Nurse Leadership and Nurse Management - Essay Example

Nurse Leader and Nurse Manager

• Introduction

Nurse leadership and nurse management are significant aspects of the nursing practice. While they have their differences, they are more known for their similarities and overlapping elements. The nursing practice is complicated and coordinated based on the leadership and management skills of nurse supervisors, leaders, and managers. This paper shall seek to explore the practice of nurse leadership and management within the clinical setting, using theories to explain and understand the context and applications of nursing management.

• Characteristics of an Effective Leader/Managers from Nurse Leader Interview

One characteristic of my nurse leader is that she has self-confidence. She says she does not significantly doubt herself in her decisions and she discusses that she knows she has what it takes to succeed. Self-confidence is often noted in terms of how confidence nurses feel about the decisions they make, the tasks they assign, and how well they would stand up to their decisions. A specific example showing self-confidence in a nurse leader is when a nurse leader decides to countermand a doctor’s orders because she feels that it is a wrong order. This can easily be noted in the recent case of a Utah nurse who refused to allow a police officer to get a patient’s blood because the latter was unconscious. Even when faced with the full authority of the police officer, she confidently refused to allow the police officer to get the patient’s blood.

This quality of self-confidence is very much important for nurse leaders because it helps ensure that a leader would stand by her decision even when other leaders or other colleagues would disagree. In relation to other members and followers, a leader displaying self-confidence, according to Laschinger, Borgogni, Consiglio, & Read (2015) can also inspire confidence among members. In other words, it can also motivate members to act and support a specific action, and even to help implement such actions. All in all, this helps create a supportive as well as decisive work environment which handles problems well and faces such problems strongly and effectively.

The nurse manager I chose a good motivator. She indicated that as a manager, she did her best to motivate her team members by adjusting her approach to the needs of her members. She also did her best to talk to her team members in order to ensure that they were happy as well as productive. As a good motivator, this can be noted in nurses regularly conducting meetings and often talking with her team members in order to ask them individually and collectively about their concerns, possible suggestions for improvements for the team, and addressing such concerns.

This quality is essential to a nurse leader’s effectiveness because it can improve moral within the team and the unit being managed by the nurse manager. In the study by Anonson, Walker, Arries, Maposa, Telford, & Berry (2014), they point out that in being a good motivator, team members would feel better about themselves and in working with the nurse manager as well as their other team members. They would feel like they can easily discuss their concerns with their manager and their good work would be acknowledged and appreciated by their manager. This can further inspire these members to work even harder, eventually, this would translate to better outcomes for patients.

The two characteristics of the nurse leader and nurse manager are different mostly as the characteristic of the nurse leader is something she chooses to be and do as a person in general, not necessarily as a leader. The quality of a good motivator is however a quality which is less attached to the personal qualities of the individual, but is more associated with the nurse’s actions in her capacity as manager. The two qualities are also different in terms of how they are usually applied in the clinical practice, with the nurse leader quality related to a leader’s individual actions, and a nurse manager’s quality associated with the manager’s actions in relation to a team or in relation to other nurses and managers.

• Leadership Theory

There are numerous theories related to the nursing leadership. Some of these theories include transformation leadership, transactional leadership, behavioral theories, contingency theories, among others. The theory most congruent with my perception of effective nurse leaders/managers will be discussed below.

The leadership theory most congruent with my perception of effective nurse leaders/managers is the transformational leadership theory. The key concepts of this theory is that it is a style of leadership wherein its leaders seek to establish an ideal or inspiring vision for the future, motivating their members to secure such vision, successfully implementing such a future, and then helping members be effective parts of this vision (MindTools, 2017). As discussed by Hutchinson and Jackson (2013), these concepts and elements help ensure that nurse leaders would be able to achieve a future which is supported not just by theory, but also by their actions, and the actions of their members.

The strengths and applicability in the current healthcare environment include transformational leadership and its ability to provide a compelling vision for the future. According to Weng, Huang, Chen, and Chang (2015), members and leaders are likely to be more engaged in their work with an organization if they have a specific and shared vision for the future. The strength of this theory can also be seen in terms of leaders managing performances by indicating clear and concise expectations. For members who can see where they fit in the bigger picture and the vision for such future, their desire to do a better job in light of such vision can be increased. A nurse leader for instance who wants to transform the work of the team towards the best quality work can share such vision to her members and when such vision is in mind, the members would continue to ensure that their work would match quality expectations.

