Effective leadership is one of the major components of organizational management that contribute to organizations’ success. In the healthcare setting, leadership has proved to be associated with improved performance of the staff as well as better patient outcomes (Wong & Cummings, 2013). In the acute care setting, nursing leadership tends to play an important role as nurses have to face various stressful situations and significant workload that is leading to burnout and high turnover. Therefore, it is crucial to develop proper organizational initiative aimed at the promotion of effective leadership practices. This paper includes a brief overview of the practice used in the acute care setting and its effectiveness.
Healthcare facilities adopt different approaches to leadership development and use various strategies to facilitate employees’ training and progress. Cummings et al. (2009) stress that task-oriented leadership styles are not effective in the healthcare setting. Authentic leadership is regarded as a more appropriate approach when it comes to nurse leadership. Authentic leaders focus on the creation of the most effective environment and relationships among employees (Avolio & Gardner, 2005). At that, it is vital for the leader to maintain relational transparency, self-awareness, internalized moral processing, and balanced processing. Group coaching is one of the tools that can facilitate the development of nursing leadership.
In our hospital, this type of organizational support has been used for several months. Such tools as mentoring and on-job training are also in place. However, group coaching is potentially more effective. This strategy implies the development of groups or teams where team members discuss various issues, tools, strategies, as well as coach each other. The major principles of authentic leadership are manifested in this framework. Healthcare professionals gather weekly to discuss numerous issues. One of the team members reveals their experience and coaches others. The most remarkable aspect of this coaching that is valued by the involved nurses is the fact that every member of the team is a coach and a trainee at different times. Trying the role of the coach is an effective tool that helps nurses identify the gaps in their own knowledge and skills and fill them.
There is the leader of the group, but she does not simply assign people to speak or topics to focus on. The leader is rather a facilitator of the sharing process and the moderator of the group. The nursing professionals address the leader and suggest different issues and areas to discuss. The agenda of the upcoming meetings is mentioned or discussed by team members, which makes them feel empowered, motivated, and well-prepared. Apart from sharing some specific work-related information, nursing professionals acquire leadership skills. Importantly, nurses are gradually becoming authentic leaders, which is already noticed by their colleagues. The members of the group note that they feel less stressed and exhibit no signs of burnout. All members of the group appreciate their leader’s efforts and are willing to contribute to the professional growth of each other.
In conclusion, it is possible to note that the use of group coaching has proved to be effective in the acute care setting. The nurses involved in the process gain leadership skills, become more motivated and reveal fewer burnout signs. Clearly, further analysis of the effects of this kind of organizational support is needed. It is important to evaluate staff’s performance and motivation. It is also necessary to assess the impact on patient outcomes. However, it is clear that group coaching, as well as other strategies associated with authentic leadership, can be utilized in different healthcare settings including acute care.
References
Avolio, B., & Gardner, W. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315-338.
Cummings, G., MacGregor, T., Davey, M., Lee, H., Wong, C., Lo, E., … Stafford, E. (2009). Leadership styles and outcome patterns for the nursing workforce and work environment: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 47(3), 363-385.
Wong., C., & Cummings, G. (2013). The relationship between nursing leadership and patient outcomes: A systematic review. Journal of Nursing Management, 15(5), 508-521.