LEADERSHIP THEORIES IN NURSING PRACTICE
No matter where you work and what you do, it is important to have great leadership to achieve common goals, inspire each other, and succeed as a team. It is hard to simply define what leadership is because it varies depending on a person’s characteristics, behaviors, situations, etc. Zonneveld and others (2021) divided transformational leaders into three types: relationship-dependent leadership, task-oriented leadership, and context-dependent leadership. It could be challenging to be a leader and have the balance of behaviors of all three leadership types in the healthcare system because there are many things you have to take into consideration, such as quality of care, organizational profit, trust from employees, quality of life, and cost-effectiveness, to name a few. This is how important it is to have a good leader for a team and for an organization. We need a leader.
The two key insights that leaders have to have are their ability to build trust relationships between leaders and team members and to provide a supportive and encouraging work environment. “Followers have trust and respect for the leader and are motivated to do more than is formally expected of them to achieve organizational goals” (Uslu Sahan & Terzioglu, 2022). A leader needs to be a person whom we can get inspired, learn from, and trust. “No matter how brilliant the strategy or how productive the actions, if leaders do not hold the trust and act in the best interests of those they serve, they are not competent” (Broome & Marshall, 2021). One example of building trust and rapport is listening to them. I had a great figure of a leader in my previous workplace. She was a unit manager who’d been working there since she was a CNA a few decades ago. When I had just started working there, I noticed that her office was like a counseling office; everyone, including the charge nurse, floor nurses, doctors, CNAs, or even the director, would go and talk to her about anything. When I had a chance to have a conversation with her, I realized how good she is at listening. She would stop whatever she was doing at the time and give me the impression that she was paying 100% attention to me, trying to feel sympathy and understand my perspective of view. And this was the time that I thought of her as a great leader.
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The second insight of leadership is encouragement and support towards team members. “Leadership is the discipline and art of guiding, directing, motivating, and inspiring a group or organization toward the achievement of common goals” (Broome & Marshall, 2021). My current director is inspiring nurses to grow professionally. She would precept nurses who are in master’s programs and encourage nurses to get LPS 5150 to write the involuntary psychiatric holds on psychiatric patients by offering us training to learn details about the legal process and stuff. A leader needs to motivate and support team members to grow and become better personally and professionally. It could affect their commitment to the organization and increase their job satisfaction, which leads to better performance in practice (Uslu Sahan & Terzioglu, 2022).
Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
Uslu Sahan, F., & Terzioglu, F. (2022). Transformational leadership practices of nurse managers: the effects on the organizational commitment and job satisfaction of staff nurses. Leadership in Health Services, 35(4), 494–505. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHS-11-2021-0091
Zonneveld, N., Pittens, C., & Minkman, M. (2021). Appropriate leadership in nursing home care: a narrative review. Leadership in Health Services, 34(1), 16–36. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHS-04-2020-0012
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Collapse SubdiscussionMorayo Oloidi
Morayo Oloidi
Dec 23, 2022Dec 23, 2022 at 9:52am
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Hello Aleyna,
You have a great post! I totally agree with you that great leadership helps achieve common goals. Leadership is such an important issue facing the healthcare industry. Effective leadership is needed to achieve the quadruple aim in healthcare. The need for better quality care, more accessible access to care, better patient outcomes, and provider and consumer satisfaction will require nurses to focus on bedside care and leadership skills. I agree that transformational and EI leadership skills are effective styles that employees respond to (Broome & Marshall, 2021).
Leaders are needed in all factions of organizations. The best leaders are not defined by position or title but rather by the ability to be a visionary that can inspire others. To strengthen leadership skills, knowledge is essential to understand our leadership strengths (Walden University L., 2018). Good leaders can get people to follow them down paths they may be hesitant to go. Through communication, respect, and integrity, strong leadership can effect change which is the future of healthcare (Walden University L., 2014).
As the largest healthcare worker segment, nurses must actively pursue leadership roles. Due to their experience in the field, nurses have the knowledge to show up and participate in improving our craft. It requires speaking up, persistence, and determination. As a group, we need to stand up, take ownership, and take on problems. (Foundation, n.d.).
References
Broome, M. E., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational Leadership in Nursing (3rd ed.). New York, N?y/: Springer Publishing Company.
