Of a healthcare organizational mission, structure, budget,
Communication and conflict resolution.
Introduction
- Description of the healthcare setting, mission statement and organizational structure.
Description of the nurse leader leadership/management style and preferred communication style.
Description of administrative challenges as it relates to initiating internal and external factors that may affect leadership and management.
Conclusion
Of a healthcare organizational mission, structure, budget,
Communication and conflict resolution
Introduction
Description of the healthcare setting, mission statement and organizational structure.
The article selected for this analysis contains a study concerning ‘Nurse Managers' Perceptions Related to Their Leadership Styles, Knowledge, and Skills in These Areas—A Viewpoint: Case of Health Centre Wards in Finland.’ The study was conducted by Soili Vesterinen, Marjo Suhonen, Arja Isola, Leena Paasivaara and Helena Laukkala. The researchers collected data from 252 nursing managers using questionnaires. There was a 68% response rate. Six leadership styles emerged. They were visionary, coaching, affiliate, democratic, commanding, and isolating. Visionary, coaching, affiliate, and democratic were considered the most important for successful health care administration practices (Vesterinen, Suhonen, Isola, Paasivaara & Laukkala, 2013).
This sample of nurse managers worked in a health center ward, which entailed shift assignments inclusive of evenings, nights, and weekends. Many of the patients occupying health center wards were elderly with various medical conditions. An evaluation of the patient population in 2008 revealed an average patient age of 75 years. Due to the patient profile nurse managers’ leadership skills was considered very important in achieving favorable outcomes. As such, in highlighting crucial nurse manager competencies it was identified that for future improvement and sustenance of high standards creating an organization culture could significantly improve health care quality as well as patient/employee safety (Vesterinen ety.al, 2013).
Therefore, nursing managers had to be articulate in demonstrating these skills within the organization. Also these skills must be combined within a well-structured collaborative team spirit. Precisely, nurse managers were responsible for ensuring evidence-based practices are incorporated and monitored within the organization. This is essential for maintaining high professional practice in the organization since nursing is a science consisting of proven theories applicable to every aspect of nursing intervention (Casida & Parker, 2011).
Nursing has emerged over the years into a science and a comparable health care profession as many others within the discipline. Consequently, the time for non-scientific nursing practice is no longer accepted in the profession. Nurse Managers then must raise standards through profound evidence based translations derived from nursing research findings. To accomplish accurate translation of evidence it is important that nurse managers possess appropriate skills that guide their staff into making the changes necessary for organizational growth and better outcomes. The organization did not have any written mission any statement, but the organization structure was quite obvious (Tomey, 2009).
Description of the nurse leader leadership/management
Visionary, coaching, affiliate, and democratic were discovered the most practiced leadership/ management and communication style. In visionary leadership employees are empowered because they catch the vision of the leader and organization and practice their profession from that perspective. A great advantage is that being task oriented it pulls the best out of individuals/ employees. Team spirit guides every effort and action when visionary leadership style is practiced (Weberg, 2010).
Some leaders tend to think that coaching leadership styles is enabling employees to be dependent on leaders for innovation. However, when emotional intelligence is incorporated in coaching leadership research shows where it actually builds confidence in the person being coached. New staff particularly may need coaching since a strange environment with unfamiliar people could pose challenges that affect efficiency. Coaching employing emotional intelligence facilitates citing difficulties early and addressing them before escalating into more complex relationship issues within the organization (Feather, 2009).
Affiliate leadership promotes solidarity because the nurse manager allows every team member to be involved in some aspect of the leadership. For example, registered nurses are team leaders, but not practice as managers until they enter advance nurse training. An affiliate leader would provide opportunities that expose registered nurses on clinical areas to ward management as well as organization expectations without feeling threatened that subordinates will steal their jobs. This prepares the organization for smooth transition in case a nursing manager has to be replaced (Feather, 2009).
