Nurses spend more time with patients than do any other type of health care professional; therefore, there is no more appropriate patient advocate. Our relationships with patients, plus our knowledge of their specific needs, likes and dislikes earn us the right to speak as leaders. With human lives in our hands, we must hold ourselves and others accountable to the standards of best practice. It is difficult to be an effective leader, and it takes time and practice to mature into one. Additionally, nurses are not only advocates for patients, but also for other nurses. Good leaders value their teams above all else because no one can shoulder the responsibility of health care provision alone. My leadership clinical strengthened my leadership skills because it afforded me the opportunity to act as a patient advocate. I was assigned an elderly female patient on the orthopedic unit. She had undergone a right shoulder surgery and had edema due to third spacing, which led to non-stop drainage. The nurse whom I was shadowing had placed a dressing in the entire arm in an attempt to stop the serosanguinous drainage. Later, while assessing the patient, I found that her fingers were swollen and had become cyanotic. I quickly reported the change, and the nurse promptly released the bandage and replaced it with a new, looser one. In this instance, I demonstrated valuable nursing leadership skills, such as thorough assessment and prompt communication.