emotional cues. Pause before reacting. Lead conversations with curiosity rather than conclusions.




1. Communication that Actually Lands




Nurse leaders communicate constantly—with staff, patients, administrators, and sometimes entire communities. The best leaders are translators: they take complex information and deliver it clearly, calmly, and with purpose.



Example:

Let’s say your facility changes the wound care documentation protocol… again. Your team is rolling their eyes before you even open your mouth. Strong communication sounds like:



“Here’s what’s changing, here’s why, and here’s how this helps us prevent errors and protect our patients.”



People don’t resist change; they resist confusion.



 




1. Critical Thinking: Beyond the Bedside




We talk a lot about critical thinking in clinical care, but nursing leadership requires a different flavor of it. Leaders think long-term. Leaders anticipate problems. Leaders respond rather than react.



Scenario:

You notice supply costs rising each month. Instea...