Leadership Styles In Nursing Essay

Factors that impinge on the capacity to utilise effective leadership within clinical practice may extend to the lack of confidence or inexperience associated with new practitioners or graduate nurses. Other issues may extend to role confusion (Fealy, et al., 2011), isolation, poor resources of time/finances, high workloads (Peltzer, et al., 2015) and stress levels, which affect the ability to undertake stressful or challenging situations. Compassion fatigue or ‘burnout’ and vicarious trauma are common in nursing, potentially inhibiting the nurses’ ability to wholly engage with their role/patients and intradisciplinary/interdisciplinary teams (Weberg, 2010). Factors affecting leadership development are considered pertinent issues, as positive leadership is associated with quality care and maximisation of

patient safety, thus its absence could threaten such care/safety (Stewart & Usher, 2010) and can even contribute to mortality rates (Cummings, Midodzi, Wong, & Estabrooks, 2010). Perceptions of leadership may pose as barrier due to stereotypical gender attributes that may not be consistent with the social perceivers view on the attributes the role necessitates, ‘role congruity’, may lead to gender bias and negative leadership capacity perceptions, despite an individual of opposite gender possessing identical achievements/leadership styles and capacities and accomplishing success in leading their subordinates. Perceptions of traditional gender roles within leadership positions may present with leadership styles/attributes not consistent with theoretical injunctive norms that may be perceived as incongruent with traditional leadership norms and thus less effective. This is especially evident if traits exhibited are agentic, which are considered masculine attributes as opposed to communal feminine attributes (Hoyt & Burnette, 2013). Alternatively, a female may have their attributes, in consideration to autocratic leadership, perceived as more aggressive, than if exhibited by a male counterpart (Cuadrado, Navas, Molero, Ferrer, & Morales, 2012).

Factors that may affect the perceived effectiveness of the leadership styles in clinical teaching may extend to leaders’ mentorship abilities and the pupils’ learning styles. This may include utilising inappropriate pedagogical or andragogical frameworks that are not conducive to the student nurse. Research suggests that most clinical educators will revert to previous educational forms, and will utilise pedagogical theory, inclusive of quizzes etc., which are considered too behaviourist for the contemporary nursing student, whom may require andragogical approaches which provide student-focused methods, and is considered an effective framework in nursing education (McKee & Billman, 2011). Additionally, this may extend to utilising didactic direction, Socratic methods or heuristic models that do not adhere to the students’ learning styles (Eniko, 2013) or needs and neglect to maximise the engagement or comprehension of the pupil (DaRosa, et al.,

2011). In this context, or with the nurse utilising an inappropriate leadership form for the situation/student, the development of the pupils’ own leadership capacity may be restricted due to lack of opportunity to cultivate growth as a nurse (Galuska, 2012). Other factors may relate to poor time allowances, lack of student motivation, preceptor attitudes and a deficiency of learning experiences (DaRosa, et al., 2011).