Leadership Roles in Nursing
Leadership is an important role in all aspect of the business world, including nursing. To be a great leader is to be on the frontline taking risks, while achieving shared goals and inspiring others to action as they follow (Marquis & Huston, 2015). Having the title of leader does not equate to one being an actual leader, it is the actions of the leader that must backup the actual title they possess. According to the roles of a hospital-based unit, a nurse may be a floor nurse one day and a charge nurse the next day. Flipping the role of a nurse from follower to leader can cause confusion to the nurse changing roles and to the followers who are expected to adjust their expectations from their peer one day to
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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 …show more content…
Obtaining the strengths and weakness of the charge nurse in the situation above could have given the manager the information she needed to revise her choice of a charge nurse who possesses the skill-set that is needed to take charge of a critical situation. This is an important aspect of leading, as leadership management skills can be developed with the correct understanding of what it takes to become a better leader (Marquis & Huston, 2015). Organizations can learn form workplace errors as they are in a position to exert a significant amount of influence on their employees’ learning behaviors (Yan, Bligh, & Kohles, 2014). Understanding and transforming errors of practice is a learning experience that staff can use to achieve improved performance (Yan et al., 2014). Dweck, (2008) suggests that growth and change can be better understood when you look at a growth vs. fixed
The most common styles she employs are democratic leadership, laissez-faire leadership, and shared leadership. Her position as a liaison between upper management and the nurse leads contributes to her need to regularly switch from a position of leader to follower and back again, keeping her not only extremely busy, but out of the office for most of the day. To lead her team, she must change tactics all day long, from one task to another. The leadership styles democratic leadership, laissez-faire leadership, and shared leadership all have one thing in common, these styles allow for the nurse manager to permit her team of nurse leads, the power to lead themselves. The nurse manager is capable of putting large amounts of responsibility in their subordinate’s hands, knowing that they are skilled and qualified to make decisions without interference (Giddens, J., 2013, p.376). These styles tend to work effectively for the Surgical Services Nurse Manager because her team of nurse leads are experienced and capable of performing their jobs with little to no feedback. While each of these three leadership styles: democratic leadership, laissez-faire leadership, and shared leadership, share some similarities, they are all slightly different, with some being more effective than others. Of the leadership styles she engages in, her use of shared leadership is most effective, while her use of the laissez-faire
This paper aims to address and discuss about the leadership and management of the nurse leader interviewed. This experience was a great opportunity to witness first hand how a nurse leader cultivate and manage their staffs in real life setting. Moreover, it provides a great access to gain insight and knowledge about nurse leaders’ vital responsibilities and role diversities in the organizations they work with. Nurse leaders pay more specific and close attention in handling the staffs and most importantly, patient care.
The next question posed to Rene inquired about essential characteristics of a leader. After giving the question some thought she responded by saying that a leader must be able to remain objective and prioritize. “Prioritizing in my job is essential,” Rene stated, “with so many issues to deal with some nights it can be difficult to determine which to tackle first. However, remaining calm and objective in your decision making can help a leader prioritize properly, which can improve patient outcomes.” Additionally, Rene emphasized that the best leaders lead by example. By displaying desired attitudes and behaviors, a nursing leader may inspire their staff to act in a similar manner. Another area Rene stressed when posed this question was a leader’s ability to support learning. She went on to state that “it is necessary to focus on learning, not chastising. Placing the blame on someone rather than stepping back and looking at the details of a problem, deters the team from achieving the overall goal. Incident reports remain vital to the process of learning.” Rene continued to emphasis that by filling out incident reports individuals can analyze a situation or process and determine where the flaws or errors remain present. Without incident reports and learning from mistakes, growth remains difficult. Diana S. Contino (2011), author of “Leadership Competencies: Knowledge, Skills, and Aptitudes Nurses Need to Lead Organizations Effectively,” believes that organizational and
Nurse leaders are the background to the nursing care. Effective nurse leaders can promote a positive workforce and a healthy work place for other nurses. Workplace dynamics is an essential part of how each nurse functions. Nurses, being mentally and physically stressed, need to have support and guidance from a nurse leader to feel confident about performance. The impact of nursing leaders can be a positive and guiding force for the younger or more inexperienced nurse. Having strong relationships with solid leaders can instill values in the beginning stages of a newer nurses’ career. Gaining insight and core concepts from a more experienced leader can make a world of difference in the way a new nurse performs, provides patient care, and sets future goals for themselves. A newer nurse with a positive role model and nurse leader can model themselves to become a leader for future nurses.
