Category: Leadership

Introduction

The outbreak of global COVID-19 brought a significant challenge to nursing practice that challenged nurse leaders. Apart from the normal priorities, such as ensuring the provision of quality patient care and cost-effective practices, the nurse managers had additional concerns that required maximum attention. They were further committed to creating a working environment that supports and inspire providers to deliver a quality experience to the patients. The focus of the nursing frontrunners was to make sure healthcare practices remained relevant during the pandemic. In order to facilitate and offer reliable care services, nurse leaders were forced to adapt and develop a continuous system driven by effective decision-making. They engaged the patients, their families and practitioners to promote a reliable working experience throughout the period. The managers formulated different ways to enhance the commitment of providers by setting other approaches that motivate the staff members. The aim of the analysis is to explore the contribution of nursing leadership towards resolving the nursing issues to maintain quality patient care during the pandemic.

Contribution of Nursing Leadership during Pandemic

Before the pandemic, most healthcare institutions had a normal working routine and measures to correct uncertainties. However, when COVID-19 emerged, the facilities were caught unaware, and the management had little knowledge to manage the situation. The condition prompted nursing leadership to engage and modify the common trend of nursing practices. The virus overwhelmed the practitioners and required nurse leaders to intervene in ways that ensured the provision of care services remained effective despite the circumstances. To facilitate effective management of healthcare facilities during the COVID-19 period, the managers are involved in decision making, adapting to the condition, supporting others, giving directions, and maintaining ethical awareness. Furthermore, nurse leaders accepted mistakes, involved innovative practices, and timely communication (Aquilia et al., 2020). Engaging in the named practices made it easier for the nurse managers to manage and overcome the challenges caused by the prevalence of the virus. Patients and health professionals had a memorable experience that gave them hope and the belief that despite the current situation, the safety and well-being of each person are guaranteed.

Decision Making

Generally, nurse leaders are tasked with making crucial decisions in the healthcare setting to facilitate the provision of services. In most cases, they rely on pieces of evidence to support their choices during the practice. However, the pandemic situation limited the ability of managers to determine the proof on that they can base their options. The crisis made the frontrunners lack relevant, accurate information to make informed decisions (Aquilia et al., 2020). For instance, in the begging, the details about COVID-19 kept changing, creating indecisiveness. Following the conflicting situation, nurse leaders opted to perform their roles to make the required decision considering the priorities: the sick individuals and their families. Despite the complexity of the circumstances, keeping patients as the key concern was significant for nursing practice. Nurse leaders had to make a rapid choice while balancing the possible risks and associated benefits.

Time of crisis is challenging, and nurse leaders are likely to encounter various conflicting information that interferes with their overall judgment. It is upon the nurse managers to make choices of what to undertake and those to ignore. It is necessary for the charge nurse to remain active and able to shift priorities to facilitate an effective patient experience. To practice such measures, nurse leaders must communicate properly to enable stakeholders to understand the situations progress. The practice is vital in promoting patient-centered care and the engagement of providers during the pandemic. The decision to undertake various roles inspired the health professionals.

Providing Support and Safe Working Environment

The pandemic pressure and stress on healthcare workers, making them vulnerable and less active. The demand to maintain quality care in such an environment drained the providers extremely. To recharge their energy, nurse leaders must be physically and emotionally present to motivate the nurses. Managers have the responsibility of inspiring the staff members, especially during COVID-19. The changes in the healthcare system required practitioners to evolve accordingly, both professionally and personally, to cope with the situation. Exhaustion became a major challenge in coping with long work hours (White, 2021). Similarly, staff who encountered several deaths faced serious emotional breakdowns rendering them less productive. Most majors opted to engage team members and discuss the various condition they faced to relieve them of the pressure. In addition, the nurse leaders engaged in other roles to give examples to the providers and encourage them.

In addition, during the COVID-19 crisis practitioners were drained and confused due to overworking and concentrating on different issues. To remain active and committed, they required a safe working environment to enhance their resilience despite the pressure. According to the research work by Sihvola et al. (2022) nurse leaders were responsible for ensuring providers were respected and their opinions considered during decision-making processes. The aspect of engagement made nurses feel at ease, leading to an effective contribution to patient.

Giving Directions

The pandemic situation created confusion in the healthcare system. Nurses and other stakeholders lacked the necessary focus to bring a positive patient experience. Nurse leaders took the initiative to provide clear direction on changes and what is expected from each team member. Managers listened actively to the professionals and used their concerns to address the challenges hindering their commitment (Simon, 2021). Having a sense of direction is a recipe for confidence because practitioners clearly know what they are doing. The practice is essential since it eliminates the aspect of confusion and overlapping of roles in the facility.

