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Introduction
As Tate points out, senior nurses are likely to engage in a range of leadership activities in their daily routine and some may find the concept hard to understand (34). Leadership in nursing is an art that involves quality delivery of care and facilitating positive nursing growth among other nurses. Leadership skills and capabilities among nurses can be judged by their ability to manage time, organize the team under them, and maintain professional ethics. It is also judged on the basis of how well they can solve problems and make decisions in the face of a crisis. As a nurse, adhering to professional ethics and acting with integrity is critical in developing leadership skills.
Senior nurses should adopt an effective leadership style that allows them to exercise basic leadership duties such as offering proper instructions to the junior nurses and the teams they work with. Senior nurses responsibilities include coordinating the day/night shifts of their team and supporting them by giving directions. It is also their responsibility to help the new nurses fit into the system and grow their careers through effective training. However, they need to realize that an effective leader needs more than the ability to give instructions and supervise those under them. It is for this reason that this study is significant.
Leadership skills in the nursing industry are categorized into different classes. They include organizational management, creation and vision, communication and strategy. The first step towards being a good leader is realizing that leadership roles are different from management functions (Nagelkerk and Diane, 14). By realizing this, a good leader is willing to stay in touch and in line with the management and follow the hospitals policies and regulations. Every leader must work on being more visionary and equip themselves with the required strategies. Such qualities will help them direct their teams and services to a better future in the industry. To be an effective leader, they should also work on their problem-solving skills and develop their groups.
Background of the problem
The healthcare industry is today faced with many challenges that make it hard to deliver quality and do it consistently. Key among these challenges is leadership. There are constant disputes over roles and responsibilities between nurses, physicians and other medical experts. These disputes are largely blamed on the lack of good leadership capable of offering proper guidelines on roles and mandates of the different medical experts. Shortages that rock the nursing industry have made it even harder to resolve these existing challenges (Rogolosi, 55). The complexity of the medical professional further makes it hard for governments to intervene wherever leadership challenges arise.
The Gallup Organization, established that nurses had the highest standards of honesty and ethics in that year (2). Ten years later, the nursing industry faces major challenges as far as ethics and discipline are concerned. The industry is faced with challenges that come with the constant changes happening in the industry. Furthermore, medical needs are constantly changing, a factor that calls for flexible policies, models and leadership. More cases of questionable conduct are filed each day and ethical concerns and issues are still evident.
Regulations, policies and expectations from customers may sometimes be hard to keep up (Marquis and Carol, 67). In order to ensure that nurses still hold that position they held a few years back, it is necessary that they have initiatives and someone to help them mold these characteristics. Good leadership is also paramount. This paper seeks to understand the role of leadership professional development. It will seek to explore effective leadership skills to motivate and empower nursing facility. Leadership development in this paper will address its role in administering medical services, having proper professional ethics, and nurses being able to execute professional duties in a skilled manner.
Aim
Explore effective leadership skills to motivate and empower nursing faculty in nursing colleges
Objectives
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Understand the role of leadership in the nursing colleges
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Conduct a literature review to evaluate the impact of leadership on professional development for young nurses
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Understand current challenges facing leadership in nursing colleges
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Explore possible solutions to these challenges
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To evaluate how leadership can participate in nursing professional development.
Rationale
This research has specific practical value. Having considered the results, it will be possible to state whether leadership plays a vital role in motivating and empowering nursing faculty in nursing colleges. The answers will explain different responsibilities of leaders and how they contribute to the nursing colleges development. The influence of leadership is evident in its role in training, coaching and development.
Significance of the study
This study is relevant in understanding the role of good leadership in nursing schools, especially in the current economic climate. As the needs of patients become more diverse, nursing schools need to be empowered and motivated to fully equip nurses for the market. The final product offered by nurses is therefore highly dependent on their foundation which starts in colleges. Information gathered in the final paper will be focused on improving staff retention focusing on managers, improving standards of teaching, increasing staff faculty satisfaction levels.
Literature review
Leadership
It is evident that leadership in nursing is of supreme importance at all times (OBrien, 113). As the author further explains, the outcome of all the challenges facing nursing colleges and the nursing industry will depend in large measure on the kind of leadership right from colleges. The number of nurses leaving the profession in the recent past due to stress, bullying and disempowerment is alarming. Analysts argue that these issues affect them so much due to lack of preparation right from an early stage of their profession which is back in college. Myrick and Olive explain that nursing, education and the profession have an unparalleled opportunity and capability to address the critical issues that face the industry (221).
