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Leadership in nursing essay
Watson theory of caring
Leadership in professional nursing
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Nursing is not only a science but also an art. To be a successful nurse, one needs to take a holistic approach while having empathy, care, and knowledge to heal patients. Great nurses not only exhibit nursing theories but also exemplify qualities of a great leader. There are several leadership nursing theories that nurses can portray, such as the Great man theory, situational theory, and the transformational theory (Marquis, Huston, 2015). I believe that throughout this program, I have come to embody the theory of being both a situational leader and also a transformational nurse leader while representing Watson’s theory of caring (Potter, Perry, 2013).
In particular, the use of Florence Nightingale’s theory of nursing as the basis of my new practice had allowed me to begin with the basics and work my way forward toward a more modern and holistic approach to nursing care. While Florence’s work focused mainly on the military and her care of soldiers, she began to establish schools of nursing to promote nursing education and to encourage people to view nursing as a viable profession, (Alligood, 2014. 63). Nightingale’s focus may have been care of the military, but she made great strides on getting recognition for nursing and her theories still affect the practice of nursing today. In the article, Nurses as Leaders, the author proposes that nurse leaders have made great strides since Nightingale’s time when nurses were conscripted to help care for wounded soldiers. Such a setting required these early nurse pioneers to rely on critical thinking and quick action in order to save lives. The author goes on to discuss how a change in nursing occurred in the early 20th century as new management styles emerged, most notable the “Scientific Management,” model. This style placed doctors at the top, then nurse managers, and on down to bedside care staff. Though this did allow some nurses the ability to move upward, nurses resented a doctor being in charge of their teams as the work of a physician and that of a nurse are two very different practices, ("Nurses as Leaders," 2016). This is quite different from the modern concept of a nurse executive as leader of
The authors in this article aimed to discover nurse manager leadership styles and their outcomes. Nurses from hospitals in the Northeastern part of the United States were asked questions. The data was collected in a locked room, alone, so no one would influence the answers of someone else. The results were put into a software program and displayed for analysis. Results showed when choosing a nurse for a managerial leadership role, one should choose someone if they have the basic components of transformational leadership, not transactional leadership. The authors show that transformational leadership had revealed positive patient outcomes, retention, and satisfaction in the nursing staff. Those nurse leaders who have qualities of transformational leadership are encouraged to build on those skills constantly.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
During the interview, I was able to define the nurse leader’s qualities and leadership style. The leader possesses a vast amount of knowledge and skill base that she has attained through an assortment of evidence-based research findings and career competencies in becoming an effective leader. Initially, the nurse leader’s leadership style was centered on that of the transactional leader, which she identified in using the SWOT analysis Marquis and Huston (2012) noted that the old-style manager is more concerned with the “day-to-day” operations that the leader began learning in her early manager roles that were identified in the interview with the leader. The leader utilized the SWOT analysis to determine her strengths and weakness. Valkov (2010) denoted that the model is theoretically clear, easy to apply, “economical” and sound, which makes it ideal for managers to utilize. Learn (2013) identifies the use of a SWOT analysis in a personal perspective that assist in developing professional goals by reviewing individual
According to Yoder-Wise (2011), “Leadership is the use of personal traits to constructible and ethically influence patients, families, and staff through a process in which clinical and organizational outcomes are achieved through collective efforts” (p. 612). The following paragraphs will explain components of leadership of an anonymous healthcare facility.
In healthcare it is very important to have strong leaders, especially in the nursing profession. A nurse leader typically uses several styles of leadership depending on the situation presented; this is known as situational leadership. It is important that the professional nurse choose the right style of leadership for any given situation to ensure their employees are performing at their highest potential. Depending on which leadership style a nurse leader uses, it can affect staff retention and the morale of the employees as well as nurse job satisfaction (Azaare & Gross, 2011.) “Nursing leaders have the responsibility to create and maintain a work environment which not only promotes positive patient outcomes but also positively influences teams and individual nurses” (Malloy & Penprase, 2010.) Let’s explore two different leadership styles and discuss how they can enhance or diminish the nursing process.
Nursing educators and researchers developed theoretical frameworks for the nursing practice that are used to validate application of nursing knowledge and skills, and the theory gives a professional identity for nursing practice. Watson’s caring theory provides guidelines in transformational nursing practice, and stimulates nursing when profession experiencing shortages, decline, crisis in care, safety and healthcare reform. Nurse staffing issue creates potential challenge for nursing profession; therefore, nursing leadership should be involved, and actively participate to resolve it (Peterson, S, J. & Bredow, T. S., 2013).