Furthermore, the pressure created by COVID-19 in the healthcare system made nurses work in demanding conditions, leaving them with limited time to consider ethical practices, especially in matters that require effective decision-making. The difficult context caused emotional stress leading to poor professional judgment. They required someone to remind them of the directives of the profession. Similarly, the virus prompted several ethical dilemmas since practitioners had conflicting information and lacked informed evidence to make a decision. The situation improved the distress level of the nurses, making them less attentive in their work environment. Nurse leaders took the initiative to show direction and remind the providers about the health morals to guide their practices in the midst of pandemic (Markey et al., 2021). Nurse leaders played a significant role in ensuring practitioners remained relevant to offer quality care services.

Timely Communication and Accepting Mistakes

Following a lack of literature and pieces of evidence from which practitioners could draw a conclusion from the best alternative to withstand the changing and conflicting information was timely communication. According to Manzano and Vose (2021), timely and frequent communication played a significant role in promoting proper clarification of issues amongst the providers. Nurse managers were able to effectively address various concerns hence making the practitioners have price details to use in their practices.

During the pandemic, the healthcare system experienced a rapidly changing environment with incomplete information to make an informed decision. The condition made it difficult for nurse leaders to make coordinated choices leading to mistakes. Despite the wrong judgment, the managers accepted to own the resulting impacts to ensure they gear torward the nursing practices. For instance, nurse leaders developed measures that restrict visitation but later changed them following the negative consequences associated with them (Guenser-Onstot, 2022). After realizing the outcomes, charge nurses had to deal with the circumstances and move on with their operations without giving much weight to the past blunders.

Engaging in Innovative Practices

The desperation to overcome challenges brought by the pandemic in the healthcare sector prompted nurse leaders to try different ways to facilitate care delivery in a safer manner to the patients. They advocated for the usage of telehealth services such as video calls to allow sick and dying patients to say goodbye to their loved ones in areas where they were isolated (Raso, 2020). Furthermore, implementing the technology increased the ability of health providers to reach a large number of patients remotely. Incorporating such development became a significant role of the nurse managers, especially in encouraging the professionals to apply the system.

Conclusion

The pandemic created new challenges that became a severe issue for the healthcare system. Since there were no resources and pieces of literature about COVID-19, the facilities relied on the nursing leadership to facilitate the patient care practices. Nursing management is an essential area that has a significant influence on the outcome of healthcare services. Based on the analysis above, nurse managers have fundamental roles to play. They are the key driver of care delivery and their participation enhances the commitment and productivity of other health professionals. Despite the effect of incomplete information during the period, nurse leaders remained proactive and accepted the mistakes they made as a result. According to the various encounters they faced, the managers learned crucial lessons that will enable them to be agile in the future. Furthermore, the exposure has allowed them to comprehend the need for good leadership in the setting which is important for their management.

References

Aquilia, A., Grimley, K., Jacobs, B., Kosturko, M., Mansfield, J., Mathers, C., Parniawski, P., Wood, L., & Niederhauser, V. (2020). Nursing leadership during COVID-19: Enhancing patient, family and workforce experience.Patient Experience Journal, 7(2), 136-143.

Guenser-Onstot, J. (2022). A look back on leadership lessons from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and what we can learn for the future.JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 52(4), 197-199.

Manzano, W., & Vose, C. B. (2021). When nurses lead, health follows.Nursing Management, 52(12), 36.

Markey, K., Ventura, C. A. A., Donnell, C. O., & Doody, O. (2021). Cultivating ethical leadership in the recovery of COVID19.Journal of Nursing Management, 29(2), 351-355.

Raso, R. (2020). Leadership in a pandemic: Pressing the reset button.Nursing Management, 51(7), 6.

Sihvola, S., Kvist, T., & Nurmeksela, A. (2022). Nurse leaders resilience and their role in supporting nurses resilience during the COVID19 pandemic: A scoping review.Journal of Nursing Management.

Simon, E. (2021). Leadership in pandemic.Medsurg Nursing, 30(5), 349-352.

White, J. H. (2021). A phenomenological study of nurse managers and assistant nurse managers experiences during the COVID19 pandemic in the United States.Journal of Nursing Management, 29(6), 1525-1534.

