Nursing Leadership in healthcare organizations

Nursing Leadership in healthcare organizations
Leadership in nursing is important now because healthcare groups have to deal with a lot of complicated and multifaceted problems in order to provide care that is high-quality, safe, and cost-effective. The constantly changing healthcare system has brought about new problems and new ways to give care, which require managers with a lot of training. To be a leader in healthcare, you need to be able to think critically, solve problems, and make decisions. In particular, leaders in health care should be able to handle the system’s complexity and make decisions that both workers and patients agree with. (Khan et al., 2018). Building on this idea, nurse managers need to know how they lead in order to handle their team well and improve patient care. Leaders also need to think about their own skills and weaknesses and figure out how to use them in their daily management roles. This talk is about the things I do well as an innovative leader and how my leadership style might change as I get more experience as an advanced practice nurse.

Describe the good points

As a medical sales representative, I’ve used the Strengths Finder exam more than once to figure out what my best skills are. My top five strengths, according to the findings, are focus, achiever, significance, futuristic, and learner. These strengths describe how I do my job as a nurse and give me a place to start improving as I move up the ladder to become a better leader.

A Look at Our Strengths

Focus

Focus helps people get work done because it lets them set clear, well-defined goals for where they want to go. Focus is something that every leader can have, but people have different skills to stay on task. Some people set goals and work hard to reach them, while others set goals all the time and check them to make sure the most important ones are met. Also, people who are focused move clearly in one way and are seen to be impatient with delays or obstacles that could cause them to change their plans. I think that goal-oriented people can finish projects, keep going, and do well in places where setting goals is the norm. I am a person who makes change happen by setting goals. Before every shift, I always write down my daily goals and make sure I’ve met them, even if that means working extra hours. I’ll stay late if I think something needs to be done, and I’ll push my coworkers to get things done. Also, I don’t like being interrupted or distracted when I’m working, and when I’m focused, I’m likely to ignore someone or something.

Achiever

I’m not surprised to find out that I’m a high achiever because I can pay attention to chores. Achievers are people who are known to have the ability to work hard and always have a specific goal that keeps them going. Achievers are always on the move at work. They check on how things are going and ask for advice to make sure everything is done to their standards. Also, the people who get things done work at a pace that few people can keep up with. They have lists of things to do at the end of each shift and feel like celebrating when they reach their goals. I think this about myself because I get things done. For instance, I’m always asked to plan and lead meetings because everyone knows I’ll do my best to make sure the plan works. When I know I forgot to do something, it’s hard for me to fall asleep. Every day, I push myself to work harder if I know it will help my patients, my boss, and me.

Significance

People live and work for a reason, and while some only want to make money for themselves, people who are important have a strong desire to make a difference. They live in the present and keep life interesting by putting their money into other people. These people want to make a difference and work to do so by making decisions that aren’t good for them but are good for others. People with this trait act as role models in society, have an effect on other people, and use their experience, knowledge, and skills to make changes in society. As I thought about this trait, I realized that I want to make a change in the places I work. I have done a lot of evidence-based quality improvement work to make sure I leave the school better than when I arrived. When I put in a lot of time and effort into something and get the credit I think I earn, it feels good. For example, I’m getting more education to move up in my nursing work so that I can be a change agent in the future and get the most out of my job.

Futuristic

People with the futuristic strength are able to see into the future and make plans to meet its needs. These people are driven by their dreams, and the future is important to them because it’s what gets them excited. The ideas of futuristic characters go right into the future, and they can see people at their best even when they don’t have any hope. Future-thinking leaders have plans to solve problems now and get their workers involved in making plans for the future. As they plan for the unknown, they always have a back-up plan ready. I think this is the main reason I’m going to Maryville University to take the Nurse Practitioner (NP) program. I always think about the bigger picture and how I can get better at what I do and make my life better. As a nurse, I always tell people to think about when they’ll be healthy again. I always think that pain is temporary and that people should have hope.