Leadership plays a critical role on the way policies are formulated as well as the way they are implemented. In nursing colleges, policies on recruitment of tutors, intake of students and programs ran in each faculty is largely dependent on their leadership. What nursing students are taught, examining and qualification criteria is also influenced by leadership. These processes all affect the quality of nurses a nursing faculty produces and what it equips its students with.
The role of leadership
Traditionally, the role of leaders and managers has been to serve as the systematizing, policing arm of executive management (Saarikoski, 260). Today, leaders are strategic partners, employees advocates, change champions and business advisers on several issues affecting their area of operation. The principle function of leadership in nursing colleges is recruiting the right teams which include the tutors as well as the students. A fundamental role played by leaders in the introduction and implementation of skill development is handling pressure from all the relevant stakeholders.
Today, nursing colleges are faced with tussles arising from racial biases, poor school performance, gender discrimination and ethical issues, among others. Other than these there are common legal challenges which the health care sector is constantly faced with. These issues need to be addressed right from college by ensuring nursing faculties have comprehensive syllabus that covers all the possible challenges in the field. When assignment and responsibilities are not well defined in any industry, challenges may arise. This is a critical area and a point of big consideration when choosing a leadership team in a nursing college.
Leadership is a key organ in nursing colleges when it comes to expansion of the skill mix strategies or implementation of new strategies (Chen, 374). This happens through managing students performance and facilitating better training. Other leadership roles in developing skills include job designs, accountability, division of labor, training and development, just to mention a few. According to Lambersen the main priority of a nursing colleges strategy and strategic management should be to secure a long-term future of good quality (117). This research will be used to establish whether leadership strategies in the nursing sector vary to suit different objectives. However, there are common fundamental strategies in the industry today, and ensuring quality is one of them. Training allows leadership to deal with constantly changing demands for skills. Being constantly aware of the needs in the markets is therefore a critical role of leadership in nursing colleges.
Good leaders create and motivate leadership among the students that go through their colleges. The nursing faculty is motivated to produce better nurse leaders through training and coaching. It is for this reason that leaders have to be trained on delegation, authority and responsibility (Marion, 113). Recruitment and admission processes, which the leaders have to be trained on, play a major role in determining the future leaders of the sector. For a skill diversified industry such as the nursing sector, understanding and integrating skills with different cultural and management styles is a hard task left to the leaders in nursing colleges (Christian, 108).
For the sector to successfully implement good leadership and reap maximum benefits from it, human resource managers have to do a good job in information management (Furlong, 1060). Information management is the collection, distribution and conversion of information to knowledge (Furlong, 1064). It is also evident that nursing practices and the development of nursing faculties in the healthcare sector are influenced by both internal and external factors. Internal factors include labor policies, training and support policy, shareholders and the labor market. External factors include government policies, legal factors, patients needs and technology (Cohen, 30). However, it is notable that leadership has a role to play in all of these factors. This is evidence enough that leadership plays a significant role in the motivation and empowerment of nursing faculties in nursing and medical colleges.
As the American Nurses Association argues, successful industries are becoming more adaptable, resilient, quick to change directions, and customer-centered (44). The nursing sector today is constantly changing and demands strategic planning and organization. Technological innovations such as Human Resource Management Systems have made it easy for sector to handle information related to skills, knowledge, training and development. If these skills are not implemented at the college level, it is hard for nursing colleges to produce what is expected in the markets. The rate at which they embrace and develop such agendas is influenced by the flexibility and vision of the colleges leadership.
Leadership key issues
As Christian explains, it constitutes the professional reward aspect which incorporates processes and procedures for tracking new skills, measuring job values, designing and maintaining results structures, creating performance and ensuring benefits (108). However, it is important to note that leadership is not just about skill. It is also about quality performances which boost confidence in the nursing colleges, and improve nursing students confidence as well as motivation. Key issues to address in leadership in nursing colleges are;
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How to ensure external and internal competitiveness and equity
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How to train nursing students as individuals and promote team work as well
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Which leadership processes are appropriate for the healthcare sector training
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How to devolve power and ensure nursing students can manage their own skill mix strategies while staying within the sectors policies
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How to motivate nursing students who have to reached the highest level of career possible when they start practicing
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How to ensure leadership initiatives translate to improved performance
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How to structure and design leadership skills and evaluate present schemes
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How to ensure nursing students are prepared for both their inputs and outputs
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How to make nursing students recognize and appreciate skill development as a positive technique in the healthcare sector
In todays scenario, there are various leadership trends available for the nursing training facilities (Gebbie, 316). As Armstrong explains more industries today choose to develop increased awareness of the need to treat training measurement as a process for managing relatives, which, as necessary, has to adapt to new organizational environments and much greater role flexibility (30). Others choose leadership structures that cover every student regardless of their performance or area of training. Team development is a common trend in any industry trying to introduce new initiatives in their sector (Aiken and Sean, 997). Other trends include performance awards and more sensitivity to functional markets to enable the industry retains talented students.
