Within nursing, leadership is a complex concept because it involves a fairly wide range of different tasks. The managerial functions of these health professionals extend not only to the supervised staff but also to the patients. In addition to the necessary care, which is a direct responsibility, nurses must ensure proper supervision of all stages of treatment and examination of patients, as well as competently and correctly maintain documentation. Consequently, leadership, in this case, is directly related to multitasking.
It should be noted that to be successful in this role, it is not sufficient to have general human qualities that include initiative, empathy, resourcefulness, and punctuality. Leadership in a healthcare setting requires professional training in the disciplines of management and human resources (Hassmiller & Pulcini, 2020). In addition, there must be a background in psychology, so taking additional courses in this area is also desirable.
In nursing, as in other professions, there is room for all existing leadership styles, including authoritarian, totalitarian, and democratic. Nevertheless, the latter two cannot be considered unequivocally effective in all teams. The nursing profession involves individualism and openness to opinions, to which the totalitarian model imposes significant limitations. At the same time, the democratic model is not always effective either since situations in medicine are typical where rapid decision-making is required (Fitzpatrick & Alfes, 2023). Under time constraints, the medical nurse does not have the opportunity to hold a meeting and take into account opinions, and most decisions have to be made unilaterally (Hassmiller & Pulcini, 2020). The most common and optimal model for many organizations is the totalitarian one, which assumes the primacy of the experience and authority of the leader, who is ready for an open dialogue with all subordinates.
All tasks of the head nurse can be divided into several groups, including planning, organization, motivation, and control. Within the framework of the first one, goals, tasks, and algorithms for solving current issues should be defined (Fitzpatrick & Alfes, 2023). The nurse needs to monitor not only the process of treating patients but also the functioning of the entire staff, as well as the scheduling of their work. In the outlined strategic plan, the quality of work is further monitored at all points in the chain. At the same time, a system of rewards and punishments must also be developed.
Motivation implies that the leader is a model for behavior and in general, a reference person for employees. Almost every day, the head nurse visits the operational department of the hospital, where she solves many issues of daily activities of the department, interacting with the head nurse on the problems of improving nursing in the department the work of the Nursing Council; with the accounting department on the payment of department employees and accounting of material assets; with the personnel department on changing the workload of employees, providing them with vacations, etc.
Creating a favorable psychological microclimate in the department is one of the important motivation methods in the arsenal of the head nurse. A friendly, respectful attitude on the part of the head nurse towards each nurse and junior nurse. The principles of the nurse’s work should be based on compassion, mercy and empathy. This brings the profession closer to Christian values because regardless of team and leadership style, understanding, openness, and honesty are the defining factors that build patient and staff trust in medicine (Hassmiller & Pulcini, 2020). It should be added that nurse leadership involves dealing with important technical issues, including securing the right funding, protecting employee rights, and certification. In order for these issues to be addressed effectively, it is important to demonstrate strategic planning and financial management skills. Consequently, it is important for nurses to have economic literacy, which can be achieved through additional continuing education courses.
References
Fitzpatrick, J. J., & Alfes, C. M. (2023). Nurse leadership and management: Foundations for effective administration. Springer.
Hassmiller, S., & Pulcini, J. (2020). Advanced practice nursing leadership: A global perspective. Springer.