Effective Nurse Leadership

QUALITIES OF NURSE LEADER

Effective leadership in Nursing

Introduction

The importance of effective leadership in health care has been emphasized by a number of authors and nursing leadership is pivotal to this as nurses represent the largest discipline in health care Research on leadership has demonstrated a positive relationship with improved patient safety outcomes ,healthy work environments , jobSatisfaction ,lower turnover rates and positive outcomes for organizations, patients and healthcare providers

Effective leadership has been credited for improved work environments, Greater nurse satisfaction, lower nurse turn over and better quality of patient care . While it can be argued that there are many challenges confronting nurse leaders

These may include power, influence, followership, dynamic personality, charisma, goals, autocratic behaviour, innovation, cleverness, warmth and kindness.

Definition

• ‘Leadership is defined as influence, that is, the art or process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievement of group goals.’ (Weihrich and Koontz, 2005)

• ‘Leadership involves the use of interpersonal skills to influence others to accomplish a specific goal.’ (Sullivan and Garland, 2010).

• Leadership is the ability to influence people toward attainment of goals.’ (Daft,2000)

• Process whereby a nurse influences two or more persons to achieve specific goal in the provision of nursing care for one or more clients.

Leadership theory

Leadership has generated a sizeable amount of research and theory and the theories are often described using different classification.

• The trait approach, which is concerned with personal traits that contribute to effective leadership

• The behaviour approach, which, like trait theory, explores leadership from the perspective of the leader and focuses on leader

Transformational leadership is about vision, ability to inspire followers, trust, sharing a bond with followers, and being able to empower others. Authors such as Carney (2006), Jooste (2004), Thyer (2003) and Bowles and Bowles (2000), have proposed that transformational leadership is a suitable model for directing and guiding nursing leaders

FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO NURSING LEADERSHIP

A systematic review of research on factors contributing to nursing leadership by Cummings et al (2008) divides the research into studies of behaviours and practices of nursing leaders, their traits and characteristics, the impact of the healthcare context and practice settings, and educational participation of nursing leaders.

1. There is evidence that leadership in nurses can be developed through educational activities, modelling and practicing leadership.

2. In terms of behaviours and practices, they conclude that relationship skills are more important than financial and technical abilities, and that demonstrated leadership tends to foster leadership behaviours in