Priorities for Transforming Nursing Leadership
Nurses as Leaders in Healthcare Reform
Since 2005, nursing has been ranked the most trustworthy profession. Nursing is more than providing care and comfort. In the 21st century, nurses have added client advocacy, educator and manager to the many faces of our profession.
During the advancement of my career, I began to identify with the unique contributions that nurses make to organizational boards and committees. I remember my first Quality Council meeting where I was invited to attend by my new Director. Apprehensive and reclusive, I listened and wanted to speak but my inhibitions prevented me from participating. The journey of nurses has come since the days of ‘doing’ to the era of ‘thinking’.
I have found a definitive interest in our clinical committees and boards. I have seen our organization go from one of an autocratic authoritarian style of management to a transformational model of shared governance. Through this new style of leadership, a strong bond is being accomplished though a collaborative role between nursing staff and nurse leaders. Nurses are the best equipped to deal with developing and adopting innovative, patient-centered care models and bring true team building to the management. Healthcare reform needs to begin with the nurses that work directly with the public. Whether the reform is unique to a small nursing units or state and nationwide through nursing organizations lobbying for specific
This author spoke with several nurses to discuss Summa’s shared governance. There were two that had two opposing views of it. One nurse, who was younger, felt that the shared governance was just for show to achieve Magnet status. The cons she found was that the recommendations that staff nurses made were just ignored. Another problem she found was that the work that was put into it was not being reimbursed financially. Problem with shared governance is that it is believed to exist where there is empowerment, but it is has more to do with traditional board governance with some staff input. The result is that it is not founded in the actions of the staff nurse, but the actions of administration (Joseph & Bogue, 2016). The other nurse, who was older, was very excited to discuss shared governance. Her department was the first at Summa to initiate shared governance. Some of the pros were nurses had a voice and a path to follow to institute change. She explained how she
In today’s healthcare system, effective leadership is essential to improving and reaching organizational outcomes. A leader is someone with the ability to influence others but, an effective leader uses positive strategies to inspire employees to work towards the same goal. Leadership in nursing requires a constant effort to motivate others to become part of the organizational transformation. This can be achieved using a transformational leadership style with a focus on communication, motivation, and empowerment.
Nursing guidance is a complex but essential part of the nursing workforce. Guidance can come in the form of management and in the form of leadership. The two terms are often used interchangeably, but do not always mean the same thing. The nurse manager is often someone who has authority from the facility to be in management. The nursing leader may not have authority over other nurses, but may be a strong guide in the workplace for other nurses and nursing staff. Nursing as a profession is ever-changing and increasingly challenging. Nurse managers are tasked with an enormous variety of functions in their respective workplaces, budgeting, scheduling, hiring, disciplinary actions, implementing facility policies and procedures, and the
The organization which I have chosen to exemplify my policy change will be the Florida state board of nursing. Every aspect that pertains to the nursing, and overall healthcare is embedded into the board of nursing and that is why for these and other reasons which I will later discuss, I have chosen this organization. The Florida board of nursing plays an essential role in health care regulation as the board members and staff interact regularly with other nursing associations affiliated with state legislators, as well as the National Council of State Board of Nursing. The board of nursing works with law politicians to change or invoke new healthcare policies, which play an integrate role in patient care.
There are many way in which nurses could contribute leadership to improve the health care system to provide advance patient care. IOM states that, “serving as strong patient advocates, nurses must be involved in decision making about how to improve the delivery of care” (IOM, 2011, p. 222). In order to have a voice in the health care reform, nurses need to take opportunities to be involve in committees or board meetings and participate in making policies. The IOM “committee believes there will be numerous opportunities for nurses to help develop and implement care
The IOM particularly points out the need for strong and capable leadership of nurses. The report says that the professional nurses must produce leaders at every level of the system and accept primary leadership positions in politics and organizations. The implementation of health care reformation expects that the nurses must exhibit leadership capacity and high-level collaborative skills in formulation of policies as well as in nursing practices. The nurses should prove their potentialities for contemporary, advancing high-quality patient care at every stage. IOM says that acquiring leadership qualities from the beginning to the end of the nursing profession is very crucial to achieve the affordable health care to everyone in the challenging socio economic situation. The report clearly calls each nurse to take responsibility to attain leadership qualities to plan, implement and be a mentor of the society. Nurses should see themselves as critical leaders in decision making and adopting new policies to meet the prevailing
Leadership is encountered in every occupation and in everyday life. In nursing, leadership is not only prevalent; it is crucial to patient care and employee satisfaction. The nurse leader that was interviewed was a nurse at the Newport Hospital in Newport, Washington. This is a small hospital in a rural community. She is a charge nurse in the acute care unit, as well as in charge of leading infection control in the hospital. With these roles comes a lot of responsibility, and tasks that must be completed in a timely manner to create a workflow for the rest of the staff. There is a lot of juggling and balancing everything that is included in all of those positions.
Many times, the people who are creating policies or legislation for health care reform are not the “first providers” of the health care system. As the journal article, “Influencing Health Care in the Legislative Arena” stated, “[nurses] are often the first providers to see clearly when and how the health care system is not effectively meeting patients needs;” hence, we need more nurses to take a stance in the legislative arena.
One thing is for certain, I listen and encourage the nurses’ inputs and opinions when it comes to changes regarding the department. I empower the nurses to have their voices heard and their actions be seen throughout the company and give credit where credit is due. I also encourage them to be better nurses and utilize their skills to the max, i.e. applying their rehabilitative nursing certification through trainings throughout the company.
to the increasing numbers of people involved and its impact on the whole healthcare. The
Healthcare Reform has been and still is a highly debated controversial political issue in this country. It has been a hot topic of past presidential campaigns, with many proposed solutions, none of which were enacted upon by Congress. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010. This law or Obamacare, as it is commonly called, was designed to cover the 48 million Americans, including about 1 million in New Jersey who did not have health insurance. It is envisioned to provide seamless, affordable, quality care that is accessible to all. Great emphasis will be placed on transforming our current “sick care” hospital system into a community “health care” system of prevention and health promotion. This paper discusses the evolving and future roles of nurses under the new system. It also examines the proposals of a joint committee made up of members of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), as an initiative to help nurses in their new leadership roles to a healthier nation.
Nursing is an esteemed profession that has developed over many years. This paper will explore the factors that influenced the development of the nursing profession, the roles and responsibilities of nurses, the many different career opportunities available to nurses as well as the origins of my passion to pursue nursing.
Nursing has evolved over the years and it took many years for a nurse to be recognized as a profession. Since 1991, nursing is considered to be the most trusted profession in the United States. According to the American Nurses of Association (2005), "For the past 1 years, the public has voted nurses as the most honest and ethical profession in America." Not only has nursing become a trusted career, but the values and the way nurses care for their patients has helped people see them as family.
Nurse leaders are aware that today’s health care system has many issues complicating the goal of quality patient care and outcomes for all. Nurse leaders must stay informed and become involved as an advocate influencing changes in policy, laws, and/or regulations that govern the health care system they practice in. At times the advocacy requires a nurse leader to become more involved beyond their immediate level of practice and into the world of politics and policy.
Nurses have always played the main role in health education, promotion, and disease prevention in the community. As a matter of fact, Laidman (2012) reported the survey result that showed nurses continue to be the highest-ranking professionals for honesty and integrity for 11 consecutive years. With the public trust laid on nurses, it is justifiable for influential leaders to continue to advance the nursing profession in its research, theory, and practice. In the same manner, a nurse must do his part in arming himself with today’s healthcare issues and latest interventions to better serve his community.