Nursing Leadership

• Leadership is an act of leading an organization or a group of people.
• There are different types of models guiding nursing management, which are:
  • Behavioral theory;
  • Great man theory;
  • Situational and contingency leadership theory;
  • Interactional leadership theories;
  • Transactional and transformational leadership.
• Florence Nightingale was a noble leader worth emulation.

There are different types of models guiding nursing leadership, the Great man Theory states that leadership is dependent on the personality traits (Xu, 2017).

Behavioral theory provides importance of a leadership style rather than personal traits (Harrison, 2018).

In situational and contingency leadership theories, the styles of leadership vary according to an individual or situation.

Interactional theories are based on the fact that a supervisor behavior is determined by the relationship between the specific situation and leadership personalities (Harrison, 2018).

Noble managers such as Florence Nightingale demonstrated effective communication, fairness, creativity, dependability, and effective group identification and teamwork.

Leadership Theories

• Behavioral theory classified leadership according to behavior and actions into three, which are democratic, authorization, and laissez-faire (Harrison, 2018).
• Contingency theory focusses on context.
• This training is for graduates hired in the private hospital ward.
• The newly employed nurses are encouraged to learn transformational leadership.

Behavioral theory conceptualizes leadership according to actions, it categorizes managers into groups based on behavior. In the authorization type, a leader takes full control, while in democratic way a team approach is undertaken. In Laissez-faire the leader takes no approach (Harrison, 2018).

Focus of the training is on transformational leadership because it inspires employees to produce better nursing outcomes.

This training advocates for transformational leadership because it aids in achieving unity and it motivates staff to achieve better outcome.

Importance of the Leadership Training

• It promotes cohesiveness between nurse leaders and their subordinates.
• It prepares leaders to cope with challenges (Bass & Bass, 2009).
• It promotes shared governance.
• It prepares nurses to take leadership positions and research which influences healthcare policies.
• It empowers and encourages subordinate staff.

Formal and leadership development trainings are used to prepare nurse leaders to cope with health care challenges. These programs also increase awareness, promote leadership and nursing leadership research (Silva et al., 2017).

Additionally, transformational leadership fosters existence of strong partnerships between nursing staff and leaders, which consequently, promote shared governance, which is demonstrated by participation of healthcare workers on council activities and policy making. These collaborations also empower subordinate staffs and advance job satisfaction.

Role Model

• Florence Nightingale transformed nursing practice.
• She practised transformational leadership.
• The leader encouraged her co-workers to take leadership positions that influence nursing care (Royal College of nursing, 2015).
• Florence was a moral leader because she advocated for equity in delivery of healthcare.
• One can become like Florence by undertaking valid, reliable, and robust curative research that influences nursing care positively.

Florence was a respectable leader because she yearned to improve quality of care for people regardless of their economic status.

Nightingale pioneered and practiced transformational leadership by motivating employees to improve quality of care.

She also motivated other nurses to be proactive in improving accessibility to care by influencing policy making and in undertaking research to be used in evidence based care.

Transformational Leadership

• Transformational leadership is focused on leaders rather the followers relative to transactional style.
• It involves inspiring.
• Transformational managers encourage shared decision making process.
• This type of leadership benefits and encourages all the staff.

The transformational leadership emphasizes on the leaders ability to motivate subordinate staff to achieve the companys goal.

The success of transformational leadership is dependent on the interrelationship between the manager and the followers. It involves intellectual inspiration and development, and subordinates motivation towards professional growth (Galleta et al., 2015). The objectives and visions are either coproduced or members of team may work autonomously to make a decision.

The Role of Organization in Leadership

• Organization culture may promote transformational leadership.
• The mission, goals, values statement, and visions provide a framework, which establishes a culture to guide the leaders in management.
• This type of leadership style enables employees to become motivated and engaged. It also boosts their confidence.
• Training increases the number of highly skilled employees.

Organization culture reflects the tradition and norms of a company, it has significant impacts on growth and development of employees in their careers (Silva et al. 2017).

A firm that gives employees a chance to participate in decision making process promotes transformational type of leadership.

Institutions with leadership program for all employees have a sufficient pool of high performers and potential leaders because the required skills are honed during trainings.

Empirical Research

• According to Wong (2015), transformational leadership in nursing lowers the rate of patients mortality.
• Transactional leadership increases patients satisfaction (Northouse, 2018).
• Nursing leadership impacts patient experience and outcomes, nurse retention, and satisfaction (Silva et al. 2017).
• According to Cowden and Cummings (2015), a high correlation between intent to stay (ITS) and transformational leadership exist.
• A study conducted by Hayward et al. (2016) showed that nurse turnover is influenced by poor leadership, and work environment.

