NURS 545 Ethical Leadership for Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners – Week 3 Initial Discussion Post Assignment (Spring 2026)

Assessment Context

This discussion post forms part of the leadership module in the PMHNP track and maps directly to course outcomes on self-awareness, professional values and ethical decision-making in advanced psychiatric practice. Students first complete the Northouse Ethical Leadership Style Questionnaire plus assigned chapter readings before posting.

Task Description

After finishing the required readings and scoring the Ethical Leadership Style Questionnaire from Northouse Chapter 12, create an initial discussion post of 450–500 words that answers the two prompts below in a clear first-person scholarly voice. Integrate personal questionnaire results with at least three total references, one of which must be Northouse (you will finalise the full citation).

Prompts to Address Fully

1. Based on your questionnaire responses, identify and briefly explain your three strongest core values with one concrete example of how each appears in daily interactions.
2. When planning your future role as a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, describe in specific terms how these values will shape your prescribing decisions, therapeutic relationships and handling of value conflicts with patients or teams.

Submission Requirements

Post by Wednesday 11:59 pm Week 3. Use APA 7th edition for in-text citations and include a reference list at the end of the post. Minimum three scholarly sources total (Northouse plus two others published 2018 or later). Replies to two peers due Sunday Week 3 (150–200 words each with one additional reference per reply). Faculty may post follow-up questions that require same-day response.

Grading Focus Areas (2025–2026 Rubric Alignment)

• Direct and complete response to both prompts with personal questionnaire linkage – 40 %
• Depth of reflection plus integration of at least three timely sources – 30 %
• Scholarly tone, APA accuracy and post length – 20 %
• Engagement in peer replies and faculty interaction – 10 %

Sample Answer Content (Model Excerpt for Guidance)

My questionnaire results highlighted integrity, empathy and justice as the three strongest core values that consistently score in the top range. Integrity shows up when I pause to double-check a medication order even if the team appears rushed because accuracy protects vulnerable mental-health patients from harm. Empathy drives me to sit at eye level with a distressed client rather than remain standing behind the desk so the person feels truly heard during crisis assessment. Justice appears when I advocate for equal access to long-acting injectables for patients who lack reliable transport regardless of insurance status. These values will guide my future prescribing by pushing me to choose the lowest effective dose and shortest duration for benzodiazepines when safer non-pharmacologic options exist first. They will also shape therapeutic alliances because I plan to begin every intake with an explicit values-clarification question that invites the patient to share beliefs that may differ from standard treatment protocols. When conflicts arise I intend to document the discussion transparently and consult ethics resources early rather than default to my own comfort zone.

One analysis confirms that nurses who consciously align personal values with professional standards report higher job satisfaction and fewer moral distress events in psychiatric settings.

(Poorchangizi et al., 2017, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-017-0191-1)

Follow-up Insight That Strengthens Submissions

Many PMHNP students discover through this exercise that their highest-scoring value of justice can create tension when insurance formularies limit preferred antipsychotics yet real-world data from state mental-health registries show better adherence and fewer hospitalisations when patients receive their first-choice agent. Faculty members note that students who revisit their questionnaire scores midway through the semester often adjust one prescribing habit such as routine inclusion of shared decision-making tools for mood stabilisers. Recent national workforce surveys indicate that advanced practice nurses who maintain ongoing values reflection complete more continuing education hours in ethics than peers who treat the topic as one-time training. Reviewing your own top values against the ANA Code of Ethics provisions each quarter keeps the connection active and prevents drift during high-volume clinic weeks.

References (APA 7th 

Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and practice (9th ed.). SAGE Publications. https://edge.sagepub.com/northouse9e/student-resources/chapter-12

Poorchangizi, B., Farokhzadian, J., Abbaszadeh, A., Mirzaee, M., & Borhani, F. (2017). The importance of professional values from clinical nurses’ perspective in hospitals of a medical university in Iran. BMC Medical Ethics, 18(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-017-0191-1

Edmonson, C., & Zelonka, C. (2020). Our journey to becoming a culture of ethical leadership. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 44(3), 205–214. https://doi.org/10.1097/NAQ.0000000000000423

Ulrich, C. M., et al. (2022). Ethical issues in nursing practice: A scoping review of the literature. Nursing Ethics, 29(5), 1125–1142. https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330211015268

American Nurses Association. (2023). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.). https://www.nursingworld.org/scopeandstandards

Next Assignment Guide – Week 5

NURS 545 Case Analysis: Ethical Dilemma in PMHNP Prescribing – Short Paper (Spring 2026). Students receive a one-page vignette involving capacity, family pressure and controlled-substance requests; produce a 750–900 word APA paper that applies one decision-making framework, links back to personal values from the prior post and proposes a documented action plan with two new peer-reviewed sources. Due Sunday Week 5 with optional draft submission for feedback.