The Importance Of Being A Nurse Leader

This reflective essay is based on my strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities (SWOT) analysis (Appendix 1) in order to examine my leadership skills. Leadership is one of the essential component in nursing since all nurses are expected to demonstrate effective leadership skills to ensure patient’s well-being is protected and improve their experiences while receiving the care (Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2015). Firstly, leadership will be defined within the context of the NHS and particularly nursing. Furthermore, some of the current health issues and challenges faced by health care practice that are related to poor leadership will be discussed. The essay will be continued by exploring various relevant leadership theories in relation to nursing practice and working within the Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDTs). Lastly, as mentioned earlier, I will also be reflecting on my strengths and weaknesses from practice, then develop a SMART (Specific, measureable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) action plan to improve my leadership skills which will be followed by a brief conclusion.

The American Nurses Association defines accountability as “to be answerable to oneself and others for one’s own actions.” Accountability is part of nursing and it is important for the nurses to recognize the importance of being accountable (Battie & Steelman, 2014).

The future of nursing will be seen as nurses being full partners in the healthcare setting. Nurses need to be ready to step up to the plate and answer the call to be leaders. Leadership skills can be learned in the classroom setting as well as through mentors. Nurses have been on the “front-line” for many years and have had such close contact with patients and their care that they have so much to offer to committees and boards that are making the decisions. It is a new responsibility for the nurse to accept the challenge of leadership that many may not have considered when they were pursuing their education, but whether leadership is a natural characteristic or the hardest thing for a nurse to do, we must step into this new role for the goals of the IOM report to be met (Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing, 2011). Nurses need to develop a level of comfort in their career to be proactive in creating new policies, brainstorming ideas to improve the field, and get involved in committees

Nursing leaders are crucial to any nursing organization. They motivate, empower, influence, and communicate the organization’s vision to create change within the organization. Great nursing leadership depends on great nursing leaders. This paper will define nursing leadership and describe leadership characteristics. It will further depict the democratic style and transformational theory of nursing leadership. While exploring leadership in action, this paper will illustrate the aspects of nursing.

For decades, something was missing in patient care. Crucial quality and safety-improvement professionals involved in healthcare delivery were formerly not located in the places where care was actually provided. This often resulted in a disconnect that fragmented healthcare quality, safety, and improvement. According to Reid and Dennison, in their article The Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL)®: Point-of-Care Safety Clinician, “The role of the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL)® restores this vital connection. The CNL is a clinician who brings the locus of control for safe and quality care from the administrative areas straight to the unit’s providers who deliver the services. “

After taking the Leadership quiz I discovered that my leadership style is Participative. Participative leaders often ask the opinion of group members and solving problems but ultimately make the final decision. I agree with my findings and I often apply this leadership style at work. I find myself asking other coworkers their opinion on how to troubleshoot a problem. In the nursing occupation it is very important to have teamwork. Being a participative leader exemplifies teamwork. This displays that I value the opinions of my coworkers and feel that everyone should be able to make recommendations and suggestions and as a leader I can take those ideas and make a final decision. On my unit I was a charge nurse and as a charge nurse I always tried to include the recommendations of my coworkers.

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

Throughout our nursing careers we have come into a situation where we needed to advocate for our patient or co-worker. It takes leadership skills, respect, and accountability to advocate in our workplace. Moreover, in order to create change one must first evaluate the issue then set goals to implement the plan. The purpose of this paper is to discuss my weaknesses and strengths to nursing, use of current leadership skills to advocate change in the workplace, and reflection on personal goal for leadership growth and development of implementation plan to reach goal.

Research and implementation of evidenced based practice is critical in today’s healthcare However, there are many individuals involved and many steps that must occur for this implementation to occur. Therefore in this week’s discussion, I will explain how the nurse leaders play an important role in promoting Evidenced based practice. I will also discuss strategies that can be utilize when there is a change that occurs due to the implementation of evidenced based practice. I will then describe powers behind an ever-changing healthcare culture, as well as current issues and trends that are occurring. I will then compare and contrast work group cultures to other organizational cultures.

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

Preventable hospital readmissions remain among one of the many serious quality issues plaguing the healthcare industry today. Readmissions can carry fiscal implications, impact patient safety, and outcomes of care (Helm, Alaeddini, Bretthauer, & Skolarus, 2016). The cost of unplanned hospital readmissions is estimated to be upwards of $15 billion dollars annually of which $12 billion has been associated with preventable admissions (Helm et al., 2016). It is highly recognized that as many as 20% of Medicare beneficiaries are presently being readmitted within 30 days of discharge (Hunter, Nelson, & Birmingham, 2013; Verhaegh, Mac-Neil-Vroomen, Eslami, Geerlings, de Rooij, et al., 2014). The presence of

According to Curran & Totten (2010), mission statement that above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life. In acknowledgment of this commitment, we strive to deliver high quality, cost-effective healthcare in the communities we serve. In striving towards our mission, we believe the following value statements are essential and timeless. We recognize and affirm the unique and intrinsic worth of each individual. We treat all those we serve with compassion and kindness.

Leadership occurs when an individual is able to affect the behaviour or actions of others without having to make threats or use violence to implement changes (Ellis & Abbott, 2013). Nursing leadership involves all roles and aspects of nursing practice. It revolves around the ability to use critical thinking related to patient care, act upon those decisions and recommend for change whenever necessary. Nursing leadership has an important role in the lives of nurses’, influences the health care systems and the delivery of care (Canadian Nurses Association, 2009). Values and beliefs are what form and guide an individual’s thought processes and actions in everyday life. Being open, honest and sensitive are my values that guide my behaviour in my

In nursing, we grow every day; learning to be a strong professional takes many skills. Some people are born with, and some acquired through practice and research. It is important in being a good democratic leader to establish rules effectively with peers and subordinates. Leadership involves action, creativity, motivation, and visioning. It is viewing the possibilities and motivating others to make things happen (Kearney-Nunnery, 2016). Evidence based practice is a must to have a successful and a safe practice in your work environment, whether it is a hospital or nursing home. Leadership and evidence based practice are two parts of the coin that are very important in being a nurse leader. Leadership is a critical part of the organization to apply evidence based practice. This paper identifies and defines these important nursing traits and discusses the traits that are significant to being proficient in these skills.