Nurses ' Experience Of Power From The Perspectives Of Hospital Clinical Nurses

The purpose of this paper is to create a concept analysis and identify a nursing concept that is within a nursing theory. A concept analysis is a process where concepts and their characteristics are researched and clarified. The eight steps on conducting a concept analysis include selection of a concept used in a nursing theory, identification of the aims or purposes of the analysis, identification of possible use of the selected concept, determination of defining attributes, identification of model cases, identification of antecedents and consequences, and lastly definition of empirical referents (Walker & Avant, 2011). The nursing concept selected for this paper is “empowerment” within the nursing profession. The nursing theory from which the empowerment concept was obtained is Kanter’s Theory on Structural Empowerment. In order to empower someone, an individual needs the tools and resources to feel powered. According to Laschinger, Gilbert, Smith, & Leslie (2010), Kanter defines power as the ability to mobilize information, resources and support to get things done in an organization. The role of management is to provide employees with power tools that empower them to maximize their ability to accomplish their work in a meaningful way. Kanter goes on to describe two primary empowerment structures in organizations, first being the structure of opportunity and second the structure of power. The structure of opportunity relates to job conditions that provide

This leadership model focuses on the empowerment of others through respect, integrity, love, and spirituality (Tropello & DeFazio, 2014). In my opinion these behaviors allow leaders to establish genuine relationships with others that support positive growth. The sources of power as previously discussed can align with Christian values when applied in an appropriate manner. For example, sharing ones expertise with others so that they can advance their practice is attribute of professional power that is in line with Christian principles. However, using ones knowledge to belittle or embarrass less experienced nurses is not. Abuse of power weakens relationships especially when leaders convey clear superiority over others (Clarke, 2016). As Christians we are called to advocate for the sick and the poor and to stand up for what is right and just. Nurse leaders are in a unique position to advocate for others, impact change, and to do so out of professional, ethical, and moral

“Nursing is informed caring for the well-being of others” (Swanson, 1993, p. 352). Kristen Swanson’s relationship-based caring theory encompasses maintaining belief, knowing, being with, doing for, and enabling. Nursing is a profession with vast opportunities for growth and development. Each nurse has his or her individual passions; mine reside within obstetrics, women’s health, and nursing leadership. Nurse leaders play an integral role in the success of healthcare organizations. Nurse leaders shape the roles of nurses within their organizations. Nurse leaders seek methods to improve patient care. They also use innovation to gain efficiencies in care delivery and decrease healthcare cost. Many nurse leaders have an ultimate goal to aspire to be a chief nursing officer in a healthcare

Equating status with authority can be misleading or misconstrued by other nurses who have the same status as to the authority figure. For an organization or department to work harmoniously, timely, and chaos free, there should be a clear understanding of who is the authority figure even when the nurses have the same status. “Essentially, in the formal organization, the emphasis is on organizational positions and formal power. Through departmentalization and work division, provides a framework for defining managerial authority, responsibility, and accountability. In a well-defined formal structure, roles and functions are defined and systematically arranged, different people have differing roles, and rank and hierarchy are evident.” (Marquis

Power as defined by Kelly & Crawford (2008) is the ability to achieve one’s goals by creating, acquiring and using resources to do so. Nurses over time - whether learned, cultural or related to gender-specific characteristics, have not embraced power (Kelly & Crawford, 2008). The public view of nurses as subordinates to physicians, simply “trained” to follow doctors’ orders, an overall lack of understanding as to the level of education and the kind of work nurses actually do (Sullivan, 2004) has lent to this perception. Sullivan (2004) writes about telling

Nurses are increasingly becoming the strong leadership in developing all aspects of health care policy and decisions. Unfortunately the shared consensus is that most nurses do not possess leadership skills adequate enough to keep up with the ever-evolving field. The IOM reports on this by stating: “Nurses at all levels need strong leadership skills to contribute to patient safety and quality of care.” (IOM, 2010 pp.223) It is felt that nurses are depicted as people who carry out