Democratic style is sometimes considered another side of affiliate leadership, but it is more deliberate in its purpose. This style requires discussion, debates sharing of ideas; arriving at consensus. It is due process that every member of the group allowed equal involvement opportunity. The participation boundaries are designed through consensus within the organization. In health care often these responsibilities are together undertaken by doctors, specialists, nurses and patient advocates (Vesterinen et.al, 2013)
The democratic style assumes that all employees have a right to participate in the organizations’ decision making process. However, this process must be supervise and control so that goals, objectives, mission and purpose is clarified and maintained. The leader initiates the process by first reinforcing the organizations’ mission and purpose. Ultimately, when applying a democratic style the leader is responsible for guiding decisions regarding who joins the group and specific functions of participants. Every member has the right to vote as part of ther democratic process. Each vote counts and is valuable (Tomey, 2009).
Description of administrative challenges as it relates to
Initiating internal and external factors that may
Affect leadership and management.
Researchers revealed that translation of evidence into practice is one of the major challenges for nursing science and management. This has been highlighted as an area where continuous guidance is essential. If every intervention musty be evidence based from clinical care to administration there will always be the need to adjust system to facilitate this process. So often due to financial constraints many organizations are not equipped with the resources to implement evidence based changes as they emerge. More challenging is when an organization is in the process of creating one change another evidence surface, which sometimes nullifies the evidence being transferred. This is a frustrating endeavor keeping up with evidence based practice (Vesterinen et.al, 2013).
It was also discovered that a generational shift among nurses is in process. Many young nurses are becoming frustrated with the system and quitting. With an already depleted nursing staff this poses more nursing shortage problems in the future. Essentially, concerns center on poor job satisfaction and limited opportunities for professional development. Expectations of older nurses conflict with those of younger nurse whose outlook of the profession is more extensive. Further studies sampling Swedish nurses revealed that leadership styles did influence whether nurses’ desire to remain on the job. Building relationships was identified as a very successful a strategy because it promoted a more comfortable atmosphere between younger and older generations of nurses (Tomey, 2009).
Evidently, leadership challenges exist within the clinical settings reviewed. It was discovered that trust and job satisfaction are closely related concepts. If more attention is given to these qualities in adapting leadership styles greater commitment could be produced to alter the present intent of younger nurses to stay on the job. Subsequently, if contemporary nurse managers are intentional in advancing generation unity among older and younger nurses, a positive understanding attitude ought to be developed (Vesterinen et.al, 2013).
Conclusion
The foregoing exposition described nursing leadership and management. Reference was made to a study conducted in Finland within the last 5 years exploring leadership styles and the ones which were most effective. While the organization’s mission was to keep abreast with evidence based practice, it appeared the greatest challenge along expectation conflicts between older and younger nurses with younger ones leaving the profession (Vesterinen et.al, 2013).
Nurses admitted that while the four most useful leadership styles were visionary, coaching, affiliate, and democratic there was no evidence based translation to guide them into efficiently applying principles contained in these specific styles on their health center ward locations. Most importantly, nurses demonstrated immense committed to their patients. Evidence indicative that nurse managers also are very committed towards supporting nurses willing to remain on the job regardless of generational differences exist. This does not mean that employees overtime sometimes become frustrated with the system and desire to leave the profession (Vesterinen et.al, 2013).
References
Casida, J., & Parker, J. (2011). Staff nurse perceptions of nurse manager leadership styles and
outcomes. Journal of Nursing Management, 19 (4); 478–486
Feather, R. (2009). Emotional intelligence in relation to nursing leadership: does it matter?
Tomey, A. (2009). Nursing leadership and management effects work environments. Journal of
Nursing Management, 17 (1); 15–25
Vesterinen, S. Suhonen, M. Isola, A. Paasivaara, L., & Laukkala. H. (2013). Nurse Managers'
Perceptions Related to Their Leadership Styles, Knowledge, and Skills in These Areas—A
Viewpoint: Case of Health Centre Wards in Finland. ISRN Nursing. 2013(2013).
Weberg, D. (2010). Transformational leadership and staff retention: an evidence review with
implications for healthcare systems, Nursing Administration Quarterly, 34(3); 246–258
