Effective Leadership In Healthcare

An effective leader possesses a variety of influential qualities; one quality that powers the success of a leader is the concept of emotional intelligence (EI). In the past twenty years, more emphasis has been placed on this essential quality, creating a higher demand for EI in the movement of leadership culture and development of today’s upcoming and current leader’s. As Goleman (1998) states, “Most effective leaders are alike in once crucial way: they all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence” (p. 94). A group of people with a common goal cannot be successful and reach their fulfillment without effective leadership; one way to illuminate exceptional leadership skills is the utilization of EI. Leadership

The healthcare system houses countless leadership positions, in fact every single employee has the opportunity to embody a leader through certain actions and roles in a corporation. Leadership is one of the main contributions in the success of a hospital and when looking at patient quality of care and satisfaction, a physician or healthcare provider is a principal role to analyze. All positions in healthcare have an everlasting impact on patient care, but one efficient way to measure the quality of care is observing the leadership role and responsibilities of a physician. EI tends to be a fundamental determining factor on whether a physician demonstrates effective leadership. Although physicians have acquired the expectation of obtaining a high IQ, the lack of EI can restrict a physician’s ability to handle challenging interpersonal relationships and stressful career demands (Hammerly, 2014, p. 355). With this perspective in mind, a physician’s EI can act as an essential element to leadership, clinical, and teamwork outcomes. Emotional intelligence within a physician improves the job and life satisfaction of an individual and positively impacts the relationship with staff and patients. The emotional intelligence impact on the physician, employees, and patients overall benefits the quality of healthcare

Morales (2014) states, “A patient’s perception of quality of care is impacted not only by the type of medical care received, but also by the manner in which it is delivered” (p. 705). Medical school training programs have incorporated competencies and curriculum that emphasize the importance of acquiring EI and utilizing its characteristics through the delivery of information to patients. There are six core competencies that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) implements in medical training programs (internships, residencies, and fellowships). These include: patient care, professionalism, systems-based practice, interpersonal and communication skills, medical knowledge, and practice based learning and improvement. Understanding and perceiving these competencies develop and lead an individual to deliver exceptional patient care. Acquiring high emotional intelligence aids a medical professional in achieving all of these core competencies (Arora et al., 2010, p. 750). In order to exceptionally and appropriately deliver healthcare and information to patients, and furthermore utilize the six core competencies, trust and dependence needs to first be achieved through the patient and the healthcare