NHS-FPX5004 Assessment 4: Self-Assessment of Leadership, Collaboration, and Ethics

Course

NHS-FPX5004: Communication, Collaboration, and Case Analysis for Master’s Learners (leadership, teamwork, and ethics focus).

Overview

This final assessment requires you to step back from the specific diversity or collaboration projects developed in earlier assessments and critically evaluate your own leadership, collaboration, and ethical practice. Using a structured self-assessment framework, evidence from the literature, and reflections on course activities, you will analyze how your behaviors influence team dynamics, decision-making, and outcomes. The goal is to develop a concrete and realistic professional development plan that strengthens your ability to lead ethically and collaboratively in complex healthcare environments.

Assessment Type and Length

• Individual written self-assessment (academic paper, APA style).

• 4–6 pages (approximately 1,200–1,600 words), excluding title page and references.

• Double-spaced.

Assignment Instructions

Write a 4–6 page paper that provides a structured self-assessment of your leadership, collaboration, and ethical practice in interprofessional and organizational contexts. Draw on experiences from this course, such as diversity project planning, group work, or case analyses, as well as other relevant professional experiences. Use established leadership and ethics frameworks to guide your analysis, support your claims with current evidence, and conclude with a focused professional development plan.

Required Paper Sections

1. Introduction and Purpose

• Describe your professional role and practice context.

• Summarize the leadership and collaboration experiences you will draw upon for this self-assessment.

• End with a concise purpose statement indicating that you will evaluate leadership, collaboration, and ethical practice and outline a development plan.

2. Leadership Self-Assessment

• Select at least one leadership model or competency framework to guide your analysis.

• Describe the key dimensions of the selected model.

• Evaluate how your behaviors align with the model using specific examples.

• Identify strengths and limitations in your leadership practice.

3. Collaboration and Interprofessional Practice

• Analyze how you participate in and facilitate interprofessional collaboration.

• Use a collaboration or team effectiveness framework to structure your evaluation.

• Discuss situations where your collaboration behaviors supported positive outcomes and where improvement was needed.

4. Ethical Practice and Professional Integrity

• Identify ethical principles and professional standards relevant to your leadership role.

• Reflect on practice situations involving ethical tension or competing priorities.

• Evaluate how you managed these situations in relation to patient interests, team dynamics, and organizational expectations.

• Discuss strategies for more consistently integrating ethical reasoning into leadership decisions.

5. Integrated Analysis: How Leadership, Collaboration, and Ethics Interact

• Synthesize insights from leadership, collaboration, and ethics self-assessments.

• Explain how leadership style influences ethical and inclusive collaboration.

• Identify recurring patterns in how you respond to pressure, conflict, and competing demands.

6. Professional Development Plan

• Define three to five specific development goals addressing identified gaps.

• Outline concrete actions for each goal.

• Identify resources and supports to assist your development.

• Describe how progress will be evaluated over time.

7. Conclusion

• Highlight the most important insights gained from the self-assessment.

• Reinforce how your development plan will enhance ethical leadership and collaborative practice.

Assessment Criteria (Scoring Rubric)

Criterion 1: Conduct a Structured Leadership Self-Assessment (25%)

• Distinguished: Uses a leadership model to provide nuanced, critical self-assessment with examples.

• Proficient: Applies a leadership model appropriately with some examples.

• Basic: Discusses leadership in general terms.

• Below Basic: Lacks a clear framework or depth.

Criterion 2: Analyze Collaboration and Interprofessional Practice (25%)

• Distinguished: Evidence-informed analysis with concrete examples and outcome connections.

• Proficient: Describes and evaluates collaboration with some evidence.

• Basic: Broad discussion with limited depth.

• Below Basic: Minimal or missing analysis.

Criterion 3: Evaluate Ethical Practice in Leadership and Collaboration (20%)

• Distinguished: Links ethical challenges to principles, codes, and patient-centered values.

• Proficient: Describes ethical issues and responses.

• Basic: General mention of ethics without depth.

• Below Basic: Ethical analysis absent or unclear.

Criterion 4: Integrate Insights into a Coherent Development Plan (20%)

• Distinguished: Focused, feasible plan with clear goals and evaluation methods.

• Proficient: Logical goals and strategies.

• Basic: Vague improvement ideas.

• Below Basic: Plan incomplete or unrealistic.

Criterion 5: Scholarly Writing, Organization, and APA Style (10%)

• Distinguished: Clear, organized writing with correct APA style.

• Proficient: Minor APA or stylistic issues.

• Basic: Noticeable APA or organization issues.

• Below Basic: Poor clarity and frequent APA errors.

Over the past year, I have been most effective as a leader when I focused on building relationships and creating space for nurses, physicians, and allied health professionals to voice concerns before moving to solutions. While this approach fostered trust, I also observed a tendency to delay direct accountability conversations. Strengthening ethical leadership requires balancing psychological safety with timely, transparent follow-through to support both patient outcomes and team integrity (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2015).

Added Scholarly Paragraph

Ethical leadership in interprofessional healthcare teams depends on the leader’s ability to integrate moral reasoning with collaborative decision-making. Leaders who consistently apply ethical principles while facilitating open communication are better positioned to address power imbalances, manage conflict constructively, and sustain trust within teams, ultimately contributing to safer and more equitable patient care (Chan et al., 2019).

References

1. American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. American Nurses Association. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118845096.ch1

2. Cummings, G. G., Tate, K., Lee, S., Wong, C. A., Paananen, T., Micaroni, S. P. M., & Chatterjee, G. E. (2018). Leadership styles and outcome patterns for the nursing workforce and work environment. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 85, 19–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.04.016

3. Storch, J., Makaroff, K. S., Pauly, B., & Newton, L. (2013). Ethical leadership among nurse leaders. Nursing Ethics, 20(2), 150–157. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733012474291

4. Chan, E. A., Wong, F., Chan, K., & Wai-tong, C. (2019). Ethics, leadership, and interprofessional collaboration. Journal of Nursing Management, 27(3), 543–551. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12710

5. Stanley, D. (2016). Clinical leadership in nursing and healthcare: Values into action (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119253777

6. Northouse, P. G. (2022). Leadership: Theory and practice (9th ed.). Sage Publications.