Reflection: Leadership and personhood
Introduction
One of the most difficult decisions a nurse-midwife must make when assisting with a birth is when it is necessary for a patient who initially desired a natural childbirth to seek more intensive medical treatment. The nurse-midwife must be sensitive to the needs and desires of the patient and her family, while still placing the health of the mother and baby first. Ideally, the nurse should discuss various scenarios with the mother before labor takes place, so the mother feels a sense of autonomy over the experience, should complications ensue. Showing leadership is not merely acting in an authoritative manner; it is helping individuals feel motivated to 'do what they need to do,' including patients. In my hospital, I work on a ward, but even then I often face conflicts with mothers who are frustrated when their pregnancy progresses to the point that they cannot give birth naturally, and another means is suggested.
Description of the experience
I was acting as part of the treatment team for an expectant mother. She wished to have a home birth, even though members of her treatment team were concerned this was not appropriate, given her medical history. I agreed, but I wanted to present her choice in a manner so the patient 'felt good' about the decision she made, rather than felt pressured. I believe that in most circumstances in healthcare, the ideal leadership style is a democratic or participative one, rather than an
Leadership is defined as utilizing an individual’s interpersonal skills to influence other individuals in order to achieve a certain goal (Sullivan and Garland 2010). In clinical practice, the principle of leadership is motivating, inspiring and promoting the values of the NHS, in order to be able to focus on all the needs of the clients. Furthermore, it helps to establish good
In this essay I will discuss the leadership style of 3 nursing leaders, which I chose from Nursing Leadership DVD (Orazietti & Singh, 2014). I will then describe impact the leaders ' style has on improving nursing care, organizational processes, and inter-professional collaboration. In addition, I will provide some examples of a change process or difficult situation which leaders encountered. Finally, I will explain how I have dealt with difficult situation involving my colleague and one of physician in the hospital department where I worked. Throughout this essay I will analyze what leaders should have done differently. 3 Leaders which I have chosen were Debra Bournes from group 1 because of her political and administrative success, Mina Singh from group 2 because she is renowned for her educational style at York University, and Esther Green from group 3 because she is the sound and knowledgeable practitioner.
A woman has a natural instinct to nurture and protect a child, especially their own. A mother as they give birth to their child puts great trust in the doctors and nursing staff as they care for their child. However, what if that confidence is misplaced? What if the nurse who takes your child back to the nursery places your baby in harms way? There are many cases of malpractice and medical mistakes, however in some cases that is not what happens. In some instances, the patient is murdered.
In order to better understand the ideals of leadership, I met with two respected and admired school leaders: the Assistant Principal/Dean of Curriculum, and the Athletic Director. I chose these two school leaders because I wanted to gain an understanding of leadership from two diverse perspectives. I am thankful for the opportunity to hear from two different types of leaders, who ultimately share a lot of the same visions for my school and for leadership in general.
Many people are involved in this team including the lactation consultants, labor and delivery and postpartum staff, all NICU nurses, obstetricians and neonatologists. Whitehead, Weiss and Tappen (2009) suggested that democratic leaders have less control than autocratic leaders, because they provide guidance to their followers rather than controlling them. They ask questions and make suggestions, rather than issuing orders. This can work well if followers have adequate knowledge and skills, and they work well with each other (Giltinane 2013). This style of leadership should not be used if there is a short time restraint on a
Since they were a new addition I also assigned other staff members with the nurse to allow for the best patient care. Teamwork is essential in healthcare especially with new admitted patients because every person is already piled with work but instead of giving another pile to one person splitting it among them helps it run smoother. The leadership style I think as being the most effective as a charge nurse is democratic. I think Democratic leaders are very effective because they give a voice to their staff. I believe in order to be a great charge nurse you have to put yourself in your staffs shoes. I would want my charge nurse to listen to me and take my opinions seriously. I would want to know that they respected me and that they cared about what I thought. As a leader I would also want to be respected. If I allow my staff to share their opinion on certain decisions I believe they will respect me. I believe they will work harder because they know that I'm hearing them. I would not want to work for somebody that doesn't make me feel a part of the team and nursing is very much a team sport. I do believe my leadership style would change with an emergency
Having an organization in which everyone is committed to finishing the job will have great value. Working in a team based organization will help members not only respect one another but also provide members to recognize each members worth or contributions. It is possible to achieve success the demanding market without compromising one’s ethical principles yet it can be down by promoting corporate social responsibility.
