Servant Leadership : The Servant

The role of a nurse leader is invaluable to the performance and ultimate success of an entire nursing team whose goal is to provide excellent patient care. There are a few key characteristics that define a nursing leader. The first characteristic is one who communicates effectively and is accountable on all levels, from the patient and their family to the interdisciplinary members and senior staff. Effective communication and accountability are characteristics of an individual who

The field of nursing is one of the quintessential servant roles in our society today. We serve by taking care of our patient’s physical and mental (and sometimes spiritual) health. As a nursing student, there are three main characteristics that I have seen modeled in leaders that I think are most important to a servant-leader’s success. In my own practice, I hope to focus on all servant-leader characteristics, but these in particular as I strive for a lengthy and fulfilling career.

The concept of servant leadership has been in practice long before Greenleaf coined the term in the seventies (Spears, 2010). Servant leadership in its most simplistic form is defined as, “serving others before serving ourselves” (Davenport, 2015, p. 301). The characteristics of servant leadership have been developed to aid in today’s leadership roles in regards to nursing practice. The author will discuss three characteristics- listening, awareness, and commitment, and their importance to servant leadership. The author will also discuss the application of servant leadership in nursing practice and the how her viewpoints of leadership have changed with the application of this concept.

Leadership is essential in providing excellent health care in nursing. Being a nurse is not for the faint of heart. Nor is it easy to develop leadership skills that will enable a nurse to become the best that he or she can become in their career. High demands of taking care of patience that are in critical condition to the typical situations that cause nurses to carry heavy workloads. All of these aspects can contribute to pressure and stress in the work place when not handled correctly. According to two articles; the first article was written by Elizabeth A. Curtis, “Developing leadership in nursing: the impact of education and training.” The second article “Obstacles and problems of ethical leadership from the perspective

The purpose of this paper is to address and identify the best possible practice of nurse leaders in the nursing arena. When considering effective leaders in the nursing field nurses must acquire leadership skills in order to meet the steep demands of the positions held as advanced practitioners. The healthcare industry has mainly focused on meeting the continuing education requirements to keep advanced certifications of nurse leaders however an effective leader who is faced with a plethora of complex leadership challenges will focus on enhancing their personal arsenal of leadership techniques through seeking leadership development opportunities catered to the provision of safe and effective care for patients and their staff. Through the

Specifically, the nurse leader will acquire the ability to facilitate change, advance a culture of excellence, promote lifelong learning for self and others, foster collaborative multi-disciplinary care teams, design advanced nursing practices, assimilate services across the healthcare organization, and implement evidence into practice (AACN, 2011). These leadership skills are learned and demonstrated through AACN’s (2011) following nine essentials during master’s-level nursing education.

Nursing leadership is when a person leaders and organizes teamwork and encourages other staff members to develop to his or her full potential (Mendes & Fradique Mde, 2014). Effective leadership plays a vital role in the quality of care that the patients are receiving. Having good leadership on a unit improves the quality of care that is being provided to the patients (Ma, Shang, & Bott, 2015). Effective leadership helps to improve the morality of the staff members, which in turn allows the staff members to provide the highest quality of care to his or her patients. Using supportive leadership style will also help to improve the quality of care that the patients are receiving (Ma, Shang, & Bott, 2015). Having an ineffective leader in charge

The role of a nurse leader is a complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon that requires a nurse leader to have a diverse and experienced background. A nurse leader also needs to know how to communicate and collaborate with other health care providers, patients, and departments (Montuori, 2010). In my opinion, nursing is a challenging and an evolving profession that required a nurse leader to have three important attributes: transformative, culturally sensitive, and computer competent.

Being a leader is not a simple task. It involves planning and professionalism. A leader must have the trust and respect of its members to be able to form a strong system. A manager must be able to lead and communicate employees to achieve goals. Nursing involves strong leadership because the aim is to care and nurture patients. Chaotic work environments will not allow nurses to prosper in providing proper care. The right leadership and management style allow for more efficiency among members. Leadership is critical and should have a clear vision, inspire, 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.

Nursing leaders must have the ability to create an organizational environment of caring, dignity and respect for all. According to Dunham-Taylor(2015), nursing leaders must be visionaries with a sense of purpose (Dunham-Taylor, 2015). As visionaries, nursing leaders must have the ability to communicate potential barriers to change and obtain ideas for improvement, properly communicate the rationale behind new organizational changes and engage the employees in spreading the organizational vision (Dunham-Taylor, 2015). Nursing leaders must model the way by exhibiting role modeling behaviors that are expected of all, engaging employees in team-based decisions, so they can become agents of change. Nursing leaders must be able to challenge

An effective leader can create a working environment that satisfactorily supports the staff members so he or she can productively perform in his or hers’ assignments. The top three characteristics of an effective leader are the ability to communicate well, fairness to everyone on the team and are knowledgeable in his or hers’ field of practice. An effective leader must be able to communicate well with others to maintain and promote open communication among the team. When leaders deal with employee conflict, an effective leader is fair. These leaders motivate their nursing staff to work toward a greater good in creating a positive change (Dunham & Klafehn, 1990). An effective leader should be knowledgeable about his or her leadership role as well as those he or she is supervising.

A nurse leader must have ability to create good interaction between her, followers and environment

As written in the lines above, employee engagement has a significant impact on an employee and their engagement. Although there has been many articles and research written about leadership and servant leadership, in this study, it will provide and overview, key traits and influences that servant leaders use in collaboration to address significant problems with strategy and other individuals. Therefore, how do managers and leaders facilitate the engagement of their employees? Leaders do this through their leadership style. In 1970, Robert K. Greenleaf identified servant-leadership, which was different from the traditional views of leadership. According to Greenleaf, “The servant-leader is a servant first. Servant

Today, I will be discussing The Four Domains of Servant Leadership, which are the major emphasis of Lead Like Jesus. Next we will explore the supporting evidence for servant leadership, followed by how I, as both a military officer and future Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, will apply the fundamentals presented in “Lead Like Jesus.”