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
Nurse’s can demonstrate leadership by facilitating outstanding care to patients and it is related to how one’s values and behavior affect others. A leader is all about success and contribution and a successful leader sets his/her standards, goals and strategies high. One can become a leader by being assigned or emerging, but both will be working towards a common goal of good or bad. In leadership, positive attitude is the key to success and problems and challenges in the healthcare industry demand that nurses seek and fill the gap. Let me share one of my outstanding client care experiences while I was working as an RN in Italy in the hospitals medicine unit.
Leadership is defined by Northouse (2013) as a transactional experience between persons whereby one individual influences a group of individuals who have a mutual goal. Leaders may hold authority attributed to them by the group, substantiated by how they are regarded, whether or not they have positional authority. In contrast to management, where the goal is to provide order through control, leadership is concerned with producing change through transformation and practical adjustments (Northouse, 2013). Because of the nature of nursing, its obligation to promoting health and healing of people, nursing leadership concentrates change efforts based on human needs and concurrently ponders the needs of administrations largely because they understand the interrelatedness of the two influences.
I believe that leadership is not something that you are born with, but that has to be learned over time. You learn to become a leader from watching other leaders, and also from personal experience. People should become leaders; so that they can help others do their best. They should not become leaders for the title and power that may come with leadership. Being a leader does not mean you get to boss people around by telling them what to do. The purpose of a leader is to guide others by encouraging, showing them the way, and by challenging them to do the best that they can do. I learned leadership through personal experience. In high school I played sports and had many class projects to do. My senior year was the first time my school had a soccer program, and I along with two other girls was captains. As we all know, when a group of girls come together, the drama comes too. All three of the captains had to work together and show the girls that if we wanted this program to be a success and grow, they had to work together as well. It was hard at first, but when we encouraged everyone, it worked out better than expected in the end. Also, in my business class, we had a lot of projects that were mostly group projects. During the end of the year, we had a project where we had to make up a new product. My partner and I were both seniors and it was a stressful time with finals, SAT scores, graduation, and trying to become honor graduates. We were tired and just did not want to do another project, but our teacher, Mr. Brace, did not give up on us. He showed us what to do, and encouraged us constantly every day. He would tell us many positive things and would check up on us. He was a great teacher and a great leader. Leadership may be one wo...
Leadership is all about having the right amount of heart and determination to help make a difference in someone’s life. It takes certain qualities to be considered a good leader. A leader should want to help inspire others to make a change and to be the best that they can be. A true leader does not need to feel powerful, instead they empower those around them. Throughout my life I have come across various leaders who have made an impact on my life. It takes a very special person to inspire and touch people’s lives. Leadership is so much deeper than having power and bossing people around.
Doody, O., & Doody, C. (2012). Transformational leadership in nursing practice. British Journal of Nursing, 21(20). Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.library.ohiou.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=3655bc92-b9ec-4a08-84d8-f5d3098ddfdf%40sessionmgr120&vid=17&hid=116
Leadership is about organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal (Prieto, 2012). Written below examples of effective communication, team working, delegation, management, planning and organisational skills I have utilized in my placement area:
In today’s society, leadership is a common yet useful trait used in every aspect of life and how we use this trait depends on our role. What defines leadership is when someone has the capability to lead an organization or a group of people. There are many examples that display a great sense of leadership such being an educator in health, a parent to their child, or even a nurse. In the medical field, leadership is highly used among nurses, doctors, nurse managers, director of nursing, and even the vice president of patient care services. Among the many positions in the nursing field, one who is a nurse manager shows great leadership. The reason why nurse manager plays an important role in patient care is because it is known to be the most difficult position. As a nurse manager, one must deal with many patient care issues, relationships with medical staff, staff concerns, supplies, as well as maintaining work-life balance. Also, a nurse manager represents leadership by being accountable for the many responsibilities he or she holds. Furthermore, this position is a collaborative yet vital role because they provide the connection between nursing staff and higher level superiors, as well as giving direction and organization to accomplish tasks and goals. In addition, nurse managers provide nurse-patient ratios and the amount of workload nursing staff has. It is their responsibility to make sure that nursing staff is productive and well balanced between their work and personal lives.