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
According to the American Nurses Association (ANA) (2012), the nurse manager plays an important role in clinical leadership including providing quality care and safe practice; moreover, participating in collecting data regarding care outcomes. The leader is responsible for designing and implementing evidence based practice to prevent any errors on the unit; the collaboration between the management and other healthcare professionals will enhance the improvements in the patient’s optimal outcomes (ANA, 2012). The nurse manager/leader will enhance the integration and cohorts of patients to achieve the optimal standard of care; when an error takes place the manager advocate for the patient’s safety, follow up on the event, and take the proper steps
Role models are the foundation of leadership. People are influenced by individuals that demonstrate the characteristics of trustworthiness and respect. This rapport needs to be established between nurses and nursing management. Being a recent graduate myself, I can say a lot of my skills that are being developed stem from the demonstration of my superior coworkers. Nursing management needs to understand the nurses, especially new nurses such as myself, are looking to them for guidance. Nursing administration or nursing management is a broad term that may refer to a number of management supervisory and executive titles including, nurse manager, nurse administration, nursing supervisor, director of nursing, vice president of nursing, chief nursing officer (CNO), so on and so forth. There is an importance for nurse leaders to be up to date on policies, procedures, and strategic initiatives. Healthcare requires nursing leadership professionals to lead a productive and efficient workforce that allows optimal patient care in a medical setting. Nursing leaders have the
Nursing leadership professionals must be able to develop a successful vision for the nursing organization and nurture collaborative relationships among interdepartmental staff and management in an effort to implement that vision. Nurse leaders must apply analytical and problem solving skills on a daily basis, and provide direct guidance and mentorship to their unit nurses, often acting as a liaison between staff, various levels of management, and the hospital’s executive team .Nurse administrators are often responsible for large-scale policy planning, staff management, financial resource management, and business management, in addition to their core responsibilities of coordinating and supervising the delivery of health care.Because nursing
Nursing leaders are the change agents in healthcare, they help plan, set goals, educate and encourage other nurses to work together as a team and give the best and safest care possible. Without strong nursing leaders understaffing, work overload, patient abandonment, poor patient care and even death could result. When nurses are performing optimal care due to having a proactive leadership team the patient outcome is more realistic. (Fagerstrom,
Leadership is one of the most important aspects of running organizations as it contributes the overall strength, wellbeing, and success of an organization. Without leadership and management, assurance of standards and regulations of care would falter. Lack of an authority presence could lead to some nurses or other healthcare team members providing inconsistent care, as well as a lack of organization and direction within the units of the hospital. In the hospital, nurse leaders and managers play a vital role as they help successfully run units, guide nurses in successful practice, empower others to strive to reach goals, while also maintaining strict standards and acting accordingly by serving out appropriate repercussions and consequences
Leadership is certainly one of the most important fields that influence successfulness or unsuccessfulness of a particular organization (Kvas & Seljak, 2013). In the clinical faculty, leadership can be demonstrated by the conscious decision of being a role model to other nurses. As professional nurses, providing leadership in the clinical nursing role is an intentional choice to serve as a role model for other nurses. There are many opportunities for leadership by role modeling for instance by teaching professional responsibilities such as work behaviors, ways of interacting with patients and staff members, ethical behaviors, and advocacy, among others (Kvas & Seljak, 2013).
Leadership is generally a challenging task across various work settings including the nursing profession. Actually, being a nurse leader is challenging when examining issues and situations that are unique to the healthcare sector. The complexity of leadership in nursing is attributed to the fact that nurse leaders are not only responsible for issues that are specific to their respective department but also mandated with the task of coordinating interactions between departments. Nurse leaders are required to conduct these activities towards direct and indirect patient care within the organization or facility. Moreover, nurse leaders are required to be role models for the staff and cannot be afraid of confrontation, failure, or change while conducting their activities. The development of leadership skills requires self-discovery, self-improvement, renewal, and reflection (“Become a Nurse Leader”, n.d.). It also requires an individual to identify values he/she should embrace in the process, identify personal and professional strengths to enable him/her become a leader, identify and deal with weaknesses, and understand his/her role in achievement of nursing goals.
In the healthcare field, nursing leaders and managers face consistent issues in their respective practices that force them to alter the way they work and the way they think. In taking on a role as a leader within the field, nursing leaders and managers also take on the role of ensuring that work within an organization runs smoothly regardless of new issues that may arise in the healthcare arena. For instance, in today's healthcare environment, the issues of nurse shortage and nurse turnover have the capacity to alter the healthcare field and many of its respective branches and organizations should these problems not be managed properly by the leaders in the field. In viewing the issue at hand and in discovering how nursing leaders and managers are expected to act, and do act, in order to approach this issues, along with pinpointing the best approach possible to aid this issue, one can better understand which leadership styles are necessary for leaders to function.
Nursing is a very complex career that at many times requires one to be a leader. Nurses can be leaders in formal roles and also on the unit during any given shift. Nursing is a career that truly tests the character and attributes of those who choose to enter this career. Leadership in nursing is vital in creating a successful environment for patients. According to Stichler (2006), “effective leadership is essential to transforming organizations into environments that are safe for both patients and staff” (p. 422). Therefore, it is vital that as new nurses start out his or her careers that they learn from great leaders who are already in the profession. There are several great leaders working in the field who have a plethora of
Before I started this leadership/management coarse I had no idea what qualities a good leader manager needs to hold. I had no idea a registered nurse was considered a leader/manager. Now that I have reviewed all the chapters in the Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing (Marquis & Huston, 2015) I have a full understanding of how important leadership/management functions play in a nurse’s career. Chapters 12-25 describe roles and functions that are needed for a nurse to become a successful leader/manager. These chapters discussed the roles and functioning of organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.