Learner

People with this strength are drawn to learn new things and feel briefly happy when they do. They find learning interesting and exciting, and they often want to become experts in certain areas. Learners are also good viewers who are ready to learn from others about how they learn. I’ve always thought that I’m a learner, and I’ve planned my job so that I can keep learning to improve my nursing skills. Even though I’ve been in charge of things before, I try to watch and learn something new every day.

Leadership that changes things

Transformational leadership is an idea that has been around for a long time, and today it is used to measure how successful a leader is. It is a style of leadership in which leaders encourage, inspire, and motivate employees to make changes that can shape the future of a company. Leaders should be able to get other people to use the tools they have to make a change. Using the transformational leadership strategy, leaders have skills that can help shape the future of healthcare and other organizations because they are experts in their areas. Transformational leaders push their workers to do more than expected and guide them every step of the way. (Fischer, 2017). They teach people how to think for themselves instead of waiting to be told what to do. Transformational leaders have these traits, which is why they are sometimes called “quiet leaders” who lead by example.

Transformational leaders have qualities that set them apart from leaders who use other styles. First of all, these leaders use intellectual stimulation to challenge the status quo and get their workers to be creative. They give the workers a chance to try out new ways of doing things and give them ways to learn new ways to solve problems. Transformational leaders pay attention to the needs of each employee and help them when they need it. They keep the lines of communication open so that employees can talk about their thoughts. These leaders honor their people in special ways and let them take part in making decisions. (Fischer, 2017). Another quality is inspiring and motivating employees by setting goals and making the organization’s purpose and vision clear. They work with their followers to make sure the organization’s mission stays front and center. Lastly, transformational leaders are idealized influencers who serve as role models for the people who follow them. They set a good example for other employees and urge them to do the same.

Transformational leadership focuses on how the boss and the employee work together. Khan et al. (2018) say that transformational leadership is a partnership between a leader and a follower in which both push each other to higher levels. This means that both the leader and the follower have the same set of values. There is a lot of evidence that this leadership style affects how happy followers are and how much they care about the company. Transformational leaders can make it easy for a company to change by keeping communication, motivation, and trust strong. Research shows that transformational leadership is important for improving and keeping good relationships between workers, which can lead to more work being done. (Xu, 2017). Leaders who focus on change also use this approach because it helps them push and inspire their employees to do more.

There are a lot of problems in the nursing field today, like a lack of health care workers, and it seems like the only way to solve most of these problems is through good leadership. Most research has shown that leadership is important for changing the environment of a company, even when that environment is stressful. Transformational leadership has helped improve the quality of healthcare in ways like making nurses happier, getting them more involved, and lowering their dropout rates. Transformational leadership gives employees support, lets them say what they think, and makes them feel like they can talk to their leaders about issues without fear. Research done in Taiwan showed that transformational leadership can help improve workplace support, organizational commitment, and job happiness. (Lin et al., 2015). Transformational leadership can also help improve the mental health of nurses, which is important in today’s stressful healthcare climate.

Transformational leadership has pros and cons, just like any other type of leadership. Transformational leadership is growing in popularity because it sees each person as a unique person. The leaders see their people as equals with their own skills and experiences that need to be treated differently. It gives the boss the ability to help the employee and encourages everyone to work toward the same goal. Second, transformational leadership can save money for the business by lowering turnover rates and increasing productivity (American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordination (AANAC), 2014). It lets workers and leaders match their cultures and ways of doing things, which makes long-term service delivery possible. Transformational leadership is also said to bring about and handle change. These leaders set clear goals and plans while helping their staff work toward making the change happen. Transformational leadership can be bad because it needs a framework already in place so that more growth and development can happen. The style of leadership can also make it easy for the leader to create unrealistic goals and plans that serve his or her own interests.

