Management of Power
Introduction 3
Organizational Structure Influences 4-5
Conclusion 5-6
References 7
Management of Power
As the nurse executive at St Louis Medical Center, it will be important to identify and utilize the leadership theories relevant to management of power in this professional capacity. Management of power is critical in creating work environments that are conducive for nurses to provide quality patient care. In a fast evolving healthcare sector, there is a growing need for nurse leaders to ensure their leadership provides the motivation and inspiration needed to continuously improve services. Based on this observation, the current paper seeks to identify and articulate theories to support my management of power as the nurse executive at St Louis Medical Center.
Leadership Theories
There are several leadership theories that I will seek to employ as the nurse executive at SLMC key among them being the transformational leadership style. The transformational leadership theory views the principle responsibility of a leader as initiating and remaining committed to relationships with followers. This involves, among other things, developing formal, ongoing mechanisms through which two-way communication between management and employees can be realized. The theory further notes that leaders have a responsibility of gratifying their followers’ needs and wants and provide the motivation needed to ensure continuous optimal performance.
Although transformational leadership is not as common in the healthcare sector compared to other leadership styles such as the transactional approach, past studies have indicated that transformational leadership is key in the implementation of sustainable changes within healthcare facilities (Hughes, Carryer, & White, 2015). For instance, while individual nurses SLMC may desire to work for varied number of hours per day, accommodating all their requests may prove detrimental to patient safety as evidence shows extended work hours tend to negatively impact on patient safety. On the other hand, however, a transformational approach to leadership would allow the nurse executive to engage nursing staff and develop work hour policies that balance between individual scheduling needs and patient safety.
Another leadership theory that I would seek to employ is the situational leadership theory. Considering the constant change that modern healthcare organizations are facing, there is growing need for nurse executives to encourage subordinate leaders exercise flexibility in their approach to different situations that require leadership skills. The situational leadership theory calls for nurse leaders to adopt a task-oriented approach to leadership (Giltinane, 2013). In so doing, nurse leaders are expected to demonstrate the ability to articulate the performance and competence of others while also exercising flexibility.
As a nurse executive, there are several instances that situational leadership may be applicable. Among these include when supervising newly recruited nurses where the leader’s approach is expected to match the level of competence of the newly qualified nurses. Considering that newly qualified nurses tend to have base level of clinical knowledge and as such lack confidence and experience, it is important that a nurse leader employs a more directive role when engaging such nurses.
Organizational Structure Influences
Leadership takes place within a social context and one of the most common social contexts for leadership is organizational structure. Organizational structure is built based on individual behavior and as such leader effectiveness depends on organizational structure. One of the most significant metrics of organizational structures likely to influence management of power in the role of nurse executive is functional specialization and span of control (Lorber, Treven, & Mumel, 2016). By definition, functional specialization refers to division of groups of people into functions based on purpose and/or expertise. In a large organization such as SLMC, a high degree of functional specialization is critical in ensuring efficient power management and leadership effectiveness. Lack of functional specialization at the organization may require that the nurse executive manages employees in different levels and positions and this undermines the ability of such a leader to utilize their expert power. Equally, leadership effectiveness is greatly undermined when there too many subordinate groups for the nurse executive to manage.
Promotion systems are another organizational structure metric that may influence management of power at SLMC. A flat corporate structure may undermine the vertical movement upward of junior leaders and this may result in low motivation. Reward power may also be viewed to have influence on power management. As opposed to the legitimate power, reward power can only be described from the subordinates’ perspective since it entails the subordinates’ desire to earn the reward put forward. Reward power can positively influence management of power when an organization puts in place a reward system that promotes performance-based promotion.
Conclusion
Overall, management of power in the role of nurse executive is dependent on several key factors key among them the leadership theories and/or styles adopted as well as the organizational structure and culture of the targeted institution. In the case of SLMC, the transformational and situational leadership theories would be particularly effective as they would allow the nurse leader to respond to the needs of junior nurses while ensuring this does not affect the quality of services provided.
References
Giltinane, C.L. (2013). Leadership Styles and Theories. Nursing Standard, 27(41): 35-39.
Hughes, K., Carryer, J. B., & White, J. (2015). Structural positioning of nurse leaders and empowerment. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 24(15/16), 2125-2132.
Lorber, M., Treven, S., & Mumel, D. (2016). The Examination of Factors Relating to the Leadership Style of Nursing Leaders in Hospitals. Our Economy (Nase Gospodarstvo), 62(1), 27-36.