Foundation, M. (n.d.). Nurses Share Lessons in Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com: https://www.youtube.com/playlistlist=PLopRJP06GaifsYPGP_jcWXZzU10H3Aax7
Walden University, L. (2012). Ethical, Moral, and Legal Leadership {Video File}. Baltimore, MD.
Walden University, L. (Producer), & Walden University, L. [. (Director). (2014). Leadership [Motion Picture].
Walden University, L. (2018). Moral Leadership. Baltimore, MD.
Walden University, L. (Producer), & Walden University, ,. L. (Director). (2018). The Leader in you [Video File] [Motion Picture].
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Collapse SubdiscussionShawntel Wright
Shawntel Wright
Dec 23, 2022Dec 23, 2022 at 7:13pm
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Hello Aleyna; this was a very educational post. Having a leader take time to listen to their staff is very important. I didn’t see where there was always an exact resolution to each problem you discussed. “Problem-solving ability is related to a person’s critical thinking skills, and the development of these skills is considered a prerequisite.” (Kocoglu, et al) The leadership you described in your facilities unit manager describes my facility’s DON. She has been at my facility since she was an LPN, and many staff members can trust and rely on her leadership skills due to her therapeutic ways. It is easy to feel overwhelmed in this career but knowing that you have good structure and leadership guidance to fall back on makes improving worthwhile. My current work tends to have the opposite effect of encouragement to its team members sometimes, making it challenging to work in the environment when this happens. Therefore, it is essential to have the structure and support you mentioned. “The four main themes indicated that nurses experienced their workplace as non-supportive. Themes such as poor organizational climate, low social dignity, poor work conditions, and managers’ ignorance of individual and professional values were considered inhibitory support factors.” (Sodeify,2013)
References
Problem solving training for first line nurse managers. (n.d.). Retrieved December 24, 2022, from http://www.internationaljournalofcaringsciences.org/docs/24_kokoglu_originial_9_3.pdf
Sodeify, R., Vanaki, Z., & Mohammadi, E. (2013, May). Nurses ‘experiences of perceived support and their contributing factors: A qualitative content analysis. Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research. Retrieved December 23, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3748536/
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Collapse SubdiscussionPauline Atianjoh
Pauline Atianjoh
Dec 24, 2022Dec 24, 2022 at 3:56pm
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Aleyna,
Additionally, I have also learned that different leadership styles affect every part of the organization right from the workplace morale to the overall effectiveness of the institution or the healthcare system. In healthcare, leadership styles are categorizations that describe the fundamental processes behind the actions of the leader (Fahlevi et al., 2022). For instance, in the transformational leadership style, there is a tendency of focusing on the shared values and ideas of forging relationships. These leaders have a strong vision and practice what they preach. The rational-legal authority leadership is where the authority of the leader is based on bureaucracy and legal legitimacy it can be tied to following rules and regulations in making decisions based on shared goals (Ofei & Paarima, 2022). In transactional leadership, there is an exchange between the leaders and the staff members who can form part of managerial leaders.
References
Fahlevi, M., Aljuaid, M., & Saniuk, S. (2022). Leadership Style and Hospital Performance: Empirical Evidence From Indonesia. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 911640. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.911640
Ofei, A. M. A., & Paarima, Y. (2022). Nurse manager’s leadership styles and intention to stay among nurses at the unit in Ghana. The International journal of health planning and management, 37(3), 1663–1679. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.3433
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Collapse SubdiscussionHeather Fechko
Heather Fechko
Dec 21, 2022Dec 21, 2022 at 12:31am
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MAIN POST
The Impact of Leadership Behaviors in Creating Healthy Work Environments
The world needs effective, visionary, and wide leaders to advance effective healthcare for society. (Broome & Marshall, 2021, pg. 3). Healthcare is constantly changing, which brings forth the need for leaders who can work with various health systems and in many different healthcare settings. Leaders are needed to transform healthcare systems, create solutions, collaborate with other leaders, improve patient care, and to inspire the next generation of healthcare leaders. (Broome & Marshall, 2021, pg. 4).