Transformational leaders cultivate and promote values of safety and climate in the workplace, which encourages nurse retention and boosts job satisfaction rates. There is a significant correlation between transformational leadership and nurses intent to stay (Cowden and Cummings, 2015).

Nursing leadership Regulation

• National Health Service (NHS) organization regulates all forms of leadership (Royal College of nursing, 2015).
• It facilitates shared governance.
• It is also responsible for maintaining quality of health care, clinical governance, and creating an environment where excellence flourishes.
• The NHS promotes effective leadership.

The National Health Service (NHS) organizations facilitates growth of multi-professional care because it enables employees to work together as a team by regulating leadership. It also promotes shared governance and increases job satisfaction, motivation, staff contribution, and morale of nurses (Royal College of nursing, 2015).

The NHS and healthcare facilities in the UK provide a shared form of governance, which utilizes decentralized form of management. It is also responsible for maintenance of quality of health care, clinical governance, and creating an environment where excellence flourishes.

The NHS promotes effective leadership, which empowers all staff and enables them to be part of decision making processes.

Effective Nursing Leadership Tips

• The leader should also act as a mentor by being a role model to team members.
• Showing empathy by being respectful and less judgmental to all workers.
• Listening keenly (Clausen et al. 2017).
• Supporting staff by creating a good working environment and helping them to obtain new skills.
• Learn to inspire and encourage others.

A leader should learn to encourage and inspire others, especially fellow coworkers when dealing with burnout, absenteeism, and lowering tensions between individuals of the same team (Clausen et al. 2017). Role modelling enables staff to absorb important qualities effectively. The employees should express empathy and understanding to patients to provide excellent care. Listening keenly to workers by focusing on the person talking helps in building trust (Clausen et al. 2017).

Recommendations

• It is critical for an organization leaders to develop proactive workforce that reflects diversity and development of better health care.
• Effective leadership plays a significant role in improvements of healthcare delivery.
• In private hospitals ward nurses are encouraged to improve care outcomes by working as a team.
• Thus, applying transformational leadership should be adopted by all the managers in the hospital.

Transformational theory improves emotional intelligence of nurses by influencing key determinants of intent to stay. This style also has indirect positive impact on administrative commitment, job stress, and satisfaction. Thus, all staff in a private hospital ward are encouraged to adopt this type of leadership in their career.

References

• Bass, B. M. & Bass, R. (2009) The Bass handbook of leadership: theory, research, and managerial applications. Simon and Schuster.
• Clausen, C., Cummins, K. and Dionne, K. (2017) Educational interventions to enhance competencies for interprofessional collaboration among nurse and physician managers: an integrative review. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 31(6), pp. 685-695.
• Galleta, M. et al. (2015) The roles of unit leadership and nurse-physician collaboration on nursing turnover intention. Journal of Advanced Nursing; 69(8), pp. 1771-1784.
• Harrison, C. (2018) Leadership research and theory. In Leadership Theory and Research (pp. 15-32). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
• Hayward, D. et al. (2016) A qualitative study of experienced nurses voluntary turnover: learning from their perspectives. Journal of Clinical Nursing; 25(9), pp. 1336-1345.
• Northouse, P.G. (2018) Leadership: theory and practice. Sage publications.
• Royal College of nursing (2015) The Magnet Recognition Programmed: A discussion of its development, success and challenges for adoption in the UK. RCN Policy and International Department Discussion.
• Silva, V.L.D.S. et al. (2017) Leadership practices in hospital nursing: a self of manager nurses. Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP, 51.
• Wong, C. (2015) Connecting nursing leadership and patient outcomes: state of the science. Journal of Nursing Management, 23(3), pp. 275-278.
• Xu, J.H. (2017) Leadership theory in clinical practice. Chinese Nursing Research, 4(4), pp. 155-157.

The question of social justice in mental health institution supervision is addressed by researchers from the perspectives of existing causes of discrimination against individuals with mental illness history and the strategies for solving this problem. The readings analysis allows for identifying a significant difference between social justice practices implementation within mental health institutions and in society and communities. Although the implementation of social justice practices seems feasible in the health care setting, it is much more challenging to pursue social justice in communities.

While the concepts of leadership and supervision tend to be referenced within the clinical contend and primarily apply to the responsibilities of the professionals in mental institutions, the issues articulated in the article and chapters are more generalized and address the life of psychiatric survivors in society (Finkler, 2013, p. 221). Indeed, in chapter 16, Finkler (2013) refers to sanism as a discriminatory pattern that diminishes the dignity of the mentally ill. However, the author analyzes the perception of mental illness as a social identity and diagnosis, which predetermines prejudiced attitudes without indicating how these issues might be resolved.

