How to write a nursing essay on strategies in leadership and management

Nurse Managers at all levels must demonstrate leadership abilities. Leadership abilities aid the nurse manager in collaborating effectively with his or her subordinates. It improves their subordinates’ interpersonal relationships by motivating and positively influencing them to willingly attain the objectives. The art of motivating a group of people to attain a common goal has been defined as well as the act of convincing and influencing others towards a goal (Beauvais, 2019). As a result, a leader is someone who has the capability to influence and guide the direction, opinion, and course of action of others. A leader is also someone who uses interpersonal abilities to persuade others to achieve a common goal. Meeting the challenges of the ever-changing health-care system requires strong nursing leadership. Strong nurse leadership at all levels ensures that the consumers of these services receive high-quality care.

Impacts of staffing on quality of care and patient safety

Staffing is one of the key components that ensure that you have the right staffs mix for quality care provision. It is defined as balancing the amount of staff available with the needs of the company. The majority of nurse leaders around the world are worried about maintaining a good nurse-to-patient ratio. Both nurses and patients benefit from it, which is important for patient safety and care quality (Akgün et al., 2020). Quality of care and its safety positively correlate with the kind of stuff you have; therefore, nurse managers should ensure that they have the right staff.

Patient satisfaction is improved, medication errors are reduced, rates of falls, pressure ulcers, and healthcare-associated infections are reduced, patient mortality, hospital readmission and length of stay are reduced, patient care costs are lowered, and nurses’ weariness and burnout are reduced. Appropriate nurse-to-patient ratio for a given unit is influenced by severity of patients’ condition, the number of admissions, discharges, and transfers during a shift, nursing staff experience, unit layout, and the availability of resources such ancillary personnel and technology (Ward et al., 2019). One of the defining elements of patient outcome is the nurse-to-patient ratio.

Knowledge, experience, critical and creative thinking skills among nurses differ. Patients with higher acuity needs require consistent staffing across the shifts. For example, a patient in the critical care unit staff should be balanced throughout since patients’ needs are the same. An inexperienced nurse takes longer to perform tasks than an experienced nurse who takes minimal time doing the same task (Akgün et al., 2020). Managers should do staffing so that the care provided to patients is effective and efficient. Type of the nursing care delivery model used influence number and personnel required.

Staffing issues lead to stress and fatigue, inconsistency in care, and blunders that can be costly or lethal. In addition, not having enough caregivers leads to extra healthcare costs, such as overtime and premium pay, and higher rates for temporary employment. Missed care, which could be due to a nursing shortage, has been associated to negative patient perceptions of nursing care (Ward et al., 2019). Patients may lose faith in the care they receive if RNs are too rushed to explain medicines or coordinate therapy with other team members.

Professional standards of practice

Professional practice standards serve as a road map for the knowledge, skills, judgment, and attitudes needed for safe practice. They specify the duties and responsibilities of each nurse in practice. It involves six steps; assessment, identifying problems, outcome identification, planning, implementation, and evaluation (Beauvais, 2019). The nurse Manager should gather comprehensive data concerning staffing and workload, patient needs, and staff experience. It’s then analyzed to enable the planning of human resources. Other nurses can be employed to limit staffing shortages. Adequate planning aims to ensure that patients receive safe, quality, and timely care. Nurse Managers should set performance appraisal standards to ensure that the staff performs as required, leading to improved patient outcomes.

Roles of nursing leaders and nursing managers

Nurse Managers should motivate their staff to enable increased performance in providing care to the healthcare consumers. Motivation is the inner trigger that drives an individual to achieve a certain goal. According to Beauvais (2019), the Principle of Equity theory is the balance which states that motivation level is directly correlated with the perception of equity, justice, and fairness practiced by managers. Employees who have an increased workload should be compensated and rewarded. Perception of fairness among the staff will increase their motivation and enhance safety performance within the hospital setting.

Managers should help the employee execute the organization’s predetermined objectives through guidance and direction. Edwin Locke developed the goal theory whereby goal setting is linked with task performance (Beauvais, 2019). Nurse Managers should involve all employees in the staffing process and setting goals. Goals should be smart, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. Specific and clear goals concerning patient care increase the output and performance of the staff nurses. Feedback should be provided appropriately on how patient safety and quality care can be enhanced, directing employees in the right direction.

Aspects of managers and leaders

Choosing the best workforce is a difficult task. High-quality staffing and patient data are required for robust workforce planning solutions. The implementation of nurse-to-patient ratio staffing rules necessitates discretion in operationalizing the flexible design. Nurse Managers should utilize qualified staff and nurse assistants to help coordinate care, leading to a decrease in workload. Recruitment of nurses who have specialized training to offer services location and ways to attract them such as advertising positions (Ward et al., 2019). The managers should also retain the staff by offering incentives such as medical covers to avoid staffing shortages. Employers must prevent skilled nurses from leaving the workforce because they provide care and safeguard the well-being of patients.

Our health care system faces immense challenges, including inadequate nurses, which compromises the patient’s welfare. Solving staffing issues is a gradual process that requires adequate planning. Nurse Managers can utilize a transformational leadership style. The leadership style enables the manager to inspire the staff with visions then encourage and empower them to achieve it(Weiss et al., 2019). There are interactive relationships based on trust that positively influence staff and leaders. This style focus on the quality of care and involvement of all the staff hence promoting team building. A supportive environment is created to enhance that the staff can work effectively despite the challenges.

REFERENCES

Akgün, K. M., Collett, D., Feder, S. L., Shamas, T., & Schulman-Green, D. (2020). Sustaining frontline ICU healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Heart & Lung, 49(4), 346.

Beauvais, A. M. (Ed.). (2018). Leadership and Management Competence in Nursing Practice: Competencies, Skills, Decision-making. Springer Publishing Company.

Ward, S. T., Dimick, J. B., Zhang, W., Campbell, D., & Ghaferi, A. A. (2019). Association between hospital staffing models and failure to rescue. Annals of Surgery, 270(1), 91.

Weiss, S. A., Tappen, R. M., & Grimley, K. (2019). Essentials of nursing leadership & management. FA Davis.

How to write a nursing essay on strategies in leadership and management

Impacts of staffing on quality of care and patient safety

Professional standards of practice

Roles of nursing leaders and nursing managers

Aspects of managers and leaders

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