Summary: Authentic Leadership In Nursing

Sometimes, our daily lives do not always allow us to operate in a in which our integrity is not compromised. For example, in daily nursing practice,

In an organization, authentic leadership can help to improve the overall culture and financial aspects by providing something that is consistent; when something goes wrong if the company backs up their promise to the customers to make it right, the customer will return. Just as if a leader or manager, is always indecisive it will have a negative impact on the culture within the organization. 
Overall, I believe that being an authentic leader is important to the success of a company or a cause, because without the above mentioned aspects, I believe that there could be

Shirey, M. (2006). Authentic leaders creating healthy work environments for nursing practice. American Journal of Critical Care, 15(3), 256-268.

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.

Every day, a set team of nurses and nursing managers set out to ensure the health and well-being of their patients. To achieve this goal, a nurse manager must adhere to a specific style of nursing leadership. There are many different styles of leadership in the healthcare field. Bass and Barnes (1985) stated that the two most common are transformational and transactional (as cited in Frankel, 2008, p.24). This paper will define leadership, the two different styles, how each are executed, as well as pros and cons of each.

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

Beginning in Ancient Greece, philosophers, authors, and researchers have been exploring authenticity. It was not until 2003 when author Bill George discussed and incorporated authenticity as a leadership theory in his book Authentic Leadership (Kruse, 2013). This paper will discuss authentic leadership and its application to nursing practice. It will combine and relate a number of peer-reviewed journals, articles, and Brené Brown’s professional development book, Daring Greatly, to substantiate why this leadership theory is effective in the nursing profession. Authentic leadership and vulnerability greatly enhance a leader’s influence and has the ability to strengthen the nursing profession overall.

Leadership comes in many different forms, and is a curtail element of a health care organization. This paper will describe leadership styles, management theories, and my style of leadership in reference to the self-assessment completed. I will discuss what leadership styles align with my style and what type of work environment and behaviors that will help me be a successful leader. I will also discuss different types of leadership theories. There are many aspects to being a leader and every good organization has good leaders behind it. Leadership is a key element in nursing due to the fact that nurses are often working in teams (Huber, 2014, p.3).

Authentic Leadership: Emphasizes building the leader’s legitimacy through honest relationships with the followers that is built on an ethical foundation (Northouse, 2016). Dr. Hassan presents this leadership trait by having a dual role in both the civilian and military/veteran world.

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.

In brief, authentic leadership is defined as a “leadership that emphasizes building the leader 's legitimacy through honest relationships with followers which value their input and are built on an ethical foundation” (Authentic Leadership, n.d.). As leaders, they create close, trusting bonds with their followers through their transparency and their drive to serve their followers (Northouse, 2016). Practical approaches to authentic leadership are linked to a set of five initial characteristics that individuals need to possess. These include motivation, well developed values, strong relational connections, self-control and passion (Northouse,

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.

Authentic leaders develop self-awareness, test their values under pressure, find their sweet spot, build support team, and integrate all aspects of their life.

According to Wong and Laschinger (2012) authentic leadership is defined as “a pattern of transparent and ethical leader behaviour that encourages openness in sharing information needed to make decisions while accepting input from those who follow” (p. 948). For instance, under the authentic leadership, nurses are more empowered to be part of the decision -making process and exerted their autonomy to respond positively to their work using available resources to meet the job demands. Furthermore, job control and autonomy give staff the ability to control their environments and deal with job demands and burnout; studies show that staff who have more control over their work are less likely to experience burnout (Portoghese et al., 2014). It was also shown that staff who were more autonomic were able to use their personal resources (optimism, self-efficacy, resiliency, and engagement) to control their surroundings. Therefore, this type of environmental behavior increases nurses’ engagement level which in turn increase their job satisfaction, productivity, and performance (Wong & Laschinger,

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