Nursing Management - Case Study Example

Transformational Leadership

Introduction

The healthcare system is complex and needs capable and competent leaders that possess requisite skills on leadership and adaptation to change. It is argued that leadership plays a central role in the lives of nurses, and at the same time, nursing needs tough, steady, and experienced leaders (Sherrod & Goda, 2016). Therefore, leadership in nursing is greatly valued. Influence, goal accomplishment, communication, and motivation are the main concepts related to leadership. In this paper, we are going to discuss various nurse leadership styles in relation to system level and functions.

Discussion

Regardless of the field, leaders like every other individual are made up of their skills as much as their experiences (Rafferty & Griffin, 2004). In my position as a DPN-prepared leader, several life experiences have shaped my leadership style and philosophy. The experiences are both work related, and includes a broad range of exciting, stimulating projects, roles, and assignments. These experiences created a sense of diversity, which shaped my mind-set and perspective. Life and family relationship experiences such as living in unique places and family culture also contributed in developing my leadership style. To grow positively as leaders, DPN-prepared leaders should be careful in how they respond to certain life events as it can make or destroy them as leaders. For instance, those who respond to experiences from a learning position will lead with authenticity, but not with pride, creating influence through relationships, commitment, and personality.

As a leader, self-awareness is paramount. A self-aware leader is the one that can comfortably identify his or her strengths and weakness. Personally, I have several leadership strengths. First, I am a fast learner and possess excellent interpersonal communication skills. I am also self-motivated and always determined to succeed in whatever I do. One can also describe me as a hard worker and a team player. Through my intelligence and confidence in myself, I can always find a better way of doing things and can identify what is not working more easily than others can. However, my weakness is that I am a -risk taker and this often does not go well with a lot people i interact with. I can also easily conflict with the individuals who are prone to resist change.

The best way to maximize on ones' leadership strengths is by inspiring others to attain remarkable outcomes. My self-motivation, hard work, determination to succeed, together with my e strong interpersonal skill and communication can be a great source of inspiration and mobilization. I can also exploit these strengths in conflict resolution and create change. By going slow on risk taking, I will be in a position to avoid the possibility of putting off people. Furthermore, I can assess the most appropriate ways to implement change to prevent possible conflicts with individuals who tend to resist change.

Although it is hard to acknowledge, I always assume that the people I lead will always agree with my ideas and remain motivated throughout. However, this is not the case since in some situations, flexibility is necessary to maintain harmony. There is also a tendency of feeling that there exist common goals to be achieved with the followers.

Leadership and Day-to-Day Operations

Healthcare settings are in some sense corporations of smaller systems, not apparently uniform to each other. Healthcare institutions falls into three levels of management and each level has a more appropriate leadership style. A more suitable leadership style enhances the care provision ability of the system. For instance, the most appropriate leadership style to be used in a microsystem level of healthcare is the democratic type. Democratic leadership is whereby the leader demonstrates his or her leadership skills by encouraging open communication and the participation of the staff in decision-making. The managers assign the staff responsibilities, which makes them accountable and have to provide feedback concerning their performance. The leader has to nurture good work relationships because they are important. The focus should be on improvement of the system and healthcare delivery, rather than on the mistakes of individual nurses. With this style, I would encourage the nurses to speak up and join in the process of making decisions. The open communication will make them feel that their contribution matters. This also makes them feel part of the organization with the knowledge that they can influence circumstances if they act on them. The objective of microsystem is to achieve collective goals while empowering the nurses and enhancing autonomy, as well as accountability.

In the Mesosystem, I would prefer a combination of Democratic leadership, as well as the transformational style. An effective mesosystem leads to an effective microsystem hence enhances the quality of health care. As much as I would promote the improvement of services, autonomy, and accountability, there is also a continuous need of developmental changes. I would use the transformative abilities and skills to pioneer change within the system. The change process should incorporate new ideas from the staff. As such, I would encourage the staff to take part in discussions and contribute more. The staff would be more motivated as they would feel that they are they are valued; hence, they will work hard towards the achieving the overall objective of the organization (Aranda-Naranjo, 2007).

For the macrosystem level, I would prefer the transformative leadership style. In this type of leadership, the leader leads by example whereby his or her behaviour inspires and motivates the staff to perform beyond the expected goals. The leaders and the staff will often leave their self-interests for the betterment of the organization. I would use the style to develop a distinct vision for both the mesosystem and Microsystems (Linda et.al, 2004). By providing a clear picture of the future of the healthcare organization for the nurses to follow, they will be motivated and will work harder thus performing beyond their expectations. As the staffs observe the hard work from the top and the concern for their welfare, they would attach more importance to what is best for the organization than on what is best for them.

Leading Change

In the capacity as a DPN leader, I would employ a set of transformational leadership styles when leading change within an organization. According to research, there is a positive relationship and employees’ commitment to change efforts (Sherrod & Goda, 2016). My greatest strengths during the change would be my transformational skills and abilities. I am a determined, inspirational, intelligent leader with strong interpersonal skills. Through my intelligence, I would be able to identify what cannot work out at an early stage and make the necessary changes. Since I would be leading the change as a group, my interpersonal communication skills will also be my key strength. My belief in the vision of the organization will inspire the group to be more productive and work towards the change. My inspiration and powerful influence will range from individual to the whole team. It will also include the identification and emphasis on the needs and value of the group members. In addition, I have the mandate to act as an agent of change within the organization. This will allow me to initiate, plan and implement the change.