Using the principles of this theory would help me implement change within the current healthcare environment mostly in relation to the importance of my organization having to set an inspiring vision for the future and of motivating our members to secure such a future. This would relate to aligning the actions, duties, and activities of the organization and its members towards the organization’s vision. It is important however to first set an ideal and inspiring vision for the organization. For now, I want to inspire our organization towards zero to minimal errors in medical care. I can potentially implement such vision by setting forth checklists for each member to follow and to memorize in caring for patients undergoing any procedure. This procedure needs to be made a routine part of the care and practice of nurses. In the mind of the nurse, she should avoid errors at all times and must therefore be prepared and vigilant at all times in order to avoid errors or minimize the occurrence of such errors.

• Self-Assessment

Self-assessment relates to the self-examination of an individual of his/her values, decisions, and practice. It helps a practitioner be a better clinician, and helps shape the quality of the clinical practice. The paragraphs below shall assess my ability to a leadership role using the Nurse Executive Competencies or MindTools surveys on Leadership and Management skills.

Two professional strengths, based on my assessment include my strong motivational skills (leader) and my strong communication skills. My strong motivational skills will improve the quality of patient care mostly in terms of encouraging my nurses to always work at their best because I believe in them and their skills. Motivation as discussed by Pramilaa (2016) is an important quality for nurse leaders as it helps promote participatory and a more supportive work environment. This type of environment would also translate to a less stressful work setting where nurses can focus on providing quality care without having to deal with a stressful and prohibitive work setting.

My strong communication skills will also improve the quality of patient care by providing an open channel of communication where the nurses can easily express their concerns without any hesitation or any fears of reprisal. As pointed out by Riley (2015), open communication helps promote a healthy work environment especially in relation to ensuring that errors in the workplace are prevented. Communication also helps prevent tension in the work setting, as issues can be discussed easily among colleagues.

My level of nursing resilience using the Personal Resilience Inventory indicates that I am a very resilient nurse. This impacts my ability to function in a leadership role by implying that I am highly capable in this role. This can be noted in terms of how well I am able to bounce back from setbacks and to learn from such setbacks. I do not allow myself much time to dwell on setbacks and if I do dwell on such setbacks, it is mostly to allow for self-reflection, to identify what I did wrong and to establish ways on how to prevent future similar setbacks.

• Using theory and an evidence base

Theories help provide rational and academic ways by which one’s practice can be explained and understood. There are numerous theories upon which the practice can be developed and directed to. The following paragraphs shall identify theories and evidence based related to issues in the nursing practice.

An issue brought up by the nurse leader interviewed is the current shortage of nurses and the increasing number of patients which nurses have to care for during their shifts. With the increase in population, and with the minimal increase in the number of nurses, nurses are currently overworked. Overworked nurses are nurses who are prone to errors, poor quality of work and stress. This situation has also been known to a high turnover rate in the nursing practice with many nurses choosing alternative professions in healthcare or choosing other professions not related to healthcare.

In the study by Snavely (2016), they point out that there is a current shortage of nurses and this shortage is also the primary cause for medical errors and burnout. This was also highlighted by Yucha, Smyer, and Strano-Perry (2014) where they also identified the shortage of nurses as a factor in the decreased quality of care for patients, often leading to medical errors which sometimes turn out to be more harmful for patients. This study highlights the importance of improved funding for the nursing practice, encouraging more students to take up careers in nursing because it is a lucrative profession. Another suggestion also relates to making the entry of foreign nurses less prohibitive, especially for highly skilled nurses who can help ease the shortage in the country.

A transformational leader would help respond to the issue by discussing with the hospital managers a way by which more nurses can be hired. This may involve cost-cutting measures in order to improve funds available for the hiring of new nurses. This was discussed by Abhicharttibutra, Kunaviktikul, Turale, Wichaikhum and Srisuphan (2017) as a means by which funds could be made available and directed towards the employment of more personnel. Another way is also to motivate nurses already employed to continually work towards quality practice even if they are exhausted (Poorman and Mastorovich, 2017). This may relate to working as a role model where the nurse manager can also help reduce the work load of other nurses in order to allow them longer break times. This was pointed out by Poorman and Mastorovich (2017) as a crucial aspect of the nursing practice where nurse leaders can also be role models.

• Summary

This study was able to discuss the characteristics of a nurse leader and manager I was able to interview. In the course of the interview, I noted promising qualities of the leader and manager and these qualities relate to their motivational skills, their self-confidence, and their skills in completing their tasks effectively. The transformational leadership theory was highlighted as a related theory in the course of this discussion. This type of leader is one who seeks to establish a vision for the future and in helping its members reach such vision.

On a personal note as a leader, I noted that I scored high in motivational and communication skills. The issue of shortage of nurses was identified as a problem and one which needs to be addressed because it is a threat to patients and quality care. A transformational leader would need to communicate with other leaders in order to improve the nurse-patient ratio, and also motivate the nurses towards maintaining the quality of their work.

Reference

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