Leadership strategies and culture of safety - Essay Example

Strategies employed by a nurse leader on interdisciplinary team In order for a nurse on an interdisciplinary team to exercise leadership, he or she must have an internal locus of control. The nurse should be aware of the skills and commitment of each team member, and hence appreciate those skills. The leader should act in harmony with such diversity in skills and talents. The nurse should be motivated to initiate an action without blaming others for problems within the team. Rather than complaining, the nurse ought to seek ways to improve the situation.

The aforementioned stance is important in surmounting any obstacles. In this way, other members of the team would develop a perception that the leader is action-oriented, and consequently get motivated to listen to him or her and hence contribute to team performance. A nurse leader should also possess good skills in collecting information. The team leader must have an ability to reach correct judgment based on the meticulous analysis of inferences of team members, and then present an accurate judgment, rather than jump to conclusions without investigations.

This would create an impression to other team members that the leader input is valuable; this creates a solid foundation to nursing leadership (Family Health Teams, 2005). Justification for active involvement in an interdisciplinary team Empirical evidence shows that nurses’ participation in collaborative work of an interdisciplinary team gives them the incentive to gain informal education across disciplines, and underpins their skills and knowledge of other professions. The nurses’ involvement with other health practitioners helps to engender a sense of understanding and respect within the heathcare fraternity (Family Health Teams, 2005).

One way in which a nurse can take an active, contributing role in an interdisciplinary team is through the use of the accountability policy. This helps to promote healthy working relations within multidisciplinary teams in wake of change. The application of an accountability framework enables nurses to reap the best from discipline and create a positive working environment. Nurses exerting such moral principles are often proactive, and display high levels of commitment to learning and resilience (Grantham, n.d). The nurse should portray a robust advocacy for patient’s welfare, rather than keep quiet.

He or she should be on the forefront in addressing overriding issues affecting patients and plans of care. Nurses need to be actively involved in the decision making in a collaborative way. They need to remember that their team is interdisciplinary and therefore the different professions within a team tend to base their arguments in their area of expertise. The nurse must display the ability to champion patients’ rights, and ensure team cohesiveness by harmonizing their ideas with those of other team members.

Nurses’ proactive involvement in interdisciplinary teams is very important because they are the ones who spend most of the time with patients and therefore tend to understand their interests best. Hence, the information provided by the nurse is very crucial for creating the rationale for decisions with regard to treatment of patients, and the changes in the modality of treatment. Such crucial information mainly includes the patient’