The article “Difference between Nurse Leadership vs. Management” by Anderson L. (2012), discusses on the main differences between a nurse leader and a nurse manager. According to Anderson (2012), the two positions are widely confused and used interchangeably by most people. A leader is considered as an individual who derives his influence or power form a group while a manager is a person who has been appointed by the organization in order to manage a particular unit of the organization with an aim of achieving some specified goals.
The ideas as well as the suggestions from this article have a direct relationship towards the three nursing roles namely; nurse as a provider of care, nurse as a manager of care and nurse as a member of the profession. As a provider of care, the nurse, the nurse reports to the nurse manager who is given the supervisory responsibility towards the nursing care being provided. As a member of the nursing profession, the nurse is under the influence of the nursing leaders who leads the profession. These leaders are mandated with the responsibility of directing the nurses as well as forwarding their grievances to the relevant authorities.
In my practice, I have encountered a nursing leadership structure that begins with, the hospital nurse in charge, the unit in charge and the ward in charge. This leadership structure has three layers where the nurses working in the ward reports to the wards in charge, the ward in charge reports to the unit in charge and the unit in charge reports to the hospital nurse in charge who then reports to the hospital administration. In this leadership structure, responsibilities are shared downwards.
A leader is a person who is ready and able to take great responsibilities and be ready to work with others collaboratively in order to achieve the organizational goals. A leader should be ready to be ahead of others and always provide the required guidance in respect to the ideal ways of managing patients as well as dealing with a given situation (Baernholdt & Cottingham, 2011).
While in the surgical unit, I had an encounter with one of the ward in charges, this ward in charge came to work late, did not fully know the patient’s names and their management and when we went to consult him on what to some given situations, he was not sure and never provided a conclusive answer. According to me, this in charge failed the test of a good leader. As a leader, one is expected to report to duty on time, know all the staffs plus the names of the patients being managed together with their conditions, and have the solutions to almost any incidence that happens in the ward as well as relating well with the fellow staffs. This leader therefore needs to have these qualities in order to execute his mandate very well.
While earning my BSN, I have learnt that leadership is a great responsibility. As a leader, one needs to be very careful when making decisions. Some decisions are very vital hence great caution needs to be taken when executing them. In most cases patient’s life lies on the hands of the unit in charges who are supposed to make critical decision regarding their management. Therefore, being a leader should not just be taken as a prestigious position to harass other but as a position to keep things going smoothly for better work outcome.
While I my professional practice as a nurse, I have been able to successfully witness three types of leadership styles which are Laissez-Faire, Autocratic and Democratic. While in surgical unit, the in charge did not supervise us directly and also was unable to provide direct supervision to us. By doing this she demonstrated Laissez-Faire style of leadership. The medical unit in charge was a different person and portrayed an autocratic form of leadership where she was the only one making decision and did not welcome inputs from others. In the maternity unit, I had a very jovial unit in charge and involved all his staffs in decision making hence demonstrating a democratic leadership style (Stavrianopoulos, 2012).
References
Anderson L. (August 9 2012), Difference between Nurse Leadership vs. Management. Nursetogether Retrieved on 13th July 2015 from http://www.nursetogether.com/difference-between-nurse-leadership-#sthash.11Un9FsG.dpuf
Baernholdt, M., & Cottingham, S. (2011). The Clinical Nurse Leader--new nursing role with global implications. International Nursing Review, 58, 74–78. doi:10.1111/j.1466-7657.2010.00835.x
Stavrianopoulos, T. (2012). The clinical nurse leader. Health Science Journal. doi:10.3928/02793695-20090902-04