Similarly, White and Pike (2013), in chapter 17, discuss the importance of encouraging mental health literacy among Canadian citizens as a way of eliminating discrimination. However, the increased attention to the problems of the mentally ill might become an intimidation factor for increased psychological distress when socializing. Within the same perspective of a psychiatric survivor, Wipond (2013), in chapter 18, analyzes how mad individuals identity is associated with deviance and crime. Although the author emphasizes the necessity of eliminating the under- and mi-representation of the mentally ill in media, the practical side of finding a solution is vague.

Indeed, the improvement of social justice realities associated with the life of psychiatric patients after treatment might be addressed from the perspective of community-based programs and interventions as introduced by Costa et al. (2012). However, the issues raised in the readings are social justice supervision. At the same time, the practices of shifting the perception from opposing us from them and improving mental health literacy might be effective methods of ensuring social justice in mental health institutions.

References

Costa, L., Voronka, J., Landry, D., Reid, J., McFarlane, B., Reville, D. & Church, K. (2012). Recovering our stories: A small act of resistance. Studies in Social Justice, 6(1), 85-101.

Finkler, L. C. (2013). They should not be allowed to do this to the homeless and mentally ill: Minimum separation distance bylaws reconsidered. In B. A. LeFrancois, R. Menzies, & G. Reaume (Eds.) Mad matters: A critical reader in Canadian mad studies (pp. 221-239). Toronto, Ontario: Canadian Scholars Press.

White, K., & Pike, R. (2013). The making and marketing of mental health literacy in Canada. In B. A. LeFrancois, R. Menzies, & G. Reaume (Eds.) Mad matters: A critical reader in Canadian mad studies (pp. 239-253). Toronto, Ontario: Canadian Scholars Press.

Wipond, R. (2013). Pitching mad: News media and the psychiatric survivor perspective. In B. A. LeFrancois, R. Menzies, & G. Reaume (Eds.) Mad matters: A critical reader in Canadian mad studies (pp. 253-265). Toronto, Ontario: Canadian Scholars Press.

Introduction

• Bacteria enters bladder during catheter placement;
• From external environment surrounding its external part;
• Careful aseptic care is essential (Cortese, Wagner, Tierney, Devine, & Fogarty, 2018);
• Likelihood of developing bacteriuria still remains;
• The risk increases with every day the catheter is present;
• All specialists should be actively involved in patient care.

It should be noted that during catheter placement, bacteria can enter a patients bladder quite easily. In addition, it can enter the body from external environment surrounding a catheters external part. Even with thorough aseptic care, the risk of developing bacteriuria is quite high (Cortese et al., 2018). With every day during which the catheter is present in the body, this risk of developing an infection is increasing. Healthcare specialists should be actively involved in measures to prevent urinary infections and health complications in their patients.

Assessment and Rationales

• National Patient Safety Goals 2019;
  • NPSG.07.06.01: Use proven guidelines to prevent infections of the urinary tract that are caused by catheters (The Joint Commission Accreditation Hospital, 2019, para. 5);
• The problem is catheter-associated infections;
• Catheters are used for incontinence;
• Bags not drained frequently enough;
• Catheters not sterile when inserted.

A problem identified is associated with the NPSG.07.06.01 goal on catheter-associated infections of the urinary tract (The Joint Commission Accreditation Hospital, 2019). The first reason why the problem exists is the need to put a catheter for patients experiencing incontinence. The second problem is the fact that bags are not drained regularly enough resulting in a situation that they do not have enough empty room. The third rationale is the fact that catheters may not be clean during insertion.

People Involved

• Doctors
  • Recommending catheters when their use can be avoided;
  • Not identifying specifically the number of catheters in place;
  • Not warning nurse managers on infection prevention;
• Nursing personnel
  • Not keeping track of catheters in place;
  • Not sanitizing hands properly before inserting (Cortese et al., 2018);
  • Negligence to disinfect catheters during every shift.

(Cortese et al., 2018)

Doctors is the first group involved in the issue since they may instruct nurses to use catheters for patients who may not need those. Also, they may not specify the number of patients having catheters in place. Moreover, doctors do not warn nurse managers that they need to instruct nurses and nurse assistants on effective infection prevention (Cortese et al., 2018). The second group is nursing personnel who do not track patients with catheters and may neglect to sanitize their hands and catheters properly.