Role of motivation, satisfaction and retention
Today, human resource environments are characterized by constant changes, stiff competition and changing skill preferences. It is also evident that human resource management is crucial in any organizations success. Retention today poses as the biggest challenge for human resource managers. The situation is not different for the nursing sector where nursing colleges have to work on motivating and retaining the best managers. A part of the literature review will cover the impact of reward management on retaining the best managers to empower nursing faculties in nursing schools. It will also look at retention and how nursing faculties can use retain their best managers to motivate end empower it.
Several theories attempt to explain the role of motivation in managing human resources. Process theories explain how workers meet their needs by selecting only those behavioral actions that suit them. One of these theories is the equity theory, which argues that workers compare the reward potential to the effort they must expend (Armstrong, 20). The author further explains that employees not only consider their own rewards, but those of others as well. When an employee feels his/her reward is inferior compared to that of others, the issue of inequality arises. This may be a real concern in nursing schools where the rewards of those graduating from the faculty have bigger rewards and level of recognition that those teaching them.
Expectancy theory explains how managers drive to perform and exert effort, is influenced by their beliefs that their efforts will be recognized, appreciated and rewarded. The theory argues that the most influential factor in motivation is learning how to relate effort, performance and rewards. Goal satisfaction is highly dependent on the level of expectancy and the attractiveness of the reward, an area that would be significant in nursing colleges as far as the academic nursing managers are concerned.
Another significant theory of motivation is reinforcement theory which examines how behavior and consequences relate. The theory argues that an employee behavior can be influenced using different techniques. These techniques are positive reinforcement, extinction, avoidance and punishment. Other theories include the goal-setting theory which views goals as a major source of motivation. When the colleges help managers achieve their goals, they are then motivated to set new and higher goals and work towards achieving them. These theories will be explored and their application in nursing faculties in nursing schools discussed. Managers
Employee retention is a critical factor in developing good leadership skills in any organization. An organization cannot have good leaders if it is not able to train, build and retain the best talent it has. For nursing schools to develop the best leaders, they need to have a retention program which recognizes the importance of mutual respect between the institutions and the leaders, reward senior employees appropriately, and motivate its leaders. Employee retention and increased performance of employees has a huge payoff which is often underestimated by many organizations. It increases productivity, improves employees morale, increases turnover as a result of reduced costs of recruitment and training, and trains a business to effectively address employee-related problems. Retaining its best managers will allow nursing faculties in nursing schools to reap the outlined benefits, as well as having the best team in leadership positions.
Job satisfaction and motivation are two different and directly linked factors, which play a significant role in the ability to have the best leadership team. Job satisfaction for leaders in nursing faculties can be measured through collection of data and holding forums with managers to discuss their level of satisfaction as well as air their complaints. Many at times, retention is considered a responsibility of the human resource department when the truth is employee retention is everyones responsibility and is totally dependent on satisfaction. This means that the management and other concerned stakeholders in nursing schools must take time to understand their managers satisfaction levels by ensuring that their views and suggestions are heard.
Managers value opportunities which are a core value of satisfaction. The management should hold meetings with them to routinely discuss their career paths and provide developing opportunities for those whose interests and skills allow. Nursing faculties in nursing schools should start working with managers and help them identify as well as achieve reasonable career objectives. Through such initiatives, they will have managers who can convert their satisfaction to desirable results in their jobs.
Skill mix in leadership
The issue of skill mix in the leadership of nursing colleges is a topic that attracts a lot of interest and debates. The pursuit of leadership from people outside the nursing profession in nursing colleges has sometimes divided managers and stakeholders in the nursing industry (Armstrong, 112). Opponents argue that if it was to be adopted fully, the threat of losing quality in the sector would be more real. Such a measure would also lead to the erosion of value for quality. Those in support of such strategies argue that leadership by someone outside the nursing profession will allow policies and strategies that address other issues outside the nursing profession which still affects nurses.
