Styles of Leadership in Nursing Essay
Styles of Leadership in Nursing Essay
Leadership is a unique designation that engenders the desire to follow. It is the capacity and preparation to inspire others with a focus on helping self and others do the right thing. A leader sets direction, builds an inspiring vision, and creates something new. On the other hand, management is concerned with making use of administration and coordination skills to control others to achieve a goal. Management is defined as the application of the set of principles concerned with planning, organizing, directing and controlling functions. Leaders have people follow them because of beliefs, behaviors and personality. Unlike managers, leaders do not necessarily have to be an authoritative figure. In addition, a leader personally invests in projects and tasks, and demonstrates passion for activities undertaken whereas a manager does not necessarily have to invest in the project and tasks. Besides that, leaders take on a personal interest in the success of others with a focus on enabling them to achieve set personal and organizational objectives with satisfaction while managers are mainly focused on achieving organizational goals (Kantanen et al., 2017). The present paper presents a philosophical analysis of leadership as a concept for professional nursing practice. Styles of Leadership in Nursing Essay
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Professional Nursing Practice
Magnet program first become operational in 1983 as a model identifying health care work environments with the capacity to attract and retain well-qualified nurse personnel. Regularly revised by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the accreditation wing of the American Nurses Association (ANA), the program offers a framework for nursing research and practice, while also serving as a roadmap for medical organizations seeking magnet recognition. The program is intended to identify the medical organizations with the capacity to lead reformation of health care that includes the nursing disciplines and care of community, patients and family. At the core of the program is the awareness that global issues must be addressed to improve health care. Towards this end, the program presents five components: transformation leadership; structural empowerment; exemplary professional practice; new knowledge, innovation and improvements; and empirical quality results (American Nurses Association, 2020).
The first component, transformational leadership, supports professional nursing practice by providing best practices for nursing leadership to include information that helps nurses to lead others in meeting the current and future demands. The second component, structural empowerment, supports professional nursing practice by providing tools to ensure that nurses are developed, directed and empowered to achieve the desired outcomes and organizational goals. This helps nurse leaders to create strategic plans, heighten their professional competency, and improve quality outcomes. The third component, exemplary professional practice, supports professional nursing practice by facilitating efforts to provide culturally competent and high quality care to patients. The fourth component, new knowledge, innovation and improvements, supports professional nursing practice by presenting evidence-based information and how the evidence can be applied. The final component, empirical quality results, supports professional nursing practice focusing on the outcomes of processes and structures, and comparing them to benchmarks (American Nurses Association, 2020). Magnet program supports professional nursing practice through encouraging investment in ongoing nursing education and career development that allows for the delivery of high quality and safe patient care. Evidence suggests that medical organizations recognized by the program report enhanced patient satisfaction, greater nurse autonomy, improve clinical outcomes among patients, fewer staff vacancies, lower personnel turnover, and higher proportion of satisfied nurses when compared to non-Magnet medical organizations (Jones, 2017).
Values
The professional values of nursing are the beliefs and goals that establish behavior among nurses and act as the basis for making decisions. In fact, they are the standards for action that are preferred within the health care environment and which establish the framework for evaluating professional behavior. Nursing is a profession that has implications for public health and often divides the line between life and death. As such, it is not surprising that the nursing profession is rooted in ethical values, with the performance of individual nurses being rooted on these values (Poorchangizi et al., 2019). Styles of Leadership in Nursing Essay
Six core ethical values have been identified as relevant for guiding professional nursing practice: social justice, honesty, integrity, human dignity, autonomy and altruism. These values clarify nursing practices, norms and care quality. They are shared within the public health arena and global community, and act as a reflection of the spiritual and human approach to the nursing profession. However, the application of these values are influenced by religious, economic, social and cultural conditions that dominate the community. These values relate to the tenets of magnetism by supporting transformational leadership, structural empowerment, exemplary professional practice, development of new knowledge, innovation and improvements, and presenting empirical quality results (Poorchangizi et al., 2019).
The six core ethical values relate to the four paradigms of the nursing by addressing the patient as a whole, wellbeing and health of the patient, environment, and nursing responsibilities. Firstly, the values introduce a person connection through identifying the patients as important as well as the family and community being important to the patient’s health. In addition, the values make allowances for the health care, social and spiritual needs of patients. The premise is that this results in an empowered patient who can manage his/her wellbeing and health with dignity. Secondly, the values introduce the environment component of health by acknowledging that the surrounding affects the patient, to include external and internal influences. They are presented as social and physical factors to include technology, social connections, culture, geographic locations and economic conditions. Thirdly, the values introduce the health component with a focus on the extent of health care access and wellness. It covers the genetic makeup and lifespan, and how the spiritual, social, intellectual and physical wellbeing are integrated into health care to maximize health benefits. Finally, the values introduce the nursing component with a focus on delivering optimal health outcomes through mutual relationships in caring and safe environments (McEwen & Wills, 2018).
Styles of leadership
A fundamental component of nursing practice is leadership skills that help to drive job satisfaction, performance and motivation as well as improve patient outcomes. Building upon this logic, there is a need for nurses to understand the different types of leadership styles available to them as this knowledge would help to drive better patient care. Five types of leadership styles are recognized among nurses. Firstly, servant leadership that involves motivating and influencing others through developing professional nursing skills and building relationships. This leadership style is beneficial for leading diverse and multidisciplinary teams. However, this style fails when individual nurses lack direction. Secondly, autocratic leadership that involves applying a hands-on approach that withholds information without input from others. This leadership style is beneficial for making quick decisions when necessary, such as in emergency situations, but is faulted for hindering communication and trust. Thirdly, laissez-faire leadership that involves applying a hands-off approach without direction or feedback. This leadership style is beneficial for allowing effective and experienced teams to function to their full potential, but is faulted for failing to match the changing nursing care environment (McEwen & Wills, 2018).