Midwives assist women with a majority of their reproductive needs, and midwifery is becoming more prominent in the United States. Midwives provide a variety of cares in a variety of settings. They assist women with individualized and evidence-based care; similar to nurses. Obstetric nurses and midwives preform a lot of the same skills for a pregnant or postpartum woman. It is important for nurses to recognize and respect midwifery because it is the woman’s right to choose her provider and plan of care. Obstetric nurses will possibly have to work with a midwife and support them in the hospital setting. Midwives are educated and have a scope of practice that can easily overlap with nursing practice, so
Leadership is the art of influencing people to get the necessary support and cooperation in a community or organizational affairs to maintain solidarity among people. It is the ability to influence others towards desired goals. More so, leadership may imply “doing the right thing”.
motivate, and encourage others to become the best they can be. On purpose, I lead by
All the same, a lot of nurses never realized of becoming a leader. There have been nurses who have leadership qualities in areas of designs, implementations, and evaluations, as well as advocacies” in the current transformation (Cohen, M. & Walker, A. 2010). With this quality they have restructured and reshaped their abilities to function in different areas of health system. It means nurses are using their leadership skills to perform as collaborators with other professionals. There is essence of having competent leaders in health care in other to achieve the goal of creating a change in health care. These leaders are not only at bed side but are also conspicuous at other areas such as executive level and boardrooms. Nurses work together with other experts in different disciplines of health care, and are responsible for submitting their contributions to produce high quality care.
I believe myself to possess a participatory or democratic leadership style, I appreciate coworker’s advice, and I am active listener, I prefer a well-structured, consistent work environment, with cooperative staff. While working as an ICU nurse, autocratic leadership served my position. This required critical thinking, with the ability to make split second decisions, while remaining
Conversely, there are increasing sources of information that highlights the effects of bad leadership. Yan et al., (2014) conducted a study on leadership styles and how they impact the learning environment of employees’. With the growing research related to errors in United States, a study shows that only 8% of the 44% of adverse errors are reported despite formal requirements to do so (Yan, Bligh, & Kohles, 2014). When an effective leader is not present in a unit, important information is not translated and opportunities for growth as a unit are missed. The charge nurse who was present on the night the baby died, did not report her lack of leadership skills and consequently did not give the manager the chance to address the situation head-on. The patient suffered the consequences of the lack of strong leadership skills that night. Management must effectively communicate with their staff to adhere to a safe environment (Rouse, 2009). Meanwhile, without the correct leadership training, a manager may not have the information that they need to understand their daily behavioral influence on staff performance (Rouse, 2009). Selecting nurses to take on the role of charge nurse is an arduous
Demonstration of leadership style can be either formal or informal. A formal leader is one that is selected and given authority by the hospital management to make decisions and act (Kozier et al, 2010). They are in a position of leadership thus includes the charge nurse, resource nurse, and the manager. They create shared vision, build trusting relationship through communication and initiating transformation and democracy through role directing and being role defined (Ezziane, 2012). The informal leader includes all other nurses or health care workers that are not officially appointed to direct activities of others but plays an important role in influencing colleagues to achieve the group 's goals (Kozier et al, 2010). These leaders are followers as well as learners on the unit. It includes all health care workers. Informal leader 's role is implemented when RPN nurses seek help from the RN in hanging some medication due to their scope of practice. They fully engage others and collaborate with other RN nurses when needed. They call on RPN nurses and nursing students present on the unit to come and learn. Informal leaders are relational, issue- defined and situational (Ezziane, 2012). In my clinical setting, an informal role is more predominant than a formal role leadership. According to Ezziane, (2012) "informal leadership are more appropriate to provide high-quality services, promote creativity and innovation"
Enthusiasm, connections and a goal for positive change; these are the three most crucial ingredients in the making of a good, successful leader that makes people happy. Positive change is key since it is the end goal, but first must come enthusiasm. Commitment and dedication for change in the world steam from enthusiasm and create an open atmosphere where effective communication can take place. Connections are the building blocks of leadership and fuel to continue. They are the support, the network and the backbone behind successful leaders. Finally, Leadership is the ability a person has to create change and effectively move a group forward though either intellectual, social or physical change.