Six style scores from one charge nurse, and a rapid response that explains the highest and lowest, make up the brief Unit 4 leadership style self-assessment in NU300. Searches like "nu 300 unit 4 assignment example", "nu300 unit 4 sample" and "nu300 unit 4 example" land here.
Pacesetting High, Coaching Low: A Charge Nurse's Leadership Style Self-Assessment
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU300: Professional Leadership Transitions
Unit 4 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Composite nurse written as a model document. Scores are bracketed composites from the questionnaire supplied by the section.
Scored Summary
Questionnaire: the leadership styles inventory supplied by the section, based on Goleman's six styles. Scores: coercive [score]; authoritative [score]; affiliative [score]; democratic [score]; pacesetting [highest score]; coaching [lowest score].
The Two Results That Matter
My highest score was pacesetting and my lowest was coaching. In Goleman's analysis, pacesetting leaders set high standards and model them, which can work with a skilled, motivated team but often lowers the team's climate when used too much, because others feel overwhelmed or second-guessed. Coaching leaders develop people for the long term, which builds capability even when it slows the work in the moment (Goleman, 2000).
The Rapid Response
Last month, charging on a busy day shift, I responded to a rapid response called by a new graduate nurse for a post-operative patient with a falling blood pressure. When I arrived, she was taking vital signs and preparing to call the provider. I took the blood pressure cuff from her, repeated the vitals, and made the SBAR call myself. The patient did well. At the time, it felt right: I was faster and more experienced, and the patient came first.
Afterward, the new graduate told me she had been ready to make the call and had her SBAR written, and that she felt sidelined. She was right, and the patient had not been unstable enough to justify my taking over. What I did was pacesetting: I did the work to my standard instead of letting her do it and supporting her.
The Research Link
When Cummings and colleagues pooled studies of how nurse leaders lead, they found that relational styles, which focus on people and relationships, were associated with better outcomes for nursing staff, including satisfaction and well-being, than task-focused styles (Cummings et al., 2018). My reflex in the rapid response was task-focused. It got the task done, but it cost a newer nurse a chance to practice a skill she was ready to use and told her I did not trust her with it.
One Behavior for My Next Charge Shifts
On my next charge shifts, when a newer nurse is managing a deteriorating patient, I will ask, "What do you plan to do?" before I step in, unless the patient is unstable. If her plan is sound, I will stay beside her and let her carry it out. I will ask the new graduate from last month to tell me, after my next three charge shifts, whether she noticed a difference.
References
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: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 85, 19-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.04.016
Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review, 78(2), 78-90.
How this NU300 Unit 4 example is structured
Short by design, the write-up gives every paragraph a job: connecting the score to something that happened. Scores appear once, in the summary, and are not repeated in the prose. Goleman's framework is described only as far as the two results require, which keeps the theory from crowding out the reflection the prompt asks for. The rapid response paragraph is the center. It describes what the writer did, why it felt right at the time, and what the new graduate said afterward: that she had been ready to make the call and felt sidelined. The research paragraph places that moment in a pattern, citing Cummings' finding that relational styles are associated with better staff outcomes than task-focused ones. In closing, the write-up commits to a single behavior on charge shifts, asking a newer nurse what she plans to do before stepping in, unless the patient is unstable.
Get an NU300 Unit 4 example written to your instructions
Run the questionnaire your section assigns first, then send your scores, the assignment's instructions and rubric for Unit 4, and a brief account of a moment at work when you led, formally or not. A write-up connecting your highest and lowest results to that moment returns within 24-48h. First samples are free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
NU300 Unit 4 questions, answered
My section's questionnaire uses different style names. Does that matter?
No. Leadership questionnaires in RN-to-BSN courses vary; some sort results into transformational and transactional styles, others into Lewin's classic three or Goleman's six. Name the instrument your section supplied, use its categories consistently, and cite the research behind them. The reflection works the same way: connect the highest and lowest results to something that actually happened on your unit.
Does leadership count if I have never been in charge of a shift?
Yes. Staff nurses lead constantly without a title: precepting, coordinating care with therapy, speaking up at huddle, guiding a family through a hard conversation. Choose an episode where you influenced what others did, formally or not. The sample uses a charge shift because the style scores were clearest there, but any leadership moment with a clear outcome will carry the reflection.
How long should the reflective portion run?
Many sections set two to three pages, excluding the reference list and any score summary, and some cap it at a word count instead. Check the prompt and keep to it. The sample stays near three pages by describing the instrument briefly, spending most of its length on one episode and one research connection, and ending on a single behavior.