Proponents argue that skill mix will allow the nursing students in the colleges to develop different skills through skill transferability from their leaders and other procedures. The debate over the issue of skill mix continues to heighten and more issues keep arising. For example medical professionals argue that decisions on whether to implement such initiatives should be entirely left to them since the government does not understand the complexities of the profession (Chabeli, 40).
In the context of nursing colleges, skill mix can be used as a skill transferability initiative. According to Chabeli, skill-mix changes may involve a variety of developments including enhancements of skills among a particular group of staff substitution between different groups and innovation of roles (40). The sector will many times take the option of hiring and working with unqualified personnel than spend money on conducting further training on nurses. At its best, however, careful consideration of skill mix offers much in terms of aligning services more effectively and more appropriately to the health needs of local populations (Tate, 45).
Methodology
Introduction
Research methodologies to be used in this research project will include the study of books, academic journals, online articles, past projects by different authors, statistics from government and non-governmental organizations on skill in the healthcare sector. It will also involve a study of various academic works and research papers on leadership and its role in motivating and empowering nursing faculties in nursing colleges. From books, different academic articles and online articles already reviewed, it is clear that the nursing industry is among those suffering increased need for leadership and a diminishing capacity to satisfy what the market requires. To prevent such challenges, the industry starting from the colleges has realized that the most important factor in developing skills and professionalism is proper leadership. This is best achieved through different initiatives such as skill mix, motivation, and appreciation. As a result, a lot of attention is being put on leadership in nursing colleges.
Primary data used in this research project will be collected by from a survey conducted on several people from the sector. The survey will be conducted in cooperation with organizations and staff federations in the nursing industry. It will be open to different stakeholders in the nursing. The survey will be aimed at informing the various discussions on leadership in nursing colleges, as well as its role in motivating and empowering the nursing faculty. Involving nursing faculties, already graduated nurses and academic managers in the faculty will ensure that the survey collects comprehensive information representing a number of stakeholders in the nursing industry.
The initial findings of the data will be focused on three main questions:
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What is good leadership and is it an important aspect in nursing colleges
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The role of leadership in motivating nursing faculties
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The role of leadership in empowering nursing faculties in nursing colleges
The survey will target 100 participants. Such a high number demonstrates the level of importance of the topic, and ensures that views collected are wide and comprehensive.
Another source of information will be from an interview with five experts and scholars in the healthcare industry. Participants will be chosen from their level of experience and understanding of the structures of nursing colleges. The interview will be aimed at understanding how the culture of good leadership is appreciated in nursing colleges, by studying how colleges are able to provide quality leadership in the nursing faculty. The interviews will further discuss the need for professional development and training among leaders, teachers and trainers in nursing faculties. The interviews will be used to understand the role of policies and labor markets expectations in ensuring good leadership is established and maintained in nursing colleges.
Data analysis and discussions will be written from the findings in different academic resources, the survey and the interview. It will review and classify findings from different statistics and the situation in nursing faculties in several colleges. It will also present statistics and information collected from the outlined sources to get a professional understanding of the topic. The findings will be used to structure an argument and different discussions. The position and capability of nursing colleges to develop good leadership will also be reviewed, discussed and evidence presented. The results will be interpreted and a more detailed examination given.
Participants
To collect comprehensive data and information, this study will be conducted on 100 participants. It will be open to nursing faculties, academic managers and graduate nurses. The survey will encourage participants from all categories and locations in the area of study to ensure equal representation. It will target 100 participants. The big number of participants signifies the level of importance of the topic. The interviews will have five participants. The interviewees are expected to have a good understanding of the role of leadership in nursing colleges, as well as its role in motivating and empowering the nursing faculty.
Academic managers will account for 50% of the participants. Half of these are expected to have had practiced nursing and have adequate experience in management. The remaining 50% of the participants will include already graduated nurses and other staffs in nursing faculties. To ensure gender balance in the study, 50% of the participants will be female, while the remaining percentage will be male. There will be an age limit of 25 years to ensure information is only collected from experienced participants. The questionnaires will be accessible to the participants for a period of three months to ensure participants fill them at their own time without pressure.
