Leadership Paper in Nursing PDF

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LEADERSHIP IN NURSING

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Leadership in Nursing Karissa Gonzalez College of Southern Nevada NURS 208: Professional Topics Dr. Emelda Jones February 7, 2021

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In the nursing profession leadership is a big part of the job. Nurses need to have leadership to manage their duties, patients, staff, and more. Being a good leader requires skills, some are personality traits, and some are learned. This paper will discuss a few types of leadership styles, different functions of management, and identify a student nurse’s own leadership style. It will also compare a student’s nurse perception of what an effective leader is with what has been observed in a clinical setting. Leadership Styles There are many leadership styles. Some are more democratic while others are more authoritarian. Each style is beneficial in its own way. These are three of the most common styles. Autocratic Leadership Autocratic leadership is a very one-person type of leadership style. This idea is where one person makes all the decisions and takes no little to no input from co-workers. It can be good in small group or when quick decisions need to be made. Although autocratic is not the best style as it can put a wedge in between team members. This type of leader can cause an oversight of expertise from others, as well as have the potential for abuse of power (Phillips, 2016). Democratic Leadership Democratic leadership style is the opposite of autocratic. This leader is very team orientated; they care about coworkers and take their opinions and ideas into consideration. They work well with others and are more of a people pleaser. Nursing is a team effort, and this leader sees that and appreciate cooperation from all workers (Dyczkowska, 2018). Although this style can slow down the assignment of tasks, it makes everyone feel heard and allows room for revision if needed. Laissez-Faire Laissez-faire a type of delegative leadership. These leaders are very hands off and allow others to make decisions for them. This person is a non-authoritative type as they provide minimal to no guidance or feedback. This works well in environments with extremely welltrained professional people, where everyone is aware of their job responsibilities. Fellow workers

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have freedom to make decisions and are expected to solve problems on their own. Laissez-faire leaders’ response to crises is reactive not proactive (Cope & Murray, 2017). Five Management Functions The success of a team depends on the charge nurse or the manager. There are five major functions of management that will be discussed. They are planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. These are functions the manager does collectively to achieve patient safety and improve work quality. Planning An effective manager has done their planning in advance. Planning is a starting point and is reassessed as needed. Managers need to plan out goals and objectives for the staff, identify and supply equipment needed, and determining action steps. This is what give staff direction, and it sets a foundation for all other functions. Organization Organization is an outline of what was planned. It lets everyone know who is in charge. Shows a formal structure or the duties and responsibilities. This is how communication and resources are coordinated with other departments. Staffing Staffing is where a team is put together. This requires management to hire and orient staff. Putting together a group of qualified and compatible team members. Putting together the right number of members for shifts that cover each position. Management not only hired nurses but must find a way to create a bond building environment at work. As Caruso (2019) said, a healthy work environment for nurses can improve employee engagement and better the patient outcome.

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Directing Direction is where teamwork and communication come into play. Not only does management hire, plan, and organize staff they also are there to guide them. This can be anywhere for giving them certain tasks, helping them find resources needed for patients, or advising guidance during conflict. This is where the management needs to have excellent leadership skills. Controlling Controlling is a function where management judges the accuracy and accomplishments of nurses. This is like an evaluation step to see if any of the other steps need reassessing. Management needs to assess staff outcome and duties to further know if they need to reassess other functions. Perception of leadership in a Clinical Setting A good leader should be one who is more democratic and allows input from her team but who is also a bit autocratic and knows when as a manager they need make the decision, they adapt to situations. During preceptorship, a patient went into cardiac arrest. A code was called by the charge nurse, and she then instructed different team members what to do. The staff was a little slow on getting the crash cart and seemed a bit uneducated on procedures for a code blue. In the room, the charge nurse started compressions. While she was going this, she was all assessing the situation asking who was documenting. She was giving out orders to all the nurses. Although the patient died the charge nurse was able to take lead and tell what needed to be done in a teaching and effective way. After the code was over the charge nurse evaluated the situation and realized her staff needs a refresher on code blue training. This is a good leadership trait as

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she saw the hesitation of staff, initiated interventions by delegation and then evaluated the learning needs of her staff. As a student nurse this is a type of leader one plans to be. Conclusion In nursing good leaders are vital, they can change how the workplace flows. Not all leaders or managers are perfect or will be able to accommodate everyone’s need, but a good leader can do their best to plan and build as a team. All successful healthcare systems include all five functions to run a smooth workspace. “For nurses to accomplish this goal of ethical practice, ethical leadership is an important pre-requisite because it is through ethical leadership that ethics can be embedded in healthcare (Schick-Makaroff, 2019).

References Caruso, Judith T, Smith, Rita, Steingall, Patricia, Cholewka, Susan, and Borenstein, Kathleen K. (2019). Call to Action: Implementing Nurse Workplace Environment and Staffing Councils in New Jersey Hospitals. Nurse Leader 17.4 (2019): 299-302. Web. Cope, V., & Murray , M. (2017). Leadership styles in nursing. Nursing Standard (2014+), 31(43), 61. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.library.csn.edu/10.7748/ns.2017.e10836

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Dyczkowska, J., & Dyczkowski, T. (2018). Democratic or Autocratic Leadership Style? Participative Management and its Links to rewarding Strategies and Job Satisfaction in SMEs. Athens Journal of Business & Economics, 4(2), 193–218. https://doi.org/10.30958/ajbe.4.2.5 Phillips, K., C.A.(S.A. (2016). DEBATING LEADERSHIP AUTOCRATIC VS DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP. Accountancy SA, , 17. http://ezproxy.library.csn.edu/login? url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.csn.edu/trade-journals/debatingleadership-autocratic-vs-democratic/docview/1774548671/se-2?accountid=27953

Schick-Makaroff, Kara, and Storch, Janet L. "Guidance for Ethical Leadership in Nursing Codes of Ethics: An Integrative Review." Nursing Leadership (Toronto, Ont.) 32.1 (2019): 60-73. Web....