Solutions

• First solution  sanitizing hands before and after procedure;
• Second solution  emptying urinary bag more often;
• Third solution  tracking the number of days a catheter has been in patients body;
• The purpose of all solutions is to ensure adequate sanitizing;
• No additional costs associated with solutions (Ahmad, Abbas Anjum, Khan, & Naeem, 2018);
• Desired outcome for all three  lowered risk of urinary infection.

The first solution implies doctors and nursing personnel will keep their hands clean before and after inserting catheters. The second solution requires nurses to empty the urinary bags more often to ensure there is enough empty room. The third solution is recording the number of days a catheter has been in a patients body (Ahmad et al., 2018). All the solutions are preventive in character and require no additional costs.

Chosen Solution and Explanation

• The chosen solution is tracking the number of days a catheter has been in a patients body;
• It encompasses such measures as hand and catheter sanitizing (Cortese et al., 2018);
• Therefore, it is more comprehensive;
• Will allow understanding the number of patients with catheters;
• Increase doctor and nurse awareness;
• Eliminate the possibility of negligence.

The solution to be shared with the director is tracking the number of days a catheter has been in a patients body. It implies that when the nurse notices the maximum time is approaching, they will essentially employ sanitation measures as well (Cortese et al., 2018). Also, if the number of days is tracked, this will allow tracking additionally the number of patients with a catheter in place. If days are tracked systematically, the possibility of negligence will be minimized.

Action Plan

• Action plan includes several steps;
• Informing the director about the benefits of the solution;
• Instructing staff on the essential aspects;
• A sign with insertion date is placed outside (Ahmad et al., 2018);
• Current date is indicated as well;
• Nurses keep track of time adequate for keeping catheter;
• Nurses check clients who need to urinate.

The action plan for sharing the solution is carried out in several steps. Firstly, the director is informed of the possible patient outcomes if the solution is implemented. Secondly, the staff is educated on the revised method of handling patients. Thirdly, nurses start using a sign with insertion and current dates (Ahmad et al., 2018). They keep track of time for each patient individually and check with clients who need to urinate to provide timely care to them.

Summary

• The issue of catheter-associated infections is still relevant;
• To resolve it, nurses should be involved in patient care (Cortese et al., 2018);
• They should keep track of number of days a catheter is in place;
• Main patient outcome will be infection prevention;
• Quality improvement is essential for minimizing hospital costs due to effective prevention;
• Quality of patients lives will also be improved.

Thus, the issue of catheter-associated infections remains relevant to nursing practice. To resolve it, nursing personnel should be involved in patient care actively (Cortese et al., 2018). Specialists should keep track of time a catheter has been in a patients body. This will allow preventing infections emergence while minimizing hospital expenditures in the long-term. Moreover, the quality of patients lives will be improved due to effective healthcare and prevention.

(Cortese et al., 2018)

Reflection and Concluding Points

• Learned about catheter care and its importance;
• Learned about new preventive strategies;
• Understood the significance of doctor-nurse collaboration (Cortese et al., 2018);
• This presentation will educate other people on how infections can be prevented;
• Catheter-associated infections pose a serious threat to patients health;
• Effective prevention will allow for avoiding health complications.

This learning experience has been insightful due to the fact that it revealed a new perspective on preventive strategies in terms of catheter-associated infections. Doctors should collaborate with nurses actively to ensure urinary tract infections do not occur (Cortese et al., 2018). The value of this presentation lies in the fact that it will educate other people on ways to prevent such infections. In the long-term, effective prevention is the key to better patient outcomes and avoidance of serious health complications.

References

Ahmad, H., Abbas Anjum, H. M., Khan, M., & Naeem, A. (2018). Comparison of noble metal alloy coated urinary catheters with non coated catheters in reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections. Isra Medical Journal,10(3), 134-137. Web.

Cortese, Y. J., Wagner, V. E., Tierney, M., Devine, D., & Fogarty, A. (2018). Review of catheter-associated urinary tract infections and in vitro urinary tract models. Journal of Healthcare Engineering,2018, 1-16. Web.

The Joint Commission Accreditation Hospital. (2019). Hospital national patient safety goals.

There are multiple leadership styles in nursing; however, it is possible to define several commonly applied styles  transformational leadership, autocratic leadership, laissez-faire leadership, and servant leadership. Transformational leadership is a specific type of relation-oriented nursing leadership that focuses on employees motivation to perform beyond expectations (Poels et al., 2020). It is highly efficient as associated with higher job satisfaction, increased staff-wellbeing, decreased burn-out rates, and workers retention. Divided into groups, employees may take responsibility and solve problems more efficiently in a time-sensitive manner. However, transformational leadership is inefficient in new organizations without a well-developed structure.