Compare the Good Points

Transformational leaders try to make organizations better by inspiring people and building a trusting atmosphere. I think that because of my skills, I am a good transformational leader who is ready to lead change in the nursing field. My first strength is attention, which means keeping an eye on the goals that have been set. I’m able to stick to the goals I’ve set, and I sometimes work extra hours to reach them. I work with the organization’s vision and purpose in mind, just like transformational leaders do. My second strength is that I’m a hard worker who gets things done. I work hard to get things done every day. Transformational leaders get their workers to work every day and reach their goals. Their way of getting people to work hard is based on what drives each person, not on official praise for a job well done.

As a leader, I have the strength of importance, which makes it possible for me to change things. This trait fits with progressive leadership, which means being able to make hard choices to bring about change. Transformational leaders are seen to help others make new ideas come to life. (AANAC, 2014). They can take the right risks and make hard choices while keeping the organization’s values, beliefs, and norms in mind. Transformational leaders can be thought of as teachers because they want to do even better than they thought they could. They urge people to be creative and let them try out new ways of doing things. This makes me a strong learner because it makes me work hard to find new ways to make my people happy. Lastly, I am a person who is interested in the future and is moved by it. Transformational leaders have a vision and tell their workers what that vision is.

How a leader’s style might change over time

Advanced practice nurses have expert-level information and the ability to make complex decisions that can be used to make organizations change. I think that as I learn more skills and move up in my nursing job, my leadership style will change. For example, in the changing world of healthcare today, I will have to learn how to react to new changes. Second, transformational leaders take big chances to make change happen, and I think I will learn to do the same, especially when it comes to changing processes in healthcare settings. As I move up in my job, I’ll learn how to take the right risks and make hard decisions while keeping the big picture in mind.

Aside from innovative leadership, there are also other types of leadership used in nursing. One of the most popular types of leadership is democratic leadership, which encourages and welcomes input from employees when making decisions. (AANAC, 2014). This approach values relationships with employees and always gives feedback to improve communication. Transformational leadership also cares about how it works with employees, but it doesn’t give them the power to make choices together. The boss stays strong so he or she can show employees how to make organizational change happen. Laissez-faire leadership is another style, in which the boss lets the workers do their jobs however they want. (AANAC, 2014). In terms of how productive it is, this style can’t be compared to transformational leadership because it doesn’t drive company change. Some managers might like autocratic leadership, in which choices are made without employees’ input. The strategy is good for making quick choices, but it can’t bring about long-term change because it doesn’t take into account what employees want.

Conclusion

Today, nursing management is seen as a job that needs special training in order to be a good boss. The best nursing styles know that leadership is a two-way process that needs feedback from both the leader and the employees. Transformational leadership is thought to inspire people to do more than just their work and go above and beyond. Transformational leadership can help bring about change in an organization, but the nurse leader must have skills like adaptability, inspiration, and drive, and work to stay focused, get things done, learn, and look to the future. Realizing that the success of a company depends on how well the nursing leader does their job, advanced practice nurses should be familiar with the different styles of nursing management.

References

American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordination. (2014). Nursing leadership and management styles.

https://www.aanac.org/docs/white-papers/2013-nursing-leadership—management-leadership-styles.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Fischer, S. A. (2017). Developing nurses’ transformational leadership skills. Nursing Standard, 31(51). DOI: 10.7748/ns.2017.e10857

Khan, B. P., Griffin, M. T. Q., & Fitzpatrick, J. J. (2018). Staff nurses’ perceptions of their nurse managers’ transformational leadership behaviors and their own structural empowerment. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 48(12), 609-614. DOI: 10.1097/NNA.0000000000000690

Lin, P. Y., MacLennan, S., Hunt, N., & Cox, T. (2015). The influences of nursing transformational leadership style on the quality of nurses’ working lives in Taiwan: A cross-sectional quantitative study. BMC Nursing, 14, 33. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-015-0082-x

Xu, J. H. (2017). Leadership theory in clinical practice. Chinese Nursing Research, 4(4), 155-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnre.2017.10.001

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