Nursing Leadership For the place of employment in question, it is clear that nursing leadership is needed. To that end, there must be a program set out to ensure that nurses are getting the leadership skills they need. The purpose of this program will not only provide nurses with the skills they need, but will better prepare them to be leaders for nurses who are new and just coming into the facility. All nurses who are part of the facility and nurses that will be hired by the facility in the future can benefit from this program, because leadership has great advantages for nurses (D'Antonio, 2010). When nurses also focus on leadership, they are able to provide management functions like decision-making and governance. This gives nurses extra skills and teaches them to manage facilities and help make things better for the nurses as a whole (Judd, 2009). Often, when nurses need something from management that can make their jobs significantly better and improve their ability to care for their patients, they are unsure how to ask for what they need. Leadership skills can help them with that issue. Additionally, it prepares nurses to obtain advanced degrees which can improve their prospects and make them more secure in their jobs. The ability to be a good leader is something that is not an ingrained trait, but it is something that can be taught to virtually everyone. When nurses want to work as managers, they can seek out leadership skills and also an advanced degree in
In healthcare it is very important to have strong leaders, especially in the nursing profession. A nurse leader typically uses several styles of leadership depending on the situation presented; this is known as situational leadership. It is important that the professional nurse choose the right style of leadership for any given situation to ensure their employees are performing at their highest potential. Depending on which leadership style a nurse leader uses, it can affect staff retention and the morale of the employees as well as nurse job satisfaction (Azaare & Gross, 2011.) “Nursing leaders have the responsibility to create and maintain a work environment which not only promotes positive patient outcomes but also
For continued success, a hospital needs a nurse leader who can be able to effectively integrate the clinical aspect of such a health care institution with its administrative aspect. In the words of Masters (2005), "becoming a better leader/manager begins with a basic understanding of what
Leadership does not always come with a title or prestige. Every nurse has within themselves qualities that make them a great leader. Leadership by definition, “is a combination of intrinsic personality traits, learned leadership skills, and characteristics of the situation (Cherry& Jacob (2013 p. 335). A leader is one who has the capacity and skills to direct or encourage others in efforts to achieve an outcome. I recently completed a self-assessment on my perceived leadership abilities. The survey was called the Nurse Manager Skills Inventory (Nurse Manager Leadership Partnership, 2008). It consists of four content areas of which I will address and identify my strengths and weaknesses.
Leaders make key decisions that may have consequences and which may affect service users well-being and as prevention, those strategies can be improved through training rather than having to undertake formal leadership roles. Hence followers are able to learn, nurture, model and develop effective leadership behaviours, ultimately improving nursing staff retention and enhancing the delivery of safe and effective care in the society (RCN
Someone who is a good leader is flexible, empathetic, educated and also as a grasp on many other leadership skills. They also have a grasp on emotional intelligence along with their intelligent in their line of work. Emotional intelligence is important in being a leader and is especially important for a nursing leader as they are in constant contact with people (Huber 2014).
No one said leading was easy, and in the book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John C. Maxwell addresses the principal of transformational leadership, and how there is more than one aspect in becoming a successful leader. Leadership is one of the many desirable qualities in becoming successful not only in everyday life, but also in nursing. This paper will discuss ways to develop into an effective, successful leader, the necessary steps to increase leadership ability, and how leadership can affect personal growth in nursing practice.
The remaining chapters in Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing (Marquis & Huston, 2015) describe roles and functions that are needed to help nurses become great leaders and managers. These roles and function are broken in four sections: organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. Chapters 12-14 explain organizational structure, organizational power, and organizing patient care. Chapters 15- 17 explain staffing skills, which include: recruitment, creating a learning organization, and identifying staffing needs and scheduling. Chapters 18- 22 emphasize the important components of directing which are: creating a motivating climate, communication, delegation, conflict, and collective bargaining. Chapters 23- 25 explain the components of controlling, which include: quality control, performance appraisals, and problem employees. The skills I have learned in this course has taught me a great deal about becoming a great nurse manager in the future.
Nurse leadership critically affects the healthcare environment and the way nurses fulfill their duties in the professional practice. In nursing, leaders bear a great responsibility when delivering services and care to the needy patients so that they enjoy their stay at the facility. Nurses ensure safety and promote health in patients through the optimal contribution in healthcare services and the entire field. Nurse leaders motivate colleagues to move forward towards reaching common goals, and they also serve as role models. Nurse leaders seek not only to fulfill all assigned tasks and responsibilities, but also promote positive changes for the medical facilities. In order to succeed, nurse leaders should possess relevant qualities and
Leadership may mean different things to different people, the consensus opinion of experts in this field is that leadership is using power to direct and influence activities of people to achieve set goals or targets. Nursing leadership is all about every nurse providing, facilitating and promoting the best healthcare services to client and to the public. Leadership is a shared responsibility. (CNO 2012). The nursing profession need leaders that can build the capacity of nurses through mentoring, coaching, supporting, developing the expertise and management skills of nurses to make a difference to the quality of patient care at all levels of the profession ( McIntyre & McDonald, 2014 ). At the core of every leadership either political or managerial is power and how the leader uses it. While it is practically impossible to lead without power, how the nurse leader uses this power not only determine the leadership style but also the results or outcomes of what is achieved through the process.
Good leaders are those that are committed to providing excellence in the workplace. Apart from this, another quality that such leaders depict is the resolution of a conflict in case of a failure. Last but not least, a good leader is one who is business minded. Thus, I think that conflict resolution, commitment, business-minded and compassion as some of the vital qualities a leader must possess in any job environment. Nursing leaders have the responsibility of taking care of patients efficiently, schedule and budget their resources among other tasks.
The best definition of leadership within the nursing practice came from an article in the Journal of Clinical Nursing. “Leadership is being able to see the present for what it really is, see the future for what it could be and then take action to close the gap between today’s reality and the preferred future of tomorrow.”(Cummings, 2012, para. 4) There are several different ways a facility can go about inticing nurses to fill the leadership role. In many magnet hospitals they have Clinical Laddrer Programs (CLP’s). CLP’s are compatantcy and skill based. CLP’s have shown to encourage professional nursing at the bedside.
In the nursing profession everyone wants to succeed and be the best nurse that they are able to be. As a professional it is seen that people use their skills and knowledge to be able to become a leader. It is common for people to believe that a leader has to be someone that is higher up in a position, such as a charge nurse. This is not the case, being a leader can come from any level. Management is often seen as where one person is running a big corporation and does not have much to do with the people in the business. Managers are not worried about team dynamics like leaders are. “Leadership is a basic competency needed by all health professionals” (Kelly, 2012, p. 3). Leadership go hand in hand, but there are also differences.
Role of leadership is essential for APNs. Nurses with graduated education are prepared to be expert with advanced knowledge and clinical skills. It is important to note that leadership skills should also be developed during graduate education through the learning process from nurse leaders, mentors, and role models (Tracy & Hanson, 2014). Leadership in nursing is distinctive. Elliott et al. (2013) characterize roles of nursing leadership into clinical leadership and professional leadership; whereas, Tracy and Hanson (2014) explain that there are four areas that APNs exercise leadership: clinical practice, nursing professional, system level, and health policy.
In the career path as a nurse, there are many opportunities to expand and explore different roles/positions. Of those roles, a nurse could become a nurse manager/leader. There are many leadership concepts and ideas making leadership a continually growing and evolving field. Leadership in the healthcare field helps set the standard in patient care, quality, and safety. Every leader has their own unique way of setting out the mission and vision of an organization.
Without the needed background in leadership, nurses cannot sit at the table with physicians, CEOs and heads of department to make the right decisions that affect nursing.