The Role Of The Nurse Manager

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.

Transformational theory reminds leaders of how their behavior influences their team members by building trust in the organization, showing how they fit in the organization, and sharing a vision together (Northouse, 2010). Even though all nursing theories share unique criticisms, Northouse (2010) goes on to suggest “more attention should be directed toward how leaders can encourage followers to challenge the leader’s vision and share in the leadership process” (p. 189). A self-assessment tool, such as the multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ), can assist the leader in understanding how they can improve their leadership qualities. MLQ examples might include evaluating the awareness of being open to others opinions, demonstrating confidence, or assisting in developing others leadership strengths.

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.

Leadership is often defined as the process of “influencing the thinking and action of others with respect to achieving a goal” (Gaudine & Lamb, 2015, p. 2). This paper focuses on interactional theories, specifically transformational leadership, which involves the leader creating and providing a vision and influencing followers to achieve the goals, exhibiting enthusiasm and optimism (Gaudine & Lamb, 2015). To be an effective leader, one must exhibit a transformational leadership style. This includes being emotionally intelligent, having appropriate conflict resolution strategies and being able to respect diverse views. For this assignment, we conducted an interview with our former instructor, K.R., who we

When one thinks of leaders, they think of those who hold a high profile position or someone who is highly visible in the public eye. A leader, regardless of prestige is someone who can easily influence and inspire the actions and goals of others. The definition of a leader in Nursing Leadership and Management in Nursing states, “leadership is commonly defined as a process of influence in which the leader influences others towards goal achievement (Kelly, 2012 p.2). Leaders are needed at all levels and nurses take a leadership role by being advocates for their patients. There are many leadership theories and styles in nursing but this paper will focus on transformational leadership and its application to nursing. Transformational leadership is important in nursing, due to its ever changing and ever evolving healthcare methods and technology.

As we know the healthcare system is constantly changing, therefore requiring effective leadership among nurses. With that said leadership that promotes positive change is necessary in a health care setting. Transformational leadership was developed by leadership expert James MacGregor Burns in the late 1970’s. Transformational leadership is considered a contemporary leadership theory. Contemporary theories of leadership place emphasis on teamwork and collaboration, and is built around the premise of change. “Transformational leadership is a process that motivates followers by appealing to the higher ideas and moral values where the leader has a deep set of internal values and ideas and is persuasive at motivating followers to act in a way that sustains the greater good rather than their own interests” (Burns, 1978 as cited in Owen Doody & Catriona Doody, 2012, p.1212). Therefore, when it comes to implementing transformational leadership in a healthcare setting the nurse leader must takes on various

Throughout the nursing industry, both managers and bedside nurses utilize their strengths and skills as transformational leaders to develop a strong sense of camaraderie that bases its success through teamwork and development of personal attributes. As the role of the nursing manager, individuals must inspire their employees to share the same vision as they do on behalf of the organizational goals. Givens (2008) explains how transformational leadership is shown when leaders encourage followers to think outside of the box, thus motivating them to perform at higher levels by becoming more involved in their work and developing a sense of commitment to the organization (p. 11). This not only pertains to the nurse manager but to lower level employees as well. Even though lower level employees, such as a certified nursing assistant, do not own a title that gives them authority, each employee can still practice leadership skills

Today, the emphasis on the word leadership leads us to believe that it is unattainable by the average person. We hear phrases such as "leaders are born and not created" that make us feel that leadership is only for the few. In some instances, this could be the case, but a form of leadership that can be learned by anyone is known as emotional intelligence. Using leadership of this kind can be used in all sorts of career fields such as corporate, sales and even healthcare. This paper will further go into detail about the background and concept of emotional intelligence, how this leadership style affects the different nursing roles, how I plan on using this leadership concept in my practice and

