Nursing Leadership 9: Leadership Style
Different leaders achieve their functions through a variety of styles. According to Merrill, (2015), the commonly known styles for leadership include authoritarian, democracy and laissez-faire. In essence, this discussion seeks to offer a description of a leadership style of a leader and identify traits that I would or not integrate into my leadership. Moreover, it will illustrate a potential effect of the leadership style on patient outcomes and quality.
Primarily, a nurse leader that I cherish most and envision to become is a democratic leader. An individual utilizing a democratic leadership style is one that has less control given his/her belief in involving others in decision-making. Such a leadership approach ensures collective responsibility of decisions rather than individual ownership of decisions (McFadden, Stock &Gowen, (2015). My choice of this leadership style is influenced by its potential to make leaders work for and with the people rather than waiting for them to act on their own.
Concerning which traits to integrate or not to include in my practice, I find all the characteristics of the democratic leader as advantageous, and thus I chose to incorporate them where applicable. One of the qualities of a democratic leader that I would wish to integrate in my leadership practice is being a team player. Success in the healthcare field requires working with other people (Epstein, 2014). Such a skill forms part of a democratic leader persona and therefore learning from this type of a leader, I will be able to develop this skill. Another leadership trait that I would integrate into my practice is patience with the consultation process rather than hurrying to make decisions that would cost me at the end (Marquis, & Huston, 2015).
Lastly, an effect on patient outcomes and quality of care that this type of leadership will afford is worth mention. Use of the democratic leadership style allows the subordinates to talk openly about their viewpoints on issues that promote quality and patient outcomes. With such an environment of no fear, the subordinates can come up with interesting ideas on how the organization or the unit that a leader spearheads can attain quality (O’Connor & Carlson, 2016). Clearly, this is reason enough to suggest that the democratic leadership can improve the quality and patient outcomes.
In closure, from this discussion, it is apparent that knowing the type of leadership to use in nursing is of the essence to the success of a leader. As such, going forward, nurses need to be aware of the leadership style they utilize if they are to achieve positive outcomes in the clinical area.
References
Epstein, N. E. (2014). Multidisciplinary in-hospital teams improve patient outcomes: A review. Surgical neurology international, 5(Suppl 7), S295.
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2015). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
McFadden, K. L., Stock, G. N., & Gowen, C. 3. (2015). Leadership, safety climate, and continuous quality improvement: impact on process quality and patient safety. Health Care Management Review, 40(1), 24-34. doi:10.1097/HMR.0000000000000006
Merrill, K. C. (2015). Leadership style and patient safety: implications for nurse managers. The Journal Of Nursing Administration,45(6), 319-324. doi:10.1097/NNA.0000000000000207
O’Connor, S., & Carlson, E. (2016). Safety Culture and Senior Leadership Behavior: Using Negative Safety Ratings to Align Clinical Staff and Senior Leadership. The Journal Of Nursing Administration, 46(4), 215-220. doi:10.1097/NNA.0000000000000330