Autocratic leadership is characterized by a leaders decision-making, excessive control, and intolerance for mistakes. Although this type of leadership does not promote communication between a leader and followers, transparency, collaboration, and a comfortable working atmosphere, it is efficient when quick and competent decision-making is necessary (Durmu_ & K1rca, 2019). In contrast with the autocratic type, laissez-faire leadership is frequently applied by inexperienced leaders who provide a team with autonomy and decision-making without any feedback concerning outcomes. In general, the advantages and disadvantages of this style depend on team members competencies and experience. Thus, a highly experienced team prefers to operate without control, while a team that needs supervision can make many mistakes working autonomously. Finally, servant leadership presupposes a leaders care concerning team members needs. It is efficient in diverse multidisciplinary teams; however, a poor-performing team may suffer from long-lasting preparations, especially when quick actions are required.

In addition, there is a difference between leading, managing, and following, predominantly in these concepts functions. Thus, leading refers to motivation, inspiring others, taking responsibilities, and serving as a role model. In turn, managing implies administration and control over working processes for goal achievement. Following means the commitment to specific instructions and work under control. In general, all three concepts are not role-bound  nurses may lead, manage, and follow simultaneously regardless of their roles.

References

Durmu_, S., & K1rca, K. (2019). Leadership styles in nursing. IntechOpen Book Series.

Poels, J., Verschueren, M., Milisen, K., & Vlaeyen, E. (2020). Leadership styles and leadership outcomes in nursing homes: a cross-sectional analysis.BMC Health Services Research, 20(1009), 1-10.

Effective leadership in the healthcare setting is represented by many factors. Proper management strategies increase the quality of patient care, in particular by elevating the level of engagement and competence of medical staff. The most effective practices include personal integrity, communication, and critical thinking (Hargett et al., 2017). Thus, the leader needs to act honestly and openly to build the trust of staff and patients. It is also important to be able to communicate with the team, provide clear instructions and feedback, as well as articulate challenging aspects. Finally, it is crucial to think critically in order to evaluate and solve emerging problems. These aspects will undoubtedly provide favorable outcomes, as they help to make communication more effective, which improves the quality of care. They also ensure that relevant information is used in patient care.

Practices require the use of credible data as a leader needs to be professional in order to build credibility and make decisions, which implies extensive knowledge. The types of data which need to be used include internally developed data, best practice, stakeholders/clients expectations, instances of external practice, expert opinions, quantitative research, and qualitative research (Janati et al., 2018, p 310). To increase employees morale, leaders can consider employees values and concerns, personal productivity results, related patient outcomes, and opportunities for skills and knowledge development. For example, Lisa Spruce (2020) lists practices aimed at increasing employee motivation, including integrity, attention to the needs of employees, and the creation of a caring atmosphere. Using these techniques requires evidence, as the leader must judge the current state of the team from the available data.

The main focus of evidence-based management is effective decision making, which can determine patient outcomes. An example from personal experience can be used to illustrate this statement. The hospital in my neighborhood was experiencing a shortage of medical staff, which led to a decrease in the quality of patient care and the need to increase the productivity of staff. Thus, the manager decided to increase the burden on the existing workers, which aggravated the problem. The leader should have used data related to the values and concerns of the staff to motivate them properly. Opportunities for teamwork and improved communication should also have been considered. Outcomes might be more positive by improving overall engagement and productivity through teamwork and the personal motivation of healthcare workers.

References

Hargett, C. W., Doty, J. P., Hauck, J. N., Webb, A., Cook, S. H., Tsipis, N. E., Neumann, J. A., Andolsek, K. M., & Taylor, D. C. (2017). Developing a model for effective leadership in healthcare: a concept mapping approach. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 9, 69-78. Web.

Janati, A., Hasanpoor, E., Hajebrahimi, S., Sadeghi-Bazargani, H., & Khezri, A. (2018). An evidence-based framework for evidence-based management in healthcare organizations: A Delphi study. Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences, 28(3), 305-314. Web.

Spruce, L. (2020). Tips for avoiding burnout and improving morale. AORN. Web.

