Healthcare is one of the most sensitive sectors in terms of business and according to research; it has also been termed the most successful (Zimmermann, 2002). Being a sensitive department compared to others, organizing and managing it is a tough task, especially for the healthcare leaders. Healthcare business today requires a lot more than it did before, and in order to successfully achieve these goals, various traits and styles of leadership will be required. Success for any business will always depend on the leaders and the kind of leadership they will provide, and this should include professional skills and other natural leadership skills.
There are two sources of power and leadership, and these are formal and informal. A formal leadership is one where an individual is officially assigned the duty to guide a team on what to do and how to do it. The guidance may include assigning members various roles and supervising them as they go about their duties and at the same time, this kind of leader is authorized to punish and reward those working under him. On the other hand, an informal leader is an individual who possesses a personal power that can influence his colleagues to view him as a leader (Roussel, 2011). Such a person possesses characteristics that could create trust and respect from a team of colleagues. Both the leadership sources are important in an organization and they can work either together or differently depending on certain situations. However, both can work better when used together.
As a very sensitive profession, nursing is not like any other business that can be started just by capital for instance, but it is business that normally needs a lot of professionalism. It is upon nursing leaders to ensure quality services and as a business that involves people’s health, it is a requirement for the sector to console with the health governmental organizations on many health issues so as to always be updated on governmental issues that concern nursing. This means that it is very important for the nursing leaders to work together with the nursing organization linking them to the procedures on political developments relating to nursing.
There are various professional organizations representing healthcare nurses around the world, and they are usually responsible for keeping the nursing leaders informed on present political healthcare progresses(Zimmermann 2002). This usually helps the nursing department to work according to new regulations while they can always protest against any improper laws through the same organizations. Nurses are also able to air views and share ideas with the government through the organizations whenever there is need for change concerning anything in the sector. This also makes it possible for the nurses to propose ideas that would help promote nursing as the people who understand the sector better.
Conclusively, the nursing sector is responsible for health services provision and that is why it is crucial for it to have professional leadership guidance (Roussel, 2011). The leaders in this sector are, therefore, not expected to take their skills for granted lest they portray bad and incompetent leadership in the medical sector. Both formal and informal leadership are also very essential in nursing leadership as uniting both would provide a stronger influence on work, which would lead to provision of good results. Therefore, when working as a nursing profession, it is important to apply all the necessary skills using both formal and informal leadership sources as well as being in good partnership with political health organizations, if desired goals are to be achieved.
References
Roussel, L. (2011). Management and Leadership for Nurse Administrators. New York, NY
Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Zimmermann, G. P. (2002). Nursing Management Secrets, Issue 974. New York, NY: Elsevier
Health Sciences.
