Effect of Personality on Effectiveness of Leadership in Nursing - Essay Example

Effect of Personality on Effectiveness of Leadership in Nursing Introverted nurses do not act before reflecting. People who are introverted prefer to reflect before taking actions. They also reflect after they take an action. Introverted nurses are able to apply the theoretical knowledge they have gained to practical situations, and enhance their quality of service as they reflect upon their day to day experiences and learn more lessons. These nurses do not need to have frequent interaction with the patients.

They believe in the quality of interaction rather than on the quantity of interaction. As a result of this, introverted nurses are able to make the best use of their time, making positive changes in the lives of the patients. However, the factor related to introversion that can hinder effective leadership in nursing is the frequent episodes of quiet time alone that such nurses need away from activity in order to display optimal performance. Nursing is a very demanding profession and introverted nurses might not find enough time for themselves which would have a negative effect on their leadership.

Another drawback of being an introvert is that such nurses are overlooked when there is a competition between them and the extraverts for opportunities. “There is a big push toward customer service in the healthcare industry, but people presume you're not customer-friendly if you're not outgoing” (Taylor cited in Grensing-Pophal, 2011). People who prefer sensing over intuition tend to place confidence only in the information that is right in front of them, and is concrete and tangible. They use their five senses to gather information and tend to ignore their intuition.

These people search for facts and details in things and place high value on data. Such a nurse’s effectiveness in leadership may be hindered by their ignorance of the sixth sense, that is just as important, if not more, as the rest of the five senses. In fact, in day to day practice, there are many decisions that nurses need to take depending solely upon their intuition as the relevant data is not always readily available. “Sensing individuals prefer structured situations” (Decision Making in Nursing, 1996, p. 64) which is not always present.

However, these nurses are able to make informed decisions when they have access to the required information. Their dependency on the available information and facts rather than thoughts and ideas enables them to make the right decisions in the best interest of the patient. Informed decision making with the availability of the required data enhances the effectiveness of leadership for these nurses. People who prefer feeling over thinking reach their decisions by developing empathy or association with the situation at hand.

They tend to consider things from the inside and take care of the needs of the concerned parties by weighing the situation so as to attain consensus, fit, and harmony. As a nurse, one needs to develop bond and association with the patients. “A nurse must be sincere and really care about what happens to others. This is the root of our role as patient advocates” (Morales, 2012). Their ability to be considerate about the needs of the patients and empathize with them enhances the effectiveness of leadership of the nurses who prefer feeling over thinking.

These nurses are able to deal with patients that are illogical or inconsistent. Feeling nurses are generally emotionally very intelligent and know what is the right time to show what kind of behavior in order to get maximal cooperation from the patient. However, since feeling nurses are not very straight-forward in responding to others, this may take them longer to do things that thinking nurses are able to do sooner out of their straight-forwardness. Besides, patients might have a hard time understanding what a feeling nurse really means because they do not get a very obvious and direct reaction from the nurse.

This may hinder the effectiveness of leadership of a nurse that prefers feeling over thinking. People that prefer judging over perception exhibit their preferred judging function to the world which might be either feeling or thinking while dealing with people. A nurse that is feeling and judging appears empathetic to the patients. These nurses’ efforts are directed at settling things rather than complicating them. “Judging people like to be organized and decisive” (Kelly, 2009, p. 131).

This enhances their effectiveness of leadership because they have good conflict resolution skills. Hindrance created by judging in making the leadership effective is that such nurses might become emotionally too involved with individual patients and unconsciously start taking decisions for them with good intention that might not be approved of by the patients. References: Decision Making in Nursing. (1996). Cengage Learning. Kelly, P. (2009). Essentials of Nursing Leadership & Management. Cengage Learning.

Grensing-Pophal, L. (2011). The Introverted Leader. Advance healthcare network. Retrieved from http://nursing.advanceweb.com/Archives/Article-Archives/The-Introverted-Leader.aspx. Morales, K. (2012). The Importance of Empathy in Nursing. Retrieved from http://www.nursetogether.com/the-importance-of-empathy-in-nursing.