One key insight that stands out to me by Mudallal et. al (2017) is that leadership is considered a key factor in creating workplace empowerment and maintaining a positive workplace. Many nurses have been forced to work as leaders, rather than leading in a position where they are experienced and trained in. Workplace empowerment pertains to an employee’s ability to access necessary information, resources, and support to perform their duties. The influence of leader empowering behaviors can improve nurses job satisfaction, quality of care provided, and reduce the level of nurse burnout. Mitigating the impact of burnout is key in improving nurse satisfaction to improve quality of patient care and decrease turnover rates (Mudallal et. al., 2017).
Another key insight is how health-promoting leadership focuses on identifying leadership behaviors that positively influence the working environment (Jimenez, et. al., 2017). Creating positive working conditions that enhance and support employee health are important factors of health-promoting leadership. The authors also state that the six areas of work life that hold the highest organizational risk factors for burnout are community, control, fairness, reward, values, and workload. These work life factors are the key aspects of health-promoting leadership to have a positive effect on employee health and create a healthy working environment
Leadership Through Example
I worked with a wonderful leader during my first travel nursing contract. My favorite charge nurse taught me so many useful clinical skills. Instead of performing skills himself that he could have easily completed quickly, he would always take the time to teach me how to do it myself. For example, I had a patient that required a nasogastric tube placement. I was very quick to ask him to do the task and told him that I was not comfortable and had a bad experience in the past, which resulted in a negative patient outcome. He listened to me, but assured me that with the correct skills, the task would be performed correctly. He told me that he no longer wanted me to feel unconfident in this skill and that we would perform it together. First, he educated me with the policy and a video to review, if possible. Then, he allowed me to perform the skill, hands on, while instructing me through the process.
Extent of Effectiveness and Practice Impaction of the Workplace
The leadership skills demonstrated by the charge nurse at my travel contract was greatly effective in inspiring me to learn and perform duties outside of my comfort zone. He never made me feel embarrassed for not knowing something, but instead he gave me courage and satisfaction from the knowledge I gained during my contract. This leader gave me support in accessing the resources and information necessary to perform my job to the best of my ability. He empowered me to be a better nurse, which improved the care I provided to patients and increased my base of knowledge. Improving my skillset and the care that I provided to patients led to improved satisfaction in my job and career as a nurse. Due to the satisfaction and comfort I felt at this workplace, I extended my contract and continued providing nursing care at this facility.
References
Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational Leadership in Nursing: From Expert
Clinician to Influential Leader (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
Jiménez, P., Winkler, B., & Dunkl, A. (2016) Creating a healthy working environment
with leadership: the concept of health-promoting leadership, The International Journal of
Human Resource Management, 28:17, 2430-2448, https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2015.1137609Links to an external site.
Mudallal, R. H., Othman, W. M., & Al Hassan, N. F. (2017). Nurses’ Burnout: The Influence of
Leader Empowering Behaviors, Work Conditions, and Demographic Traits. Inquiry : A
Journal of Medical Care Organization, Provision and Financing, 54, 46958017724944.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0046958017724944Links to an external site.
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Collapse SubdiscussionJacqueline Keener
Jacqueline Keener
Dec 21, 2022Dec 21, 2022 at 8:19am
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Heather,
It sounds like you have had the opportunity to work with a wonderful nurse leader as well! I appreciate that you mentioned a policy and video review before performing a task supervised. This is such an important step that I feel sometimes gets overlooked. Stucky, Wymer, & House (2022) also emphasize workplace empowerment and the importance of strong interprofessional relationships. It helps me to remember that the interactions I have with my team are those of a working relationship. I must stay aware of appropriate interactions and ensuring I am thinking of the team rather than myself. It’s a good reminder to think of our mission and values. I enjoy how you described feeling inspired by your travel nurse leader to get out of your comfort zone. Tschannen et al. (2021) describe the importance of nurse leaders to encourage and inspire “frontline staff and APRNs to be engaged in improvement initiatives to truly make a difference in quality.” This is just another example of the importance of nurse leaders to get all levels of staff involved with quality and improvement! Thank you for another great discussion post this week!
Jackie K
References
Stucky, C. H., Wymer, J. A., & House, S. (2022). Nurse Leaders: Transforming Interprofessional Relationships to Bridge Healthcare Quality and Safety. Nurse Leader, 20(4), 375–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2021.12.003Links to an external site.