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 the American Nurses Association (ANA) (2012), the nurse manager plays an important role in clinical leadership including providing quality care and safe practice; moreover, participating in collecting data regarding care outcomes. The leader is responsible for designing and implementing evidence based practice to prevent any errors on the unit; the collaboration between the management and other healthcare professionals will enhance the improvements in the patient’s optimal outcomes (ANA, 2012). The nurse manager/leader will enhance the integration and cohorts of patients to achieve the optimal standard of care; when an error takes place the manager advocate for the patient’s safety, follow up on the event, and take the proper steps

Leadership is a process. The leader uses influence to inspire others toward a common goal. There are different types of leadership such as autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. One leadership theory is transformational leadership. A transformational leader is defined as “a leader who is committed to a vision that empowers others” (Kelly, 2012). A transactional leader is focused on day to day operations and is more task oriented. I will explore what it takes to become a transformational leader and what part they play at the organizational level. I will discuss an ethical issue, which my nurse manager assisted me with as a new registered nurse. I will research the concept of power in relation to nursing leadership. There are certain attributes a transformational leader exhibits and are required to have in order to be a successful leader. A transformational leader has many skills and attributes. They are developed through mentorship and mastered by experience. A transformational leader creates a work environment that empowers others to advance their skills and abilities. This empowerment leads to a successful and highly functioning team, that works toward a common goal for the patients, families, co-workers, and organization as a whole. To be an effective leader it is important to balance both transactional and transformational leadership styles.

Effective leadership is an important quality to create a functional workplace environment. When it comes to the healthcare system, specifically nursing, transformational leadership is the most qualified form. Its main principles inspire confidence, personal and organizational goals, innovation and support. (Hamstra, Van Ypern, Wisse, & Sassenburg, 2014). It is very effective at enhancing the client care and professional performance of the nurse leader’s followers. (Doody & Doody, 2012). Transformational leadership has many unique benefits, that other forms of

Nursing Management and Nursing Leadership while both having similar attributes are two different concepts, with two different characteristics, roles, and responsibilities, the Manager is more in charge of smooth operations, financing, and policy adherence, while a Leader is in charge of understanding current situations affecting healthcare, developing alternative and efficient changes, and promoting this changes for others to follow. There are multiple Management and Leadership qualities, in which ethical considerations must be addresses, this include promotion of quality services and performance, and meeting the needs of those of any culture who seek service. As new changes are so frequent in health care the Institute of Medicine have recommended a new form of leadership called Transformational Leadership, which have shown to be very efficient by implementing flexible and adaptable leadership. Nurse Leaders involves strategies, such as empowerment, organizational management, and more in Transformational Leadership to effectively communicate their vision for the future with others. To be an effective leader one must use competencies that are relevant in the field of nursing, such as being creative and developing interpersonal skills. Those individuals who desired to become Nurse Managers and Nurse Leaders should attend a development programs that focus in educating skills such as leadership skills, organizational skills, and interpersonal

The main focus of the theory is motivation, inspiration and empowerment to create changes. It is based on the idea of empowering others to facilitate overall goal. Bennis and Nanus (1985) describe this new leader as a leader who “commits people to action, who converts leaders into leaders, and who converts leaders into agents of change” (p.3).177. According to processes to engage and motivate staff article “Transformational leadership is important for high quality care delivery, and behaviors that nurse leaders inspire, role model and reinforce are instrumental in creating work practice that deliver optimum care”.

Transformational leadership is an emerging type of leadership that is more adaptable the changing environment within healthcare and has the ability to guide and empower staff to embrace the changes (Finkelman, 2012). This type of leadership is especially important today with many nurses felling unsatisfied, or unappreciated. In order to have a successful organization, it must first have the ability to retain nurses through job satisfaction. Transformational leaders have the ability to encourage staff members to embrace the changes to come, by promoting such things as team work, and recognition of hard work done by staff members (Smith, 2011). Having the ability to recognize staffing needs along with the compassion to try and meet those needs while maintaining the functionality of the organization, is the key to future