Fourthly, democratic leadership that involves encouraging and welcoming communication and input when making decisions. This leadership style is beneficial for making the team members feel valued, but is faulted for hindering rapid response, especially in emergencies. Finally, transformational leadership that involves leading by example and motivating others to take ownership of their roles so that their performance exceeds expectations (McEwen & Wills, 2018).
Transformational leadership is a desired leadership style in nursing because it allows nurses to think independently instead of simply doing what they are told. This leadership style has the advantage of inspiring and motivating others to explore better ways of achieving set objectives as well as facilitating conflict resolution. In addition, this leadership approach fully engages stakeholders while seeking to satisfy their needs alongside the needs of the organization. However, it is faulted for failing to perform when there is not established structure (McEwen & Wills, 2018). Styles of Leadership in Nursing Essay
Personal Philosophy
My core values are the fundamental beliefs that guide my personal and professional life. They help me to understand the difference between right and wrong, and help me determine the right way in which to fulfil my goals by creating a resolute guide. I have five core values. My first core value is the belief that God exists and humans must be affiliated with a spiritual/religious institution in order to be fulfilled. I pray on a regular basis and use the word of God as a guide. The second core value is the belief in being a good steward of the available resources as they are scarce, and exercising frugality. I am careful to not to waste water and electricity, switching off electrical appliances when not in use, turning off the taps when I am away from home, and donating items that I am not using. My third core value is the belief that my family is of vital importance. I put my family first, but recognize that I must not intentionally harm others. My fourth core value is that the best policy is to honest and earn trust through actions. I firmly believe that my patients can only trust be if I am honest and solicit their opinions in care delivery. My final core value is the belief that every person should maintain a healthy life-work balance. I ensure that my days allocate enough time for family, friends, social activities, work, rest and leisure. These five core values relate to the common values in nursing, which include social justice, honesty, integrity, human dignity, autonomy and altruism. They guide me in ensuring that my patients are treated fairly and with dignity while being allowed to contribute to their care decisions without expectation for personal gain (Poorchangizi et al., 2019).
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My preferred leadership style is servant leadership model. This leadership style is a natural fit for the professional nursing position. The model focuses on serving others, an idea that resonates with nursing since serving patients is the first priority. It presents some features that are useful to nursing. Firstly, actively listening to others to understand their perspective and what they are trying to communicate. Secondly, empathy and emotionally connecting with others. Thirdly, general and self-awareness to allow for better understanding of other when pursuing a common vision. Fourthly, conceptualization by balancing the different perspectives. Finally, stewardship by holding the health of others in trust, and always doing what is right for the whole with a shift in focus from personal gain to greater good. Servant leadership style facilitated communication and motivation efforts by facilitating active inclusion so that stakeholders become an active part of the health care process (Dittrich, 2019).
Through experience, I have developed some personal beliefs with leadership skills in nursing practice. Firstly, I believe that effective communication must be a two-way activity involving an active sender and active receiver. The absence of any one component would result in ineffective communication. Secondly, I believe that the leader must motivate others in order to achieve the team/group goals. AN unmotivated team is less inclined to put effort into achieving the set goals. Thirdly, a leader that works with a tea must be ready to delegate some activities. This is important for ensuring that all the activities receive the required attention. Finally, a leader must be disciplined enough to develop and follow a set plan as this improves the efficiency in achieving the set group objectives. Styles of Leadership in Nursing Essay
Summary
My vision for professional nursing practice is to have the capacity to provide quality care to my community, patients and family members through innovation, practice, leadership and education. I seek to develop and implement evidence-based, professional and innovative nursing care by leveraging my capacity. In addition, I seek to partner with other medical personnel and stakeholders (such as patients and families) to provide health care. Besides that, I seek to create a positive nursing practice environment that supports and fosters professional development and growth. Overall, my vision is to provide compassionate and quality nursing care.
References
American Nurses Association (2020). Magnet Model – Creating a Magnet Culture. https://www.nursingworld.org/organizational-programs/magnet/magnet-model/
Ditrrich, L. (2019). “Servant Leadership” in Healthcare: A Natural Fit. Cath Lab Management, 27(4). https://www.cathlabdigest.com/content/servant-leadership-healthcare-natural-fit
Jones K (2017) The benefits of Magnet status for nurses, patients and organisations. Nursing Times, 113(11), 28-31. https://www.nursingtimes.net/roles/nurse-managers/the-benefits-of-magnet-status-for-nurses-patients-and-organisations-30-10-2017/
Kantanen, K., Kaunonen, M., Helminen, M., & Suominen, T. (2017). Leadership and management competencies of head nurses and directors of nursing in Finnish social and health care. Journal of Research in Nursing, 22(3), 228-244. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744987117702692
McEwen, M., & Wills, E. (2018). Theoretical Basis for Nursing (5th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
Poorchangizi, B., Borhani, F., Abbaszadeh, A., Mirzaee, M., & Farokhzadian, J. (2019). The importance of professional values from nursing students’ perspective. BMC Nursing, 18, Article number 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-019-0351-1
Styles of Leadership in Nursing Essay