Some barriers would be anticipated while leading the change within the organization. The primary barrier is the expected resistance from the employees. Transformational change will cause great levels of resistance, which will result in a lot of disruption. However, I will need to have a plan in motion that will manage the resistance. The implementation history of the organization may also create some barriers. If the organization has failed numerous times and has dysfunctional projects, the memories of these projects are expected to linger on. There will be a possibility of facing resistance implementing the change based on the practice of what went wrong in the past. Another barrier will be insufficient sponsorship of the transformation. Support for the program should be sustained throughout its course. Changes in leadership or any distractions to divert resources will be a barrier to the program.

According to Rafferty and Griffin (2004), conflict should be expected in the transformation process and should be managed constructively. To avoid the conflicts, it important to desists from expecting too much from the employees, but rather sit together with them and jointly set goals and checkpoints. Resolving a conflict is also an opportunity to learn. The best way to resolve a conflict is through asking questions and being able to understand the other party's perspective. Likewise, while responding to the queries, the other party is also able to think through their perspective. Most importantly, conflicts occur when emotions are high. Raising questions engages other parts of the brain, and lowers the blood pressure of either parties or at least one. I will also practice active listening, and share my point of view. Through this, I can frame my point of view in a manner that will be persuasive to the others.

Reawakening the Passion for Practice

The first and important strategy towards the reawakening of passion for practice in nursing is through implementing authentic leadership. This not only influences the nursing profession and the workforce but the whole system of the healthcare, as well as the society in general. Leadership is a very crucial component in the nursing practice. As a result, the leadership style employed dictates much about the outcome. As noted by Kershaw (2013), democratic leadership reawakens the passion for practice. This form of leadership creates a sense of responsibility, autonomy, and attachment to the organizations. Making the nurses feel valued and part of the organization motivates them and improves the quality of healthcare services. The second strategy entails creating a healthy working environment for nurses and other staff. Few guidelines are available on the establishment of a healthy environment, but much would depend on an individual experience and creativity. Healthy work environments often instil a sense of belonging and cheerfulness among the employees. Another primary strategy is focussing on the employee satisfaction, by appreciating and ensuring that they are well informed on the various events within the organization.

As asserted by Kershaw (2013), effective nursing leadership is critical to patients’ outcome. However, in a healthcare setting, nurses tend to become dissatisfied in their work environment, which can lead to lower productivity. Kershaw (2013) further notes that there are several ways to identify barriers emanating from the workforce within an organization. The barriers include the low confidence, lack of vision and competence among the employees. Resistance to change, poor interdisciplinary development, and poor teamwork are among the negative effects associated with the disgruntled employees.

As a DPN leader, there are several skills and knowledge that I can bring on board in an organization to reawaken the passion for practice. I am uniquely qualified to control and mobilize efforts to standardize practice across an organization including reawakening the passion for practice. My leadership incorporates nursing theory and scientific principles from the social science to manage the nursing practice. I have the skills and knowledge to affect the healthcare delivery positively through the creation of new care models. Additionally, I understand the importance of moving around a compound healthcare system, and the policy implications of patient care decisions (Sherrod & Goda, 2016).

Conclusion

The healthcare system is complex and needs capable and competent leaders that possess requisite skills on leadership and adaptation to change. Leadership plays a central role in the lives of nurses, and at the same time, nursing needs tough, steady, and experienced leaders. Therefore, leadership in nursing is greatly valued. Experiences shape our leadership styles and philosophies. Leaders should also be aware of their strengths and weaknesses. A healthcare organization comprises of three system levels, and each level has its appropriate leadership style for better results. A transformational leadership style is suitable for leading change within an organization. However, employee resistance to change and team conflicts have to be dealt with when leading a change in an organization. Reawakening passion for practice in nursing can be achieved by implementing authentic leadership, which not only influences the nursing profession and the workforce but the whole healthcare system as well as the society in general. Improving the working conditions of nursing also reawakens their passion for practice. A DPN-prepared leader is uniquely qualified to control or mobilize efforts to standardize practice across an organization including reawakening passion for practice.

Reference

Aranda-Naranjo, B. (2007). The Care System Assessment Project: Values-based Health Care Planning and Delivery. Journal Of Health Care For The Poor And Underserved, 18(3A), 244-247.

Kershaw, B. (2013). Nursing Leadership & ManagementNursing Leadership & Management. Nursing Management, 20(3), 8-8.

Linda, k., Kosnik, R. N., James, A. Espinosa, M, D. (2003). Microsystems in Health Care: Part 7. The Microsystem as a Platform for Merging Strategic Planning and Operations. Joint Commission on Quality and Safety, 9.

Rafferty, A.E., & Griffin, M.A. (2004). Dimensions of transformational leadership: Conceptual and empirical extensions. The Leadership Quarterly, 15(3), 329-354.

Sherrod, B. & Goda, T. (2016). DNP-prepared leaders guide healthcare system change. Nursing Management (Springhouse), 47(9), 13-16.

Vinkenburg, C. J., van Engen, M. L., Eagly, A. H., & Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C. (2011). An exploration of stereotypical beliefs about leadership styles: Is transformational leadership a route to women's promotion? Leadership Quarterly, 22(1), 10-21.