Nursing Leadership Philosophy Essay

Leadership involves: establishing a clear vision, sharing that vision with others so that they will follow willingly, providing the information, knowledge and methods to realize that vision, and coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members and stakeholders. A leader steps up in times of crisis,

A clinical nurse leader is someone who may be responsible for a lot of tasks and responsibilities in the work environment. Such a person sees to the healthcare of a specific group of patients within a unit and in such a situation, the clinical nurse leader must put together and utilize research-based information to aid, implement, and evaluate patient outcomes.

Not all nurses go into the profession with leadership ideas. The nursing profession must produce leaders throughout the health care system. Leaders must function as workers, and administrators with leadership qualities, while still meeting their budgets and running effective units with high functioning and happy staff members. They need to trouble shoot necessary and work with the medical faculty while pleasing their staff and the administers.

American Association of College of Nursing (2012).White Paper on The Role of the Clinical Nurse Leader Retrived from: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/white-papers/cnl

Nurse leaders are faced with issues or problems on a daily basis that are often expected and sometimes unexpected. It “comes with the territory” so to speak. If there were no issues to solve or hurdles to overcome the necessity of designating a leader would not seem quite as important. Nurse leaders can tackle issues that occur in their work environment using nursing theory to guide them. Nursing theory provides a framework that nurse leaders can use to implement interventions or changes to positively impact the staff they lead. This framework of the theory will set the standards for achieving the desired outcomes and is based on knowledge that is gleaned from practice and/or research.

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

“Managers with leadership styles that seek and value contributions from staff, promote a climate in which information is shared effectively, promote decision making at the staff nurse level, exert position power, and influence coordination of work to provide a milieu that maintains a stable cadre of nurses”, (Boyle, Bott, Hansen, Woods & Taunton, 2009). This statement describes the large impact a leadership style can make on the work environment, and the morale of the team. In nursing history, several theories and leadership

A leader must be able to lead others, build trust, extend influence beyond the Chain of Command, lead by example, and communicate effectively. The ability to develop creates a positive environment, fosters Espirit de Corps, prepares self, develops others, and are stewards of the profession. Last but not least, effective leadership must achieve results.

As nurse leaders, they can inspire fellow nurses to be responsible, hardworking and efficient in their nursing practice. I would want to increase my student satisfaction by empowering their performance and giving them autonomy. I would want students to understand the organizational expectation to be met as a nursing leader. Make them realize the value of becoming mentors for future nurses and direct them through coaching and supervision.

Leadership is all about having the right amount of heart and determination to help make a difference in someone’s life. It takes certain qualities to be considered a good leader. A leader should want to help inspire others to make a change and to be the best that they can be. A true leader does not need to feel powerful, instead they empower those around them. Throughout my life I have come across various leaders who have made an impact on my life. It takes a very special person to inspire and touch people’s lives. Leadership is so much deeper than having power and bossing people around.

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.

NOTE: You will create a new Word document for this Assignment instead of typing directly into this document.

3). In this relationship, each must work through phases including conflict resolution and negotiation as part of the process. Transformational theory further explains leadership must include exhibiting a degree of emotional intelligence. This occurs when perceiving how others feel, understanding how the feelings lead to thinking, understanding the emotions, and managing emotions internally. In respects to this theory, emotional intelligence enhances this bi-directional relationship between the leader and the followers (Spears, 2002).

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.

Leadership is defined as the ability to accomplish a set goal(s) due to the act of inspiring and motivating a group of your peers. Former United States president Dwight D. Eisenhower made famous a quote that stated, “Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.” (Notable-quotes.com). One of the most important aspects of the work area is leadership. Without leadership, there will be no guidance to for teamwork and the percentage of successful goal will be slim to none. Becoming a great leader is no easy feat however. An exceptional leader must lock in on specific attributes such as intellect, moral character, and human