Importance Of Power In Nursing

The term power has a variety of definitions. According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the first definition of power refers to “the ability or capacity to act or do something effectively”, also include “a capacity, faculty, or aptitude,” (“power. (n.d.)

In medical term is refers as “the ability to influence other people despite their resistance,” (Whitehead, Weiss, & Tappen, 2010).

There are several sources of power, some of them are authority, reward, expertise, and coercion.

Usually, the belief is that the managers, administrators, presidents or even the supervisors, have the greatest source of power, because they are at the top of the ladder in the hierarchy of the organization. The reality is that they need

The power of knowledge gives a person the ability to influence other’s actions. In addition, when a person is knowledgeable and skillful in him/her profession, the rest of the team, including the leaders respected his/her decisions, actions or judgments. For example, nurses with years of expertise have the ability to exert power and authority over other staff with less level of knowledge. They may not be managers, but their leadership skills and outstanding competence made them role models in the delivery of quality patient care. They are valuable pieces inside the organization because they can guide the staff’s work toward the organization goals (Whitehead, Weiss, & Tappen,

She needs to encourage the staff to become empowered and help the staff to resolve that behaviors that are contributing to the feeling of powerlessness.

Empowerment is the feeling of control, the ability to make our own decisions, the confidence to achieve autonomy and well-being.

First of all, to empower her staff, Nancy needs to develop an effective relationship with them, as well as, between all members of the healthcare team; this collaboration is essential to provide optimal patient care and to eliminate feelings of powerlessness.

Empowerment is about decision-making and autonomy, personal and professionally. Nancy should have empowered her staff’s nurses with the opportunity to be involved in the organization decision-making process. When nurses can influence and control their nursing practice, their autonomy, confidence, and commitment to the organization increase (Manojlovich, 2007). Organizations that empowered nurses to act and guide their everyday challenges using their professional skills, knowledge, and own judgment, shows positives patient outcomes, and less nurse turnover, burnout, dissatisfaction, stress, and powerlessness among their staff (Rao,