Although nursing is in a position to greatly affect health care, it lacks the personal skills of assertiveness, empowerment, and risk taking. 2. Empowerment is comprised of responsibility acceptance, accountability, and risk taking. Powerlessness is the direct result of an unwillingness to accept responsibility. 3. Accountability is the retrospective analysis to determine if work has been done appropriately. To take a risk is to exceed one's limits in reaching for a goal.