Tschannen, D., Alexander, C., Taylor, S., Tovar, E. G., Ghosh, B., Zellefrow, C., & Milner, K. A. (2021). Quality improvement engagement and competence: A comparison between frontline nurses and nurse leaders. Nursing Outlook, 69(5), 836–847. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2021.02.008
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Collapse SubdiscussionCarolyn Hart
Carolyn Hart
Dec 21, 2022Dec 21, 2022 at 3:48pm
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Heather,
You very clearly illustrate something that we will look at later on in this course: the role of a leader in creating a healthy work environment. While we cannot control things like the shortage of nurses and pandemics, we can control our response. Good leaders hold their unit together and keep things on a positive note no matter the circumstances. Poor leaders retreat and do not support staff. In the former (as Heather notes in her post) nurse retention is high and you have a great work environment. In the latter, you can see a toxic work culture develop. Remember this as we move into our analysis of work environments!
Dr. Hart
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Collapse SubdiscussionHeather Fechko
Heather Fechko
Dec 22, 2022Dec 22, 2022 at 10:07pm
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Thank you, Dr. Hart.
I look forward to learning more about the role of a leader in creating a healthy work environment.
Heather
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Collapse SubdiscussionAleyna Soyoung Shin
Aleyna Soyoung Shin
Dec 22, 2022Dec 22, 2022 at 12:17am
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Hi Heather, thanks for sharing your thoughts and information. Having empowering and positively influencing leaders in nursing advances effective healthcare for the community. Sadly, I have to agree with you that in many cases, people get forced to become leaders because they do not want to take all the responsibility and extra duties as leaders of the team. One of the charge nurses I have worked with said, “if I work at different places, I will make way more money. I’m only staying because they need me”. This did not give me a good impression of the work environment at the hospital; by looking at the leaders of the organizations, we can tell what kind of workplace cultures they are in. Empowerment is such an important concept in nursing as in teamwork is a key factor. Nurse leaders’ empowering behaviors can “promote positive outcomes, including quality patient care and stabilization of the nursing workforce,” promoting collaborative work environment (Cziraki et al., 2020). Also, empowering leaders is highly related to increased trust in management, job satisfaction among nurses, and reduced level of burnout (Rola et al., 2017). I actually had a great figure of an empowering leader in my first job. She was my preceptor who became a charge nurse a year later. She was one of the most experienced nurses on the floor and the “IV person” on the floor. Whenever I had new procedures or skills I’d never done, she would explain step by step, demonstrate for me for the first time and let me do the hands-on with her supervising next to me. Even after she became a charge nurse, she was my go-to person whenever I had questions or had a hard time performing some skills, and she was more than happy to teach me. She also commented that she was proud that I was her preceptee and I was becoming like her. It was such a compliment to hear that she was proud of me because I admired and respected her professionally and personally. I ended up staying in that hospital more than I expected, and she was one of the main reasons that I could not leave. I really do not think I could have become the nurse I am now if I did not have her when I started my nursing career.
Cziraki, K., Wong, C., Kerr, M., & Finegan, J. (2020). Leader empowering behaviour: relationships with nurse and patient outcomes. Leadership in Health Services (1751-1879), 33(4), 397–415. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHS-04-2020-0019
Mudallal, R., Othman, W., & Hassan , N. (2017). Nurses’ Burnout: The Influence of Leader Empowering Behaviors, Work Conditions, and Demographic Traits. Inquiry: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, 54. https://doi.org/10.1177/0046958017724944
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Collapse SubdiscussionJulie Baker
Julie Baker
Dec 24, 2022Dec 24, 2022 at 9:28am
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Aleyna,
It sounds like your preceptor is an excellent mentor. I am the type of person who must actually do the tasks to learn. You can tell me something over and over but until I put it into practice, it doesn’t really click for me. Learning new skills in the workplace versus school labs help nurses be more prepared to work independently as graduate nurses (Hägg-Martinell et al., 2020). Putting this concept into practice has propelled me to try to be involved in any learning opportunity that I could and now I’m the “IV person” in facilities I travel to. I also believe that nursing leaders should encourage lifelong learning opportunities because this will lead to development of competency and better patient care outcomes (Qalehsari et al., 2017).
