Leadership in Nursing: Presentation

Slide 1: Introduction

In this vodcast, I will present leadership and decision making skills in nursing. Leadership and decision making are important elements in any organization and/or establishment (Sadler, 2003). Particularly in the healthcare nursing segment, numerous studies have noted that leadership is important in offering efficient and effective healthcare to the patients that sees growth for the nurse and wellness in the patient. Indeed, healthcare has undergone changes that have seen priorities and roles diversified. Indeed, this is true considering that nursing leadership focuses on providing quality healthcare at the lowest cost in the most effective and efficient manner(Iqbal et al., 2012). This can only be achieved with sound leadership.

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The leadership that I witnessed in practice and that will be used for this discussion happened a while back when I was attached to a certain hospital. A particular senior nurse was assigned as my mentor during this period. The scenario was in an 18-bed acute inpatient ward where the situation was somewhat casual. It dawned on me the need for leadership and for an active leader in this ward. It was critical that a leader would take control and make important decisions about staffing that were necessary for ensuring that the seriously ill patients got the best care possible. I witnessed my mentor who was also privy to what was taking place at the ward step up and took control of the situation and protect the vulnerable patients. It was situational leadership style at its best, and things started going smoothly in the ward.

The Gibb's Reflective Cycle was the guiding principle in this scenario as it helped me describe, analyze and evaluate the experiences that I observed during my time thus making sense of what they taught me and relating them to theory. Indeed, the whole scenario impacted me as a student and as a potential future nurse on how leadership is able to transform a dysfunctional unit and streamline it thus ensuring effectiveness and efficiency (Martin, 2017). It also pinpointed that even with autonomy and freedom that are becoming new aspects in the field of management and leadership, leadership is important as it provides direction for nurses at their station and any issue arising is dealt with in earnest.

Figure 1: Reflective Life Cycle

From "Learning by Doing" by Graham Gibbs. Published by Oxford Polytechnic, 1988

These among other issues will form part of my discussion and I look forward to providing more knowledge in this field that will be helpful in nursing practice today and in future for both students and nurses.

Slide 2: Instance of Leadership

My mentor during my time at the hospital was a senior nurse who helped me gain much insight not only through observation but was also helpful in giving me advice that was critical in molding me and guiding my nursing ambitions (McMurry, 2011). I remember a particular instance where a particular staffer was called back home due to an emergency. As pointed out above that the ward dealt with acute patients, losing the staff member was detrimental, and it was necessary by whatever means to cover his place with another nurse. My mentor decided to ask for help from nurses stationed in other wards that housed less demanding patients and could manage if one of their nurses was detached and repositioned to the acute inpatient ward. It was situational leadership as my mentor saw the situation and decided to act fast in order to save the situation (Obiwuru et al., 2011).

Unfortunately, the nurse who my mentor asked to relocate to the acute inpatient ward was reluctant to move for whatever reasons. At this juncture, my mentor changed tact and became more aggressive because it was a form of disrespect and indiscipline. Rather than negotiate with the nurse, my mentor became authoritarian because the situation at the ward was dire and it needed immediate attention. The leadership changed from a democratic leadership that was less aggressive and involved much negotiation into an autocratic one that needed the nurse to relocate as an order (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson 2014).

Indeed, this scenario is very important for showing how leadership is transformed according to the situation. It also points out various forms of leadership that were used all in one scenario (Giltinane, 2013). Furthermore, it was a real learning moment, and I was able to relate what I learned about leadership and what I observed. The situation was handled well, and I was able to learn that particular situations require a gentle approach while there are others that require one to be aggressive. Most important of all, the leadership was for the good of the patient and healthcare in general (French, 2004).

Slide 3: What is Leadership in Nursing?

Leadership can be defined as the ability to give direction or guidance to a specific group of people (Cowden, Cummings and Profetto-McGrath 2011). It also means respecting and believing in human dignity (Chaneski, 2016). In nursing leadership means listening, being attentive, encouraging, upholding a reward tradition and inspiring (Cowden, Cummings and Profetto-McGrath 2011). A good nurse leader understands that leading is comprehensive management that is consistently focusing on good quality (Cristina, 2016). This means that a good leader will make sure that every nurse knows that very high-quality care for patients is key. Leadership in nursing should be consumer orientated that is understanding a patient completely and not just in terms of the illness (Bhargavi and Yassin, 2016).

