Introduction
Appropriate demonstration of leadership qualities is essential for a nursing leader aiming to facilitate employee performance. Successful integration of communicative and professional traits becomes a crucial requirement for any nursing leader, who is expected to manifest personal readiness to inspire their subordinates and create a productive workplace environment. Considering that perfectly executing necessary leadership practices has been connected to improved patient care and group collaboration, nurse leaders are expected to efficiently lead their workers (Bender, 2016). In my experience, a nurse leader demonstrating these attributes was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC), who was my executive during my occupation. This paper focuses on the CEO, describing her excellent leadership characteristics and stating how her example impacted my professional leadership advances.
Nurse Leader Presentation
When I was working as a certified nursing assistant for an Acute Dialysis Company, aiming to obtain my registered nurse license, I was highly inspired by my direct executive. Stationed at ORMC, she overlooked the nursing operations and controlled the workflow throughout several units, ensuring that all activities were performed successfully. In addition, she was in charge of the program that allowed critically ill patients to receive dialysis services at any time, which required significant involvement and whole-day availability. Finally, the CEO also overlooked floor-to-floor operations, performing procedures if any staffing problems occurred and evaluating which nurses showed professional potential.
Communication as a Key Factor in Successful Leadership
Communicating with the employees is a vital trait of an efficient nurse leader. A high-quality interaction with the subordinates and productively conveying necessary information is regarded as an exceptional characteristic to be practiced by nurse leaders in the working environment (Korth, 2016). Engaging in conversations and maintaining an open communication pattern presents a possibility to facilitate effective ongoing interactions, ensuring that there is a complete understanding between the leader and the workers (Bender, 2016). In addition, this practice promotes individual and group involvement, demonstrating that each employee’s input is significant for the organization (Bowles et al., 2018). Thus, when a nurse leader successfully prompts communication between the executive and the workers, potential knowledge gaps are eliminated, and a positive working atmosphere is created.
The CEO at Orlando ORMC was especially efficient in inciting communication, as she was consistently involved in the nursing unit processes, ensuring that nurses could always share their ideas or concerns regarding a particular situation. The availability of an open line of interaction between the nursing staff and the executive has positively influenced the employees’ involvement, as the CEO would always provide the necessary support, reducing the possibility of mistakes. Furthermore, my nurse leader directed a significant amount of her attention to sustaining a more informal communication pattern rather than enforcing formal conversations. In the nursing environment, the ability to freely collaborate with the executive is highly significant, as it creates the basis for trust and loyalty development, as well as increases the speed of knowledge transfer (Bender, 2016). Indeed, during my professional involvement, I noticed that some of the processes were performed smoother at ORMC than at other hospitals, meaning that the communicative quality of the nurse leader positively impacted the working environment.
Sustaining Interprofessional Relationships through Emotional and Social Intelligence
Another trait that should be manifested by an efficient nurse leader is the tendency to support interpersonal relationships between the employees. Although open interaction with the nurse leader is essential, it is imperative to support this practice by maintaining strong communication between the medical workers. Research shows that cooperation between different groups in the clinical environment can tremendously benefit when a productive interaction network is established by the leader, allowing each worker to easily communicate with other professionals (Korth, 2016). Furthermore, the sense of group responsibility, which is vital for efficient collaboration, is substantially impacted by the nurse leader’s capability to establish connections between the subordinates (Bender, 2016). High levels of social and emotional intelligence are crucial for this endeavor, empowering the leader to easily ascertain others’ emotional states and apply appropriate behavioral practices (Omery et al., 2019). Therefore, strengthening interprofessional relationships requires not only considerable involvement but also a significant level of social and emotional intelligence.
I believe that my CEO at Orlando hospital frequently demonstrated her social and emotional knowledge, efficiently communicating with numerous employees. The CEO often promoted cooperation between different professionals, requesting them to work together on a patient case and ensuring that their relationship is advancing. In addition, additional knowledge on a subject was required, and she often referred nurses to other specialists in the relevant sphere, developing interprofessional connections. In this regard, the overall working environment in the hospital was mostly informal and relaxed, where each nurse knew that they could always receive support from other professionals. This knowledge was advantageous not only for the employee relationship quality but also for the individual growth of the people involved.
Promoting Team Cohesion and Growth
Nonetheless, focusing only on interpersonal communication might negatively impact the working atmosphere. Considering the connections between the teams of professionals is also crucial for group productivity and growth, which is closely connected to the quality of patient care. Successful nurse leaders are advised to concentrate on both individual and teamwork, establishing a proper balance between these activities and creating a sense of interdependency between the workers (Bender, 2016). While individual motivation inspires employees to achieve greater personal goals, a shared vision and group cohesion promote the team members’ capabilities to work together, emphasizing the importance of collaboration.
An excellent sense of balance between personal and teamwork was the core trait of my CEO, who managed to distinguish between individual and group involvement. As such, she often communicated with nurses individually, acknowledging their achievements and ensuring that they were aware of their potential. However, at the same time, the CEO always stressed that teamwork is crucial in the medical field, prompting the nurses to approach specific issues together, thus establishing professional groups. Moreover, by directing our attention to patient-centered care, she highlighted the main goal of medical treatment, compelling us to rely on each other rather than only on ourselves.
Staff Engagement: The Ability to Inspire and Motivate
Finally, a distinguishing trait of a successful nurse leader is the involvement in staff engagement. An efficient nurse leader is expected to influence the motivation of their workers, establishing perfect workplace conditions for continuous development and high-quality performance (Persaud, 2018). Becoming overwhelmed with the nurse processes and losing inspiration due to encountering daily challenges is a pertinent issue in the nursing field (Wei et al., 2020). However, this complication can be addressed by the nursing leader who promotes action and professional activity, ensuring that each employee is capable of solving emerging problems. A crucial part of this process is the leader’s participation in daily activities, as well as the focus on consistent professional education.
Involvement in day-to-day nursing procedures was highly important for my CEO, who was always ready to offer the necessary support. By participating in procedures and setting a positive leadership example, my executive often prompted others to action, creating a productive and supportive atmosphere. Even in such situations when my colleagues felt extremely overwhelmed, the CEO always remained positive, inspiring them to find a source of motivation and continue moving forward. In addition, her interest and consistent engagement in learning activities considerably affected the nursing staff, increasing their participation in supplementary education.
The CEO’s Impact on Personal Professional Leadership Qualities
From my perspective, my CEO at Orlando hospital became the most significant example of successful leadership and personal attitude toward medicine. During my work under her supervision, I realized that effectively leading other people is quite challenging but also available with the development of relevant qualities that promote the leader’s performance. I learned that applying leadership strategies is an essential practice, which, however, should always be supplemented with the demonstration of leadership traits and personal interest in the sphere, which can further motivate the employees. In this regard, I became more aware of the attributes that could aid me in becoming a successful leader, and I intend to continue developing them in order to become a prominent nurse leader.
Conclusion
To conclude, the leadership qualities of my CEO during my occupation at ORMC were examined in this paper, establishing the significance of communication, professional relationship support, team development, and staff engagement for a nurse leader. My executive provided an excellent example of an efficient leader who is always open to communication and aims to create a supportive environment for the employees. The capability to assess individual and group productivity and maintain the balance between personal and team projects signifies that the CEO successfully managed her employees and workplace environment, strengthening the workers’ performance. After that, her personal interest in medicine and supplementary education especially promoted staff engagement, establishing an excellent role model for nurses and other professionals. Considering the executive’s outstanding leadership qualities, her performance considerably impacted my understanding of personal leadership traits, inspiring me to further develop the attributes that could aid me in becoming an efficient nurse leader.
References
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