Hägg-Martinell, A., Hult, H., Henriksson, P., & Kiessling, A. (2020, January 13). Nursing students learn to handle stress and to prioritize in a complex context during workplace learning in Acute Internal Medicine Care – an ethnographic study. Advances in medical education and practice. Retrieved December 24, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6971285/
Qalehsari, M. Q., Khaghanizadeh, M., & Ebadi, A. (2017, October 25). Lifelong learning strategies in nursing: A systematic review. Electronic physician. Retrieved December 24, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5718860/
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Collapse SubdiscussionKandice Waters
Kandice Waters
Dec 24, 2022Dec 24, 2022 at 1:47pm
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Module 3. Response 2.
Hello Heather,
As nurses, we are often limited in time and tasked with an overwhelming workload. A poor leader would have done the task themselves to save time. In your situation, however, your charge nurse demonstrated the true definition of a transformational leader by motivating you to learn the task, which helped to promote positive long-term change. Transformational leadership is a style of leadership that can inspire and influence positive outcomes (Walden, 2014). A transformational leader will also help guide and direct team members toward achieving their goals (Broome & Marshall, 2021).
References
Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
Walden University, LLC. (Producer). (2014). Leadership [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author
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Collapse SubdiscussionHanna Sacher
Hanna Sacher
Dec 23, 2022Dec 23, 2022 at 2:13pm
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Response #1
Hi Heather,
As you stated, healthcare is always evolving and requires the employment of leaders that can work with a variety of health systems in different settings. The word that comes to my mind to describe this necessity when reading your post is adaptability. Without the ability to adapt to different not only healthcare environments but different patient personalities, the leader must be able to adapt to a variety of possibilities. This leads to the best possible patient outcomes in addition to a healthy work environment for the leader and their employees. Joel Sauer (2020) states that it is of significant importance that leaders in healthcare embrace environments of adaptability as this contributes to the survival of an organization.
I think it’s great that your charge nurse taught you by having you perform the clinical activity as opposed to performing the task for you as most nurses are hands on learners. There have been many times where one of my clinical instructors would show me by performing the task themselves, and when I attempted to do it independently, I felt clueless! As a nurse, this is very intimidating. “Behaviorists believe that learning is a change in an observable behavior and it happens when the communication occurs between the two events, a stimulus and a response” (Aliakbari et al., 2015) Observing a process and learning it by creating a response from a stimulus, otherwise known as hands-on learning is greatly beneficial in learning a variety of processes efficiently.
References
Aliakbari, F., Parvin, N., Heidari, M., & Haghani, F. (2015). Learning theories application in nursing education. https://doi.org/10.4103/2277-9531.151867.
Joel Sauer, M. B. A. (2020, August 27). Adaptability as a permanent attribute of health care. Cardiac Interventions Today. https://citoday.com/articles/2020-july-aug/adaptability-as-a-permanent-attribute-of-health-care#:~:text=Even%20beyond%20a%20pandemic%2C%20it%20is%20imperative%20that,top%20of%20the%20organization%20or%20require%20its%20approval.
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Collapse SubdiscussionMorayo Oloidi
Morayo Oloidi
Dec 24, 2022Dec 24, 2022 at 4:16pm
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Hello Heather, your post is well organized and informative. Leadership plays a vital role in any organization. I want to add that the practice of transformational leadership refers to a type of leadership in which leaders encourage, inspire, and motivate workers to innovate and create change that will contribute to the growth and future success of the firm. Transformational executives are known as transformational leaders (Asbari et al., 2020). It is possible to achieve this goal through demonstrating leadership at the senior level, fostering a robust sense of corporate culture, encouraging employee ownership, and fostering a culture of independence in the workplace. Transformational leaders can inspire and motivate their workforce without micromanagement because they have faith in their employees’ ability to make decisions independently within the context of their jobs. It’s a type of management meant to free up workers’ creative potential, encourage them to keep an eye on the future and inspire them to come up with novel answers to age-old issues (Broome & Marshall, 2021). Mentorship and training will be provided to employees on the leadership track to develop the skills necessary to become transformative leaders themselves.
References
Asbari, M., Santoso, P. B., & Prasetya, A. B. (2020). Elitical And Antidemocratic Transformational Leadership Critics: Is It Still Relevant?(A Literature Study). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL, POLICY AND LAW, 1(1), 12-16.
Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
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Collapse SubdiscussionYvonne Oglesby-Moore
Yvonne Oglesby-Moore
Dec 24, 2022Dec 24, 2022 at 10:45pm
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Response #2
Hi Heather,
Thank you for your post. Leaders should be visionary and have the ability to recognize talent. I like an authentic leader who is transparent and keeps communication open. Broome and Marshall (2021), describe the authentic leadership model as one that emphasizes relationships between leaders and followers to accomplish goals. It is important for leaders to understand their staff and their needs to be effective. Deveau and McGill (2016), explain that frontline management is essential to mentoring and educating staff to have positive outcomes. I think all leaders should guide their staff according to the mission and vision.
Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
Deveau, R. & McGill, P. (2016). Impact of practice leadership management style on staff experience in services for people with intellectual disability and challenging behavior: a further examination and partial replication. Research in Development Disabilities. (56) 160-164.
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Collapse SubdiscussionAshtyn Mcquaid
Ashtyn Mcquaid
Dec 21, 2022Dec 21, 2022 at 8:44am
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Main Post
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership is a style of leadership that can inspire, motivate, and influence positive outcomes (Walden, 2014). Transformational leaders rely on past experiences, emotional intelligence, and individual traits to foster a positive work environment (Walden, 2014). The best transformational leaders will be able to build positive relationships with their staff. In her article Transformational leadership in nursing: a concept analysis Shelly Fischer concludes that transitional leaders are associated with “high-performing teams and improved patient care” (2016).
One of my past assistant managers was a transitional leader. She would help us on the unit in any way because she’s “still a nurse”. She’d fill in as charge or on an assignment. As stated in the article by Doody & Doody, one of the keys of transitional leadership is “supportive environments where responsibility is shared” (2020).
I make sure I follow this model in my practice. When I am the charge nurse, I help the other nurses in whatever ways I can. It always seems to make the shift smoother when everyone works together to keep the patients safe and happy.
References
Doody, O., & Doody, C. M. (2012). Transformational leadership in nursing practice. British journal of nursing, 21(20), 1212–1218. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2012.21.20.1212
Fischer S. A. (2016). Transformational leadership in nursing: a concept analysis. Journal of advanced nursing, 72(11), 2644–2653. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13049
Walden University, LLC. (Producer). (2014). Leadership [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author
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Collapse SubdiscussionKandice Waters
Kandice Waters
Dec 21, 2022Dec 21, 2022 at 10:06am
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Week 4. Main Discussion Post
Transformational leadership is a leadership style that empowers people to accomplish positive change through big vision, inspiration, and a call to action (Baker, 2022). Leadership expert James Burns defined transformational leaders as “Those who seek to change existing thoughts, techniques, and goals for better results and the greater good.” (What Is Transformational Leadership, 2014).
A leader I have selected that I have seen such behaviors includes my clinical nurse manager (CNM) Sarah. Sarah is an excellent transitional leader; she always seeks to improve patient care and teammate dynamics. One example of how she demonstrated transitional leadership was our clinic’s approach to introducing patients to home hemodialysis.
Most patients are unaware that they have ESRD and end up in the hospital with fluid overload and shortness of breath. Patients are told to do dialysis in-center three times a week to survive; however, they are not educated on different modality choices. Sarah identified a lack of modality education as a significant problem within our clinic. Sarah collaborated with the intradialytic team to address the lack of patient modality education. She introduced several solutions, starting with the need for a nephrologist to educate patients on modality choices while they are still admitted to the hospital. The patient, therefore, can bypass being placed in-center and is more involved in modality choice, ultimately leading to better patient outcomes.
One of the critical advocacies of transformational leaders is to challenge the current organizational culture to determine ways to improve organizational practices and procedures (Hill, 2013). Sarah challenged the entire intradialytic team to change our approach to how patients are being educated on modality and provided techniques and goals for better patient outcomes and the greater good. She is truly an inspiration and a prime example of a transformational leader.
References
Baker, C. (2022, December 16). What Is Transformational Leadership? Leaders. https://leaders.com/articles/leadership/transformational-leadership/Links to an external site.
Hill, N. (2013, May 17). Four Components of the Transformational Leadership Style. Passion for Fresh Ideas. https://passionforfreshideas.com/personalgrowth/components-transformational-leadership-style/Links to an external sit