Cultivating the leaders of today and tomorrow will be indispensable to the execution of the impressive objectives delineated for the health service (NHS Scotland 2004). Leadership in nursing involves an amalgamation of clinical, academic, executive and political facets. Hence, there is the contingency for nurses to be leaders at the bedside, in universities, in the boardroom and in a political capacity (Gallagher and Tschudin 2010). The clinical nurse leader position is an emergent dynamism as health care endeavours to cope with the challenges of today’s intricacy and result orientation. (Gerard, Grossman and Godfrey). Nursing leadership is critical for effective practice as nurses emblematise the greatest discipline in health care (Sullivan and Garland 2010). Additionally, leadership in nursing has been established as a cost-effectual approach to enhance patient outcomes in times of constrained monetary reserves, when leaders can administer direction, impel change and embolden others (Murphy 2009).

Nursing is a practice of merging art and science together (Wilson, 2005, p. 116). The American Nurses Association (2003) defines nursing as “the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations” (p. 6). When working in such a field that is patient oriented, a leader can make the largest of impacts. Research by Allen and Dennis (2010) express the difference when an organization and their managers place the patient at the center of decision making; it can develop a spirit that nurtures respect and understanding for everyone, impacting the staff treatment and fairness while ingraining knowledge of what governess and accountability really mean (Allen & Dennis, 2010).

Every organization has a management team, with the success the organization in the hands of these leaders and managers. How the organization is run is generally determined by the executive leaders and filtered down through a series of positions on an organizational chart. In hospital healthcare, at the end of the chart is the care provided by the nursing staff. The purpose of this paper is to discuss Participative Nursing Leadership (democratic) style, nursing leadership and management theories, and finally this paper will explain what is required of the nurse leader to create an environment for nurses in which the nurse feels gratified and hospital goals are met.

Within this rotation, this author was able to observe firsthand the steps involved on how the health system worked from the CEO of the hospital to the patients. Ethical situations were a discussion at every meeting and how to improve the health care. Being a staff nurse misses out on opportunities to actually see what leadership does and they need that exposure to

According the American Nurses Association (ANA) (2012), nurses will be always the backbone of the health care. Empowering nurses improve productivity, quality, and moral in work accomplishments. The nurse’s role is not only about bedside assessment and intervention, rather, it is building and strong relationship with the rest of the team to deliver the ultimate patient centered care (ANA, 2012). The nurse manager plays an important role in empowering the nursing staff by two methods. First, giving the nurses a voice. Nurses, frequently feel

Fairman and D’ Antonio (1999) examines how the nurse practitioner movement has redefined the relationship between physicians and nurses. There have been changes to medicine and new prospects resulted, most specifically in the form of the nurse practitioner role. This role was able to take away the monotonous areas of practice for physicians. As the profession has evolved, nurses have become more knowledgeable and were able to care for a more varied range of patients. The American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association disputed issues relating to influence, power, and control. This resulted in noteworthy dynamics and debates regarding hierarchy within the healthcare system. A divergence between medical influence and nursing

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.

My situational reflection alludes to many concepts that related to community nursing such as: Empowerment, Power, Interprofessional Collaboration (IPC), Communication, and Leadership. In order to complete a deeper analysis of the situation I will focus on the concepts of Communication, Power, and

Some of the sources of power on this cardiac unit are positional and personal. Randall (2012) believes those who are in the position of power may influence others in shaping the climate in which they work. Randall explains the three positional powers are legitimate, reward, and coercive. The legitimate or positional power of the nurse manager, who has the power to structure their unit, so the organization’s mission, standards, and objectives are met by methods, such as mentoring programs and training. Randal believes reward power promotes productivity and interest in employees,’ such as providing time off, movie tickets, and extra pay for unscheduled shifts. Also, coercive power is considered disciplinary measures implemented by the nurse