Leadership Being a nurse requires strong leadership and management skills to ensure high-quality care for patients. The nurse plays a crucial role in coordinating and delivering patient care while managing a team of healthcare providers, necessitating effective communication, decision-making, and delegation skills. In this essay, we will discuss the various management and leadership styles demonstrated by professional nurses and when to use each style. Additionally, we will identify and apply the principles of effective prioritization and delegation in nursing practice. Autocratic/Authoritarian Leadership Autocratic or authoritarian leadership is a management style in which the leader holds complete control over decisions. They make these decisions …show more content…
Effective communication and teamwork: Clear communication is crucial for effective nursing prioritization. Nurses need to relay patient information and critical updates to their colleagues and the healthcare team to ensure that everyone comprehends the urgency of each task. This includes being able to clearly articulate patient needs, concerns, and changes in condition to other healthcare professionals. Additionally, effective communication helps prevent errors and ensures that all members of the healthcare team are on the same page when it comes to patient care. Delegation in Nursing Delegation is the process of assigning tasks and responsibilities to other members of the healthcare team while still maintaining accountability for the outcomes. It is an essential skill for nurses as it ensures that all aspects of patient care are addressed. The five rights of delegation serve as a framework to guide nurses in making appropriate delegation decisions: the right task, the right circumstance, the right person, the right supervision, and the right communication (Delegation in Nursing: How to Build a Stronger Team,
Whitehead, D. K., Weiss, S. A., & Tappen, R. M. (2010). Essentials of nursing leadership and
Huber, D. (2010). Leadership and Nursing Care Management (4th ed.). Maryland Heights, MO: Saunders Elsevier.
There are several concepts that must be considered whenever leaders, managers or nurses delegates/supervises. One of which that must always take the highest priority is patients safety. Unsafe delegation can cause tremendous harm to patient and can costly for the organization or facility. For instance If the task being delegated has the potential to cause more harm than good, it is best that to reconsider. The five rights of delegation (right task, right circumstances, right person, right direction/communication and right supervision) must be utilized in order to bring about positive patient outcomes.
Delegation as defined by the American Nurses Association (2005) is the ability to handover responsibility for the performance of a duty from one person to ano...
The American Nurses association defines delegation as, ‘The transfer of responsibility for the performance of a task from one individual to another while retaining accountability for the outcome’ (Saccomano, 2010, p. 523). When delegating to staff or members of your team, it is important that it is used appropriately and within the proper guidelines. It is common to see RNs delegating in the hospital setting to the LVN or nursing assistant, however, the RN must know the limitations and what is within their scope of practice. Unfortunately, even if the nurse uses these guidelines, conflict can still occur with other staff making the process more difficult. Having the responsibility to delegate, especially as a new registered nurse, can be daunting,
Delegation is generally about communication and accountability though it’s one of the most complex processes in the nursing field. Delegation in nursing was introduced and discussed by Florence Nightingale in the 1800s and has continued to evolve or develop since then. Despite its complexity, delegation is important in the nursing profession because of cost containment, the problem of shortage in nursing, increases in levels of patient acuity, the growth of the elderly and more chronic population, and technological advancements in healthcare. In order for an individual in this field to fully develop the skill of delegation, he/she needs knowledge of his/her own attitudes and beliefs as well as reflection as a critical thinking skill.
Nursing leaders ' responsibility extends to become a voice for the nurses and for offering quality in patient care, not just at their organizations but spanning the whole communities, interacting with law makers in revising regulations and laws, with researchers and educators. Nurse leaders, in particular those at manager and supervisory levels are spread sparsely. They are involved in business planning, human resources, information management and writing reports. It is advisable for them to refocus the leadership on care which matters to patients which is the essence of
The National Council of State Boards in Nursing defines delegation as “transferring to a competent individual the authority to perform a selected nursing task in a selected situation” (National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Resources section, 4). When delegating, the registered nurse (RN) assigns nursing tasks to unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) while still remaining accountable for the patient and the task that was assigned. Delegating is a management strategy that is used to provide more efficient care to patients. Authorizing other individuals to take on nursing responsibilities allows the nurse to complete other tasks that need tended to. However, delegation is done at the nurses’ discretion and is a personal choice. Nurses must make careful decisions regarding delegation, taking into account the skill and training of the UAP, the difficulty and risk of the task, and the patient’s condition. The expected outcomes, a time frame for completion, and any limitations should be explained to the UAP at the time that the task was delegated.
Nursing is an ever changing profession, making strong leadership a crucial aspect. “Nursing leaders play a significant role in creating positive work environments for nurses” (Young – Ritchie, Laschinger, & Wong, 2007, para 1). This paper will define the concept of leadership in nursing. Many qualities are required to be a successful nursing leader. Some of the qualities discussed in this paper are: supporting and empowering team members, being well organized, remaining consistent with their expectations, and being able to effectively communicate with their team. Furthermore, this paper will identify the relationship between leadership qualities and role of the Practical Nurse.
In healthcare, there are several ways to influence others and each comes with a leadership style that the nurse possesses when they make decisions. When you put it in perspective, the attitudes, values and behaviors of an institution begin with its leadership (Azaare & Gross, 2011.) Democratic and autocratic leadership styles are very common for the professional nurse to use on a daily basis. Depending on the situation at hand, both leadership styles can be very effective.
Delegation is defined as entrusting a task to another individual while remaining accountable for the result (Mullen, 2014). According to the principles of delegation, an RN may delegate certain areas of care as long as they do not delegate the nursing process itself (Kelly, 2012). In addition, the RN needs to ensure (prior to delegation) that the individual that the task has been delegated to has the proper certification/training to perform the delegated task (Kelly, 2012). Based on the five rights of delegation (the right task, the right circumstance, the right person, the right direction and communication and the right supervision and evaluation), I would delegate the bathing, toileting, bed making, ambulation, transport, positioning, feeding
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2012). Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing: Theory and Application. (7th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
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.
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.
The nursing profession has changed drastically over time. The roles and responsibilities that nurses take on have increased and become far more complicated. Nurses are managers, leaders, supervisors and have become experts in many areas of care. Every day nurses are faced with the task of improving and strengthening professional leadership within their work environment. Managing good quality and eliminating risk is the major challenge in health care. All members of the team must work together to accomplish outstanding patient care. Budget cuts and nursing shortage in all areas of health care leads to less licensed staff, where use of unlicensed personnel have been used widely, where delegation is not an option, but a necessity. Nurses must be aware of delegation guidelines, what tasks to delegate,when to delegate for the safety of patients, liability of nurses and the facility.