Reflection Paper On Power

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.

When I began this course I was very nervous because I had no idea of the scope of the course. I was unfamiliar with the Canadian education system and other students. After receiving instructions from my professor, I introduced myself to the person beside me and this process helped to break the ice. I developed a good friendship with the student and this technique used by the professor helped me develop better communication and relationship skills. After few classes, I felt very comfortable and the nervousness and anxiety faded away. I learned about leadership, power relationships in the profession, personal, cultural, professional and organizational, each of which is very important in the nurse’s career. I also gained knowledge regarding client centred care.

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

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

Leadership might be the most discussed and written about topics in our modern society. Thousands of books have covered this topic and people are often using this term correctly as well as in the right format. But what does it really mean? Strength? Power? Leadership could be as simple as holding the hand of a small child crossing the street, or as complex as signing the Declaration of Independence. A leader is not someone who cheats their way to the top, or tricks others into doing things. Being a leader is also not all about power and control. Power is not leadership because leaders don’t necessarily need any source of “power,” but instead are looked up to by their followers. The assertion of power can create feelings of fear, betrayal,

Grossman, S. C., & Valiga, T. M. (2012). The new leadership challenge: Creating the future of nursing (4th ed.). [Proquest Ebook Central]. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com

In Beth Revis’ science fiction novel, Across the Universe, she wrote, “Power isn’t control at all-power is strength, and giving that strength to others. A leader isn’t someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others that they may have the strength to stand on their own.” Leadership is a significant concept that can be applied universally to all aspects of life, whether it is through work endeavors, educational pursuits, or just participating in everyday life. A leader is defined as “an individual who works with others to develop a clear vision of the

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).

It seems ironic that this aspect of nursing is overlooked especially when nurses have so much responsibility to know their skill alongside of working with patience and their families not to mention being a team player with other co-workers. Curtis said in her article, “…clinical leadership is often relegated to a space late in the delivery of nursing education…” (2011, p. 344). However, Curtis also alludes to the problem of leadership training by saying that most often when nursing programs incorporate leadership training into their programs, the training ends up coming from a business approach that is then adapted to clinical leadership. She also indicate that there needs to be more emphasis on leadership training that directly correlates with clinical leadership (2011, p. 346). In addition, Barkhordari-Sharifabad indicates that not equipping nurses with leadership skills results in little to no confidence, commitment and motivation as side effects to the lack of leadership (2017, p. 2). Both of these articles realize the importance of leadership playing an important role in creating an atmosphere that is efficient pleasant, and

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.

It was clearly stated that “the purpose of this study was to explore hospital nurses ' lived experience of power” (Fackler et al., 2015). Furthermore, “this study identifies the meaning and experience of power from the perspectives of hospital clinical nurses” (Fackler et al., 2015).

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.

“If you actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader” (John Quincy Adams, as cited in Forbes, 2014, p. 1). A leader is mentor, guiding others to their best. In this paper, I will reflect on my personal values and beliefs regarding leadership. Next, I will discuss a leader in my life that personally resonates with me. I will then discuss the attributes of my chosen leader and relate them to theory on leadership, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, group dynamics and peace and power concepts and identify the leadership style that my chosen leader embodies. Finally, I will discuss how my leadership philosophy and the newly acquired theory will impact my future career as a nurse.

The concept of power is an applicable leadership concept. Leaders use power to decipher whether they have the ability to acquire the commitment or obedience from their workers/officers. Leaders that are educated or trained under the old-paradigm, have low levels of expectations of others around them, and tend to use