Recruitment
Recruitment will be done by using social network and online forums to reach out to targeted participants. The snowball technique will also be used to reach the targeted number of participants required for the study. From Orchers definition snowball sampling is a non-probability sampling technique where existing study subjects recruit future subjects from among their acquaintances (154). In this technique, people familiar with the study will be used to reach out to more people who will then be directed to the researchs weblink. For the interviews, specific people will be contacted on the phone by fetching their numbers from directories. All participants will be presented with adequate explanations and guidelines for the study. All participants will also be required to fill and sign a consent form agreeing to voluntary participation.
Case design
The case design will involve a comprehensive literature review addressing all the topics and theories relevant in the paper. It will also comprise a task to collect data and statistics from past projects, government data sources and relevant statistics from various nursing schools and organizations working with them. Data gathered from these tasks and sources will be divided into primary and secondary data. Every task will be comprehensive and complete enough, to allow stakeholders understand and utilize the information in decision-making easily, whether they were part of the research team or not. These stakeholders include student nurses, practicing nurses, other medical professionals, government officials, and other stakeholders. Reviewing the case design will be critical to ensure its validity and applicability. Cross-comparing the case design and its outcome, with similar research projects conducted in the past, will help this research to highlight commonalities and identify areas where the results need to be strengthened.
Justification of the methods
Appreciative inquiry
Appreciative inquiry is based on the assertion that problems are often the result of our own perspectives and perceptions of phenomena (Orcher, 20). The approach will be applicable when identifying what has worked well in the past and applying it in the current situation. This proved the most applicable methods when researching on the healthcare sectors development and strategic planning. The method will prove particularly relevant when gathering information that will help the sector develop their development plan.
Case study design
According to Fink (111), case studies are particularly useful in depicting a holistic portrayal of a clients experiences and results regarding a program. In order to implement any leadership initiatives, nursing colleges will need to confirm the effectiveness of its programs and processes. This entails evaluating their strengths, weaknesses and threats. A case design in this research will include arranging a wide range of information from different sources and similar projects in the past by the nursing sector or other stakeholders. Comparing the results and patterns of past project will then help this research make relevant conclusions and recommendations. Evaluation will include both straightforward comparison and in-depth analysis.
Interviews
Interviews are a brilliant way to pursue in-depth information about a project. They are particularly helpful when a case needs follow-up, and when answers are required from a particular person (Fink, 113). The best way to get information during interviews is to ask open-ended questions. Preparing for interviews will involve choosing settings with the least level of distraction, explaining the purpose of the interview to the interviewees, explaining the purpose of the interview to them, and recording it for reference purposes. This method of research will be beneficial when trying to understand the concept of leadership and its role in empowering as well as motivating nursing faculties in nursing colleges.
Questionnaires
Questionnaires will be the most convenient and easy way to collect data from a large population. They are easy to design, and since they do not require a lot of time, it is easy to have respondents to cooperate. Their disadvantages include the fact that they do not allow the researcher to examine complex issues. Since the target group in this research project will be 100 people, questionnaires are considered the most efficient way of gathering information and opinions from them.
Data collection and analysis
Primary data collection will be done by administering questionnaires and doing interviews. Secondary data will be collected from past research projects, government and non-governmental statistics and other relevant sources. Data analysis tools and software will be beneficial when sorting out data and identifying patterns. As Fink argues, data analysis techniques can help gain greater insight into trends being investigated (20).
Orcher defines data analysis as the process of inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of highlighting useful information, suggesting conclusions, and supporting decision-making (112). Data analysis comprises of diverse techniques depending with the type of data, and expected outcomes. When conducting a leadership study, data mining is an indispensable technique since it involves discovering knowledge, as opposed to describing it.
In any study focusing on attitudes and perception, the importance of primary data cannot be over-emphasized (Orcher, 233). In such a project, it is expected that at least 90% of the questionnaires distributed will be returned and filled correctly. Interviews will be scheduled early to guarantee enough time for preparation by participants. Secondary data will be extremely valuable and will be collected to augment the research. Before any data is collected, permission will be sought from different authorities such as the relevant ministries and colleges the survey will be conducted. An initial visit to these institutions will be crucial for introductory purpose, familiarization as well as seeking consent for the research project.
Data analysis tools and software will be beneficial when sorting out data and identifying patterns. As Fink argues, data analysis techniques can help virtually any research project gain greater insigh
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