The Benefits of Nursing Leadership

Without good communication between the manager and leaders and staff nurses there wouldn’t be good outcomes in the end. The importance of leadership emerges from its role of creating and shaping organizational culture and setting a progressive direction for the organization. Without this there is no role for management, no cause for it to exist. Leadership creates a context for the management to exist (Leadership vs. Managment).

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

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

Not all nurses go into the profession with leadership ideas. The nursing profession must produce leaders throughout the health care system. Leaders must function as workers, and administrators with leadership qualities, while still meeting their budgets and running effective units with high functioning and happy staff members. They need to trouble shoot necessary and work with the medical faculty while pleasing their staff and the administers.

Nurse leadership critically affects the healthcare environment and the way nurses fulfill their duties in the professional practice. In nursing, leaders bear a great responsibility when delivering services and care to the needy patients so that they enjoy their stay at the facility. Nurses ensure safety and promote health in patients through the optimal contribution in healthcare services and the entire field. Nurse leaders motivate colleagues to move forward towards reaching common goals, and they also serve as role models. Nurse leaders seek not only to fulfill all assigned tasks and responsibilities, but also promote positive changes for the medical facilities. In order to succeed, nurse leaders should possess relevant qualities and

For continued success, a hospital needs a nurse leader who can be able to effectively integrate the clinical aspect of such a health care institution with its administrative aspect. In the words of Masters (2005), "becoming a better leader/manager begins with a basic understanding of what

Role of leadership is essential for APNs. Nurses with graduated education are prepared to be expert with advanced knowledge and clinical skills. It is important to note that leadership skills should also be developed during graduate education through the learning process from nurse leaders, mentors, and role models (Tracy & Hanson, 2014). Leadership in nursing is distinctive. Elliott et al. (2013) characterize roles of nursing leadership into clinical leadership and professional leadership; whereas, Tracy and Hanson (2014) explain that there are four areas that APNs exercise leadership: clinical practice, nursing professional, system level, and health policy.

The best definition of leadership within the nursing practice came from an article in the Journal of Clinical Nursing. “Leadership is being able to see the present for what it really is, see the future for what it could be and then take action to close the gap between today’s reality and the preferred future of tomorrow.”(Cummings, 2012, para. 4) There are several different ways a facility can go about inticing nurses to fill the leadership role. In many magnet hospitals they have Clinical Laddrer Programs (CLP’s). CLP’s are compatantcy and skill based. CLP’s have shown to encourage professional nursing at the bedside.

Someone who is a good leader is flexible, empathetic, educated and also as a grasp on many other leadership skills. They also have a grasp on emotional intelligence along with their intelligent in their line of work. Emotional intelligence is important in being a leader and is especially important for a nursing leader as they are in constant contact with people (Huber 2014).

No one said leading was easy, and in the book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John C. Maxwell addresses the principal of transformational leadership, and how there is more than one aspect in becoming a successful leader. Leadership is one of the many desirable qualities in becoming successful not only in everyday life, but also in nursing. This paper will discuss ways to develop into an effective, successful leader, the necessary steps to increase leadership ability, and how leadership can affect personal growth in nursing practice.

The remaining chapters in Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing (Marquis & Huston, 2015) describe roles and functions that are needed to help nurses become great leaders and managers. These roles and function are broken in four sections: organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. Chapters 12-14 explain organizational structure, organizational power, and organizing patient care. Chapters 15- 17 explain staffing skills, which include: recruitment, creating a learning organization, and identifying staffing needs and scheduling. Chapters 18- 22 emphasize the important components of directing which are: creating a motivating climate, communication, delegation, conflict, and collective bargaining. Chapters 23- 25 explain the components of controlling, which include: quality control, performance appraisals, and problem employees. The skills I have learned in this course has taught me a great deal about becoming a great nurse manager in the future.

Good leaders are those that are committed to providing excellence in the workplace. Apart from this, another quality that such leaders depict is the resolution of a conflict in case of a failure. Last but not least, a good leader is one who is business minded. Thus, I think that conflict resolution, commitment, business-minded and compassion as some of the vital qualities a leader must possess in any job environment. Nursing leaders have the responsibility of taking care of patients efficiently, schedule and budget their resources among other tasks.

In the nursing profession everyone wants to succeed and be the best nurse that they are able to be. As a professional it is seen that people use their skills and knowledge to be able to become a leader. It is common for people to believe that a leader has to be someone that is higher up in a position, such as a charge nurse. This is not the case, being a leader can come from any level. Management is often seen as where one person is running a big corporation and does not have much to do with the people in the business. Managers are not worried about team dynamics like leaders are. “Leadership is a basic competency needed by all health professionals” (Kelly, 2012, p. 3). Leadership go hand in hand, but there are also differences.

In the career path as a nurse, there are many opportunities to expand and explore different roles/positions. Of those roles, a nurse could become a nurse manager/leader. There are many leadership concepts and ideas making leadership a continually growing and evolving field. Leadership in the healthcare field helps set the standard in patient care, quality, and safety. Every leader has their own unique way of setting out the mission and vision of an organization.

Without the needed background in leadership, nurses cannot sit at the table with physicians, CEOs and heads of department to make the right decisions that affect nursing.