Effective Approaches in Health Care Leadership and Management - Essay Example

Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management of affiliation All across the world the problem of nurse shortage and turnover is increasingly taking the better of the health care industry, a factor that threatens the quality of service advanced. The problem has been found to pose considerable impact both on the workforce, the management and the patients. On account of the high patients turn up and the limited nurse workforce that respective authorities have started to think strategically on how to improve the health sector. Such is the case that the healthcare industry demands a strong, well trained, stable and committed staff. The fact that the level of nurse workforce carries an impact on the quality of service advanced is no secret. The present nurse shortage challenge has negatively impacted our hospitals as the maintenance cost keep increasing and in worse situations patients lives lost. What causes the shortage? First, poor management system have greatly contributed to the present nurse shortage. Key industries like that concerned with people’s health can only operate well on a system characterized by a strong organizational structure. Sadly, health sectors across the world prefer regular restructuring of their system, a factor found capable of demoralizing the nurse staff. Sullivan, et.al notes that “restructuring of units has led to loss of experienced nurses” . Closed system of administration which locks out nurses from accessing important information for their discharge of duty and general well being has also been found to considerably contribute to problem. Such is the case that many nurses opt out of the nursing profession for other professions that appear to be much accommodative. Work environment is the other factor that has affected the amount of nurse workforce in the health industry. This factor is one of the major contributors to this present issue. Here, issues such as Insecurity, harassment and harsh conditions take the center role in pushing many nurses out of the profession. Nurses across the world are said to be doing more work than what their normal capacities dictate. Even with these, the managements still pay small attention to their predicaments as the nurses continue suffering from lack of job satisfaction, burnout and low morale. Low job satisfaction is a major factor that has led them to underperform as some of them deliberately compromise their duties and finally opt to quit the nursing profession for other professionals thought as being “lucrative” (Jones, 2005). In some cases, healthcare system management has in some instances fixed casual workers to cover up for the low nurse workforce. These casuals need a lot of supervision; full time nurses are thus required to perform an extra job of tracing and instructing their fellow part-time workers. This serves as another source of stress for government registered nurses because there is a possibility of losing control or trace over their fellow workmates who are based on part-time jobs. On motivation, it has been said that some nurse’s drive for the job comes from the financial reward. In such cases poor salaries, lack of staff appraising and other monetary issues within the organization only serve to demoralize nurses making many of them to quit the profession. Another reason is the failure to recognize individual effort at workplace. Leadership qualities Nursing industry just like any other functions well only when a good leadership is in place. Good leadership demands certain attributes that include good communication, well outlined vision, good working conditions, functional organization structure and many other functions that help in the smooth running of the industry. A number of t leadership and management theories have been developed to help address the issue presented above. First, is the behavioral theory that states “leaders are made but not born?” This means that every person has his/her own area of specialization for which he/she can function well as a leader. Here, leaders should be chosen based on the ability to influence others and thus make the following almost automatic. Such is the case that having a leader who is least preferred by the people being led would only result to frustrations at work place and some people would obviously opt out of the job (Valentine, 2008). Transactional theory is the next and it holds the view that rewards are used to motivate the individuals to achieve certain targets. This can apply to both the staff and the leader as they all derive much of their job satisfaction from the end reward. Nursing staff that finds no motivation for the work done will likely become demoralized and possible decide to take other jobs leading to the shortage. Equally, perception held on the job reward by prospective nurses can influence their decision to either join nursing profession or opt for other professions, a factor that can potentially lead to nurse shortages. For this reasons, management in the health industry should consider rewarding the efforts made by individual nurses to help motivate them. The last one is the transformational theory which seeks to stir up the leader within a person and thus inspire him/her to perform and meet set targets. Taking Fayol principles, for instance, the theory will entail the following: first the management should draw out a clear line of authority. Here, every nursing professional should be made aware of his/her assigned task and thus avoid the stress of conflicting interest. The next concern is the nurse general interest. The nursing staff’s interests should not be compromised neither should they be ignored. They should be equal and of value for the benefit of the organization. Also management concerned with the nurses should develop system that allows nurses to freely interact and contribute to the general organizations welfare. When it comes to the health industry Visionary Leadership Approach, serves the best since nursing demands that every other time leaders provide new directions on particular issues affecting both the staff and the clients. Such is the case that Visionary leaders focuses on where to go but not how to get there leaving room for innovation and new ideas. The open room allows nurses to make necessary changes in the system and thus feel much motivated in their area of work (Strube, 1988). Pacesetting Leadership is the other approach that can significantly transform the nursing profession and help increase the workforce. In this approach a leader sets the goals to be achieved and leads by example. This approach helps the leader not to make unreasonable demands on the staff as he first tries doing something by himself then ask others to do. However, this approach should be exercised with caution so as not to demoralize the staff when goals are not achieved (Strube, 1988). Conclusion From the above discussion, managers and leaders have a great role to play in ensuring that their organization succeeds and the consumers enjoy the medical services. Joining hands with the entire staff members, embracing each others strengths and practicing relevant management approaches would save our health organizations. References Jones, D. (2005). California nurse leaders address the states nurse shortage. Nurse Leader, 3(1), 46-49. doi:10.1016/j.mnl.2004.11.011 Strube, M. (1988). New Approaches to Effective Leadership: cognitive Resources and Organization Performance. Academy Of Management Review, 13(2), 328-330. doi:10.5465/amr.1988.4306910 Sullivan, et.al. (1998). Effective Leadership and Management in Nursing. American Journal Of Nursing, 98(6), 16L. doi:10.1097/00000446-199806000-00014 Valentine, F. (2008). Effective Leadership and Management in Nursing. J Clin Nurs, 17(6), 840-840. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2006.01923.x Read More