A good nurse leader should be looked at and admired by others as a good role model (Seitovirta, 2017). Being democratic is another value of a good nurse leader. This kind of leader ensures that everyone including the junior staff is included in any decision. When all the staff feels valued, then they tend to give their best (Al Rabhi, Khalid and Khan, 2017). There are many values a good nurse leader should have, and the most common ones are the 6 Cs. One of them is compassion; a good nurse leader should be compassionate. This means that a good leader should be able to care for everyone including the junior staff (Amestoy et al., 2012).

Courage is another value of a good nurse leader. In nursing being faced with difficult situations is the order of the day (Amestoy et al., 2012). Therefore, a good nurse leader should have the courage to do what is right at all times. A good nurse leader should also be able to communicate effectively (Scully, 2013). Communication is important in all aspects of nursing from communication to patients to the rest of the nurses (Deva and Yazdanifard, 2014). Another value that a nurse leader should have is competency. A competent leader has the knowledge and skills required to provide the required care. This means that a good leader does not stop learning and developing new skills (French, 2004).

Care is also a very important value in nurse leaders (Paterson, Henderson, and Burmeister, 2015). Being able to give high-quality care is not always easy, but every nurse has to work towards it. High-quality care has to be a priority for every nurse. Lastly, a good nurse leader is committed. Due to the many pressures that come with the nursing profession, it is important that every nurse realizes the reason why they joined the profession and be committed to it. It is important to note that good nursing leadership is all about empowering others. People should feel comfortable talking and following in the footsteps of a good leader (Scully, 2013).

The Wanless report on leadership in nursing says that good leadership depends on having the right tools and investments in place to help leaders pursue their leadership responsibilities (French, 2004). It goes on to say that effective leadership in nursing benefits from leaders having the freedom to do what is right. That is a working culture that empowers leaders and gives them the authority identify and challenge bad practices. This freedom allows leaders to discharge their duties effectively without the fear of being challenged (Trastek, Hamilton and Niles, 2014).

A research done by Scully (2013) showed that personal behaviors and characteristics of good nurse leaders have led to healthy relationships in the workplace. Nursing is a challenging and dynamic profession, and there is a need for leaders to guide others. This research says that it is challenging to find nurse leaders, but it has to be done due to the importance of having leaders in the nursing profession. It is very important to have leaders who have the knowledge and skills to lead others (Scully, 2013).

Slide 4: Situational Theory Leadership

Situational leadership can be described as a leadership style that is dependent on the situation at hand. This kind of leadership is adaptive to the current situation. This approach's main aim is to bring together two elements that are the follower's maturity and the leadership style of the leader. The situational theory of leadership was developed by Hersey and Blanchard in 1969. They both later wrote books on the same. Blanchard first book was called 'THE ONE MINUTE MANAGER,' and it was produced in 1982. Hersey also wrote a book later called 'THE SITUATIONAL LEADER,' and it was produced in 1985. Both of this books have been used to explain the situational theory leadership style in the world today.

The theory says that the effectiveness of a leader is related to the leader's behaviors in different situations (Silverthone, 2000). The reason why this theory was developed was to improve productivity. The primary responsibility of any leader or manager is to raise or increase the productivity of the company or organization. By using the situational theory leadership style, the morale of employees in a given organization can be build leading to better productivity (Spahr, 2015).

Relating situational theory to the scenario in Slide 2 presented above, it is clear that my mentor who in the scenario shows leadership is practicing situational leadership through and through. Considering that the scenario presented was not an everyday occurrence, the leadership that was used was one that was done at the spur of the moment or as the definition suggests, the situation at hand. My mentor used situation leadership to address the situation and provide a solution. Which can also mean increase productivity depending on the industry you are covering.Situational leadership aims at looking at the fastest way of addressing a particular situation and getting the best results from your decisions (Thompson and Glaso 2015). The emergency that saw one nurse relieved from duty was not anticipated, and it required a quick fix to address this gap. Indeed, I have also quoted many times in previous paragraphs how the scenario was a good demonstration of situational leadership in practice. Furthermore, it is also clear that situational leadership calls for the use of other leadership styles such as democratic or autocratic leadership styles as presented in the scenario. This is also clear as the situational theory of leadership assumes that effective leadership changes from situation to situation and as can be presented in our case, from a democratic form of leadership to an autocratic form of leadership (Cristina, 2016). It is essential that a leader adapts quickly to the changes through his style and approaches as are demanded by the changing circumstances (Giltinane, 2013).

It is essential to learn more about how situational leadership works and the different styles of situational leadership that can be applied. We will be able to look keenly at the particular leadership styles that my mentor used for the scenario. These situational leadership styles will be covered in the next slide (slide 5)...