Introduction Nurses work in a variety of settings as informal and formal leaders, and must have the qualities of a strong leader. There are various styles of leaders and in order to choose and develop an appropriate style, individuals must identify leadership qualities that they possess and qualities that must be improved through reflective practice. By completing a baseline assessment of my clinical leadership skills and creating biweekly journals, I was able to identify a style of leadership that resonated with me. I implemented strategies to improve my weaknesses and conducted a self-evaluation at the end of the 8 weeks to see my growth and movement as a transformational leader.
Strengths
According to Kouzes & Posner (2002) five characteristics that followers expect from their leader is the ability to model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2002). After conducting a baseline assessment of clinical leadership, I identified my strengths and areas for improvement (Appendix A). I scored high in the category of “inspiring a shared vision,” and “encouraging the heart.” Inspiring a shared vision entails that the leader is able to envision and create goals that followers care about and works towards collectively (Kouzes & Posner, 2002). In their meta-analysis of leadership styles, Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt & van Engen (2003) emphasize that transformational leaders must put the goal of the
Leadership is an important role in life and an even more important role in the success of a nurse. To be a leader one must be creative. Creativity results from engaging in surroundings to seek new possibilities. For the best outcome of reflection, and the use of creativity, one should be as impulsive as possible in recording thoughts and feelings. Efficient clinical leaders are supposed to able to help others to see and understand situations from various outlooks and effective clinical nurse leaders must be willing to look for new ways of doing things. One theory that can be readily
Purpose is the focus of my third leadership journal entry and my reflection from the things I learned both from academic and practicum experience with the nurse leader I follow for weeks five and six. How my leader’s leadership style affect the people she leads will also be discussed in this journal together with a reflection about the video of Issue of Rule.
Every day, a set team of nurses and nursing managers set out to ensure the health and well-being of their patients. To achieve this goal, a nurse manager must adhere to a specific style of nursing leadership. There are many different styles of leadership in the healthcare field. Bass and Barnes (1985) stated that the two most common are transformational and transactional (as cited in Frankel, 2008, p.24). This paper will define leadership, the two different styles, how each are executed, as well as pros and cons of each.
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
Effective nurse leaders are often flexible and are able to change style of leadership to suit changing circumstances. They ensure that their people are regularly being challenged to grow and learn. Nurses show leadership by giving feedback and empowering others to bring out their best and the opportunity to grow. I believe that good leaders help people to see that what they do makes a difference. Nurse further their education to expand and gain knowledge so they can render excellent quality care that patients deserve. Also, the leaders would also help other nurses to work as a team to help the facility run to deliver high-quality care. A leader, “should think and talk about future trends that will affect the team's work, and make sure you communicate your vision to your team regularly” (Pearce, 2007, p. 25). I vision a leader as someone who can move others in achieving their goals and mission. For instance, our nurse supervisor addresses the
Leading a health care organization comes with immense responsibility and is not an easy task. Transformational leadership has proven to be an effective leadership style in the nursing profession, demonstrating a clear mission, a commitment to excellence, and the ability to motivate and lead others to higher levels of achievement (Schwartz, Spencer, Wilson, & Wood, 2001). Characteristics and qualities of an effective leader include
The purpose of this paper is to address and identify the best possible practice of nurse leaders in the nursing arena. When considering effective leaders in the nursing field nurses must acquire leadership skills in order to meet the steep demands of the positions held as advanced practitioners. The healthcare industry has mainly focused on meeting the continuing education requirements to keep advanced certifications of nurse leaders however an effective leader who is faced with a plethora of complex leadership challenges will focus on enhancing their personal arsenal of leadership techniques through seeking leadership development opportunities catered to the provision of safe and effective care for patients and their staff. Through the
There is much to be said as to the differences between a great Nurse Leader and mediocre one; in review of the "Nurse Manager Skills Inventory" this writer was able to assess her proficiency and lack thereof in leadership skill set. It is this writer’s sincerest wishes that by giving her most effort, obtaining more diverse experiences, and completing assessments such as this that she becomes a more knowledgeable, well- rounded competent leader.
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.
Healthcare in the twenty-first century is rapidly changing and evolving, and leadership skills are even more important for today’s Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN). One of the core competencies of an APRN is leadership, not only in clinical practice, but also in the professional and policy arenas. Leadership is different from management. A leader motivates people and builds commitment toward a goal. They must cope with change, establishing a vision, communicating and inspiring others to work toward it. Management copes with complexity. They seek order, consistency and profit. People are led and things are managed (Scott, 2005, p 105). It is essential that students in a graduate level nursing program be able to identify their particular leadership style, and to recognize their strengths as well as areas that need improvement.
A leader is a person who can motivate others to do work to achieve the goals of the organization. In a nursing organization, improving the quality of healthcare delivered by the department to be equal with the organizational performance is a key role of leadership(Marquis and Huston, 2015). Nursing leadership is essential in the clinical setting and plays an important role in the development of the nurse as an individual or as a professional. An effective leader often has persistence, initiative, integrity, courage, and can handle stress. Furthermore, leaders must be able to think critically, communicate effectively with other team members, set and execute goals (Davidson, 2010). During my clinical experience in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit at Arkansas Children's Hospital, I was apt to learn and perform leadership duties with Ms. Street, a Patient Care Manager. Hence, I addressed four important learning objectives, which are discussed in further detail below.
The aim of this paper is to conduct interviews with three nurse leaders to ascertain their preferred leadership style and identify how their style has helped them achieve success. Their responses will be compared and contrasted, and will be referenced by appropriate literature to show synthesis with leadership theory. To ensure that consistent questioning took place during these interviews a structured list of questions was used. For the sake of this assignment, each question will form a subheading throughout the paper. The nurse leaders interviewed, include a Chief Nursing Officer (P), a Vice President of Patient Care (J), and a Vice President of Critical Care (K). Each nurse leader was chosen because they have recently played, or
Numerous studies have been conducted to figure out what type of leadership style works for employees and the hospital they work for. In order to have the best leaders there are several competencies that they must hold. To figure out which ones nursing leaders must have, nurses from Texas Children’s Hospital looked at their leadership model to see what could be changed.
Being a nurse leader is as challenging as being any other leader in any profession, considering situations and unique issues that are happening in the health care system. “The Institute of Medicine report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health identified the need for strong and capable leadership if the vision for transforming health care is to ever be realized” (Mazzoccoli & Wolf, 2016,p.1). As stated by the report, it suggests that the nursing profession should bring out leaders who are fully equipped to take on leadership positions across the board. This should be nursing practice, politics, policy and in organizations. In this paper, it`s challenging me as a nurse and as a leader in health care to state my strengths and weakness concerning my accountability personally and professionally, my career plans, disciplines concerning personal journey and the reflective practice concerning my behavior/tenet. Also I will look how the how my leadership skills can help in advocating for change in my work environment and also my personal leadership goal and how it will be implemented.
A leader is someone who can apply behaviors and strategies to influence others to accomplish certain goals. A strong leader holds certain qualities and exploits them into the operations of the organization. Often times, when people think of leadership positions in the field of nursing, they only think of the chief nursing officer (CNO). The truth is that “A leader of nurses can come in many guises, she or he may be a unionist, a clinician, a policy-maker, an educator, an innovator or a strong voice for the vulnerable” (Connor & Stodart, 2012, “Nursing Leadership Qualities Come in Many Guises”, para. 1). With the demand for clinical nurse leaders increasing over the last 15 years, clinical nurses have taken the lead in ensuring quality of patient care, safety, and ensuring a healthy practice environment (Grindel, 2016).