In the increasingly complex healthcare settings, more people recognize the role of leadership in achieving organizational goals (Buckbinder & Shanks, 2001, p. 25). In order to provide the best patient care in the increasingly complex healthcare settings, today’s nurses are expected to possess the attributes of leadership and be aware of leadership practices related to their field. It is true for nurses in administrative positions, but it is also true for nurses who are at the beginning of their careers since they also have to guide for students and healthcare assistants.
Leadership has been defined in many ways over the years. The main component inherent to many of the conceptualizations of leadership is organizing the work of people in order to achieve a certain goal (Northouse, 2015, p. 16). As such, leadership can be viewed as a process of organizing people into a group pursuing a common goal.
Underlying assumptions about nursing leadership dictate that leadership is mainly about goal setting and coordination. In a real-life clinical setting, leadership is enacted as a series of interactions between a leader and the team which depend on the task at hand, and the way these interactions are perceived by team members is relevant in any practice setting, including healthcare. As such, the enacted leadership has an emotional dimension in addition to task-related or goal-related dimension.
A model of emotional intelligence highlights the need to consider the emotional dimension of leadership. Self-awareness, or the ability of a person to clearly understand their emotions, passions, strengths and weaknesses, allows a nurse leader to succeed by channeling their emotions and passion into achieving established goals. Critically reflexive practice can be used to develop self-awareness since it emphasizes the need to consider personal qualities and the relationship to the world around to make self-conscious action “based on a critical questioning of past actions and of future possibilities” (Cunliffe, 2004, p. 408).
Self-management is the focused drive which allows a nurse leader to master their emotions and take control of the situation whatever happens. Those nurses who are admired are described as a driving force, a role model which inspires future nurse leaders (Frankel, 2008; Ogbonna & Harris, 2000).
Empathy is another quality which is particularly important for nursing leaders. It allows the leader to communicate effectively by using non-verbal cues to understand how team members feel about something, what is their level of comprehension, etc. These qualities are likely to become even more important as the complex healthcare settings undergo transformative changes (Frankel, 2008).
Leadership does not exist without followership. Followership can be defined as a set of qualities, patterns of behaviors and processes of individuals following a leader. A leader has to take into account enacted followership when performing leadership functions. Any message a nurse leader communicates should be adjusted in such a way as to engage the followers and help them achieve established goals (Carter et al., 2010). This fact necessitates a nurse leader to take into account cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds of team members when establishing direction and allocating responsibilities.
Human migration made today’s societies culturally diverse. This trend is likely to continue, necessitating a nurse leader’s ability to comfortably and effectively communicate with people of diverse cultural backgrounds. Cultural awareness implies a cross-cultural understanding of a person’s cultural background and the sensibility to the differences between cultures. It is important to eliminate prejudice, racial bias, and stereotyping. A caring ethic should be the main feature of nursing leadership. This requires a nurse leader not to use biased language, embrace diversity and create a culturally safe environment among team members.
Nurse leaders should not be discouraged when they make a mistake, but see it as a valuable lesson as to what needs to be improved. For nurses to motivate other members of the team, it is essential to gather feedback and effectively apply problem-solving skills to overcome obstacles and direct the team towards a clear goal. Today’s nurses play an important role in legislative processes, too, affecting policies and regulations, and providing feedback on current issues to politicians.
This fact requires nurses to possess networking and communication skills in order to share their expertise and obtain support. In the recent years, several major laws affecting the practice of public health were enacted, and effective nurse leaders should be able to reshape the thinking of their team and highlight the importance of policy changes. With these qualities, nurses on all levels will contribute to the successful development of other health care professionals and ensure the application of the best professional standards.
Nursing leaders are the driving force behind the continuous process of improving the quality of health care services. It is important that nurses on all levels, from graduate level nurses to advanced practice nurses to apply their expertise to inspire other health care professionals to deliver superior performance. In order to do that, nurses should be aware of the leadership practices and improve their leadership attributes. More specifically, nurses have to understand the emotional dimension of leadership in real-life clinical settings and develop such qualities, as self-awareness, self- management, and empathy.
References
Buckbinder, S., & Shanks, N. (2012). Introduction to Health Care Management. Burlington, United States: Jones and Bartlett.
Carter, N., Martin-Misener, R., Kilpatrick K., Kaasalainen, S., Donald, F., Bryant-Lukosius, D.,… & DiCenso, A. (2010). The Role of Nursing Leadership in Integrating Clinical Nurse Specialists and Nurse Practitioners in Healthcare Delivery in Canada. Nursing Leadership, 23, 167-185. Web.
Cunliffe, A. (2004). On becoming a critically reflexive practitioner. Journal of Management Education, 28(4), 407-426.
Frankel, A. (2008). What leadership styles should senior nurses develop? Nursing Times, 104(35), 23-24. Web.
Northouse, P. (2015). Leadership: Theory and Practice, London, United Kingdom: SAGE Publications.
Ogbonna, E. & Harris, L. (2000). Leadership style, organizational culture and performance: empirical evidence from UK companies. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 11(4), 766-788. Web.