Leaders play significant roles in any team, but while some leaders are formally designated, others have innate leadership qualities. While not taking an official position to oversee, certain individuals, who may be called ILs (informal leaders), act in ways that make people wish to follow such persons. First, ILs can be characterized as active listeners willing to stand up and speak out for the benefit of a group (Heard et al., 2018). Second, ILs are approachable and ready to answer questions, as they exhibit professional competence and accountability (Heard et al., 2018). Third, ILs take the initiative and facilitate performance by creating a safe, comfortable environment for others (Heard et al., 2018). While informal leaders may not have the authority to manage, they have characteristics that inspire trust and encourage productivity.

The strategy I will use to persuade others to make changes they may resist will be based on learning their perspectives and identifying relevant justifications for modifications. I will endeavor to discover the reasons behind the unwillingness to accept shifts by showing a readiness to listen to peoples worries (Heard et al., 2018). I will strive to be nonjudgmental and clarify questions that may arise (Heard et al., 2018). For instance, if a resistant behavior would be due to being wary about the consequences of a change, I would explain the necessity for the modification and describe how it may affect each involved person.

Colleague support is important to work in healthcare because the process of treating patients depends on multiple specialists. Providing care is based on the teamwork of professionals from different medical disciplines who work together to ensure sufficient patient outcomes (Lavelle et al., 2020). If coworkers do not help each other, withhold information, or have conflicts, patients do not receive comprehensive treatment. Therefore, healthcare professionals must reinforce one another for the benefit of patients.

References

Heard, C. P., Scott, J., McGinn, T., Van Der Kamp, E., & Yahia, A. (2018). Informal leadership in the clinical setting: Occupational therapist perspectives. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 6(2), 1-13. Web.

Lavelle, M., Reedy, G. B., Cross, S., Jaye, P., Simpson, T., & Anderson, J. E. (2020). An evidence-based framework for the temporal observational analysis of teamwork in healthcare settings.Applied Ergonomics, 82, 1-10. Web.

Introduction

Authentic leadership became a mainstream topic after Bill Georges published his work Authentic Leadership back in 2003. Despite this considerable existence authentic leadership is still in development as a style of leadership. Scholars are only starting to find common ground. As such, there are still a number of different opinions on what authentic leadership really means. A widely accepted definition of authentic leadership touts it as a style of leadership in which the leader is their true self while making room for others too. Ethics and common sense are also part of this style of leadership. Authentic leadership is especially important in healthcare because of the high stakes involved. This discussion synthesizes literature about authentic leadership with a focus this sector. The discussion features research into this style of leadership, its benefits, and its relationship with various outcomes.

Synthesis of the Evidence

The healthcare sector is defined by different styles of leadership. Harris and Mayo (2018) assessed and critiqued the existing styles, citing the importance of good leadership on the outcomes of patients and staff. The team used a case study to evaluate different leadership styles as they were exercised by a charge nurse and student nurse in a clinical scenario. The researchers evaluated engaging leadership, authentic leadership and transformational leadership and determined that the best leadership style is one that has ethical integrity, encourages excellence, enhances patient-centered care, and encourages innovation. While all models contributed some elements that contributed to this form of leadership, all fell under the umbrella of authentic leadership. With, that this mode of leadership is harder to implement because it is abstract. Raso (2019) explored authentic leadership including its impact and what makes an authentic leader. The author states that an authentic leader has some key characteristics including integrity, trust and honesty. The researcher adds that authentic leadership is a relational leadership style rooted in positive psychology and that this style of leadership is one of the most-applicable and needed styles in todays complex healthcare settings.

Saxe-Braithwaite and Gautreau (2020) define authentic leadership as a pattern of leadership behaviors imbued with self-awareness, balanced processing of information, internalized moral perspective, and relational transparency. The researchers also researched this style in senior leaders of healthcare organizations and looked to see how they perceived it. The team determined that healthcare leaders rated themselves more highly than their objective results in terms of employee reports indicated. With that, after a 24-hour course on authentic leadership, these leaders saw it as a definite way of transforming the workplace environment. Couris (2020) looks at the most important characteristic of authentic leadership that will help healthcare leaders navigate the health crisis wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The author cites authenticity and vulnerability as elements at the core of human connection. With that, vulnerability enhances the connection further as it involves exposing fears and weaknesses, elements all human can relate with. Thus, this article identifies vulnerability as the most important elements of authentic leadership in navigating a health crisis.

Researchers have also explored how healthcare settings are affected by authentic leadership. Alilyyani et al. (2018) looked into the antecedents and results of authentic leadership in healthcare and how this style of leadership affects the outcomes of both healthcare staff and patients. The team conducted a systematic review of quantitative research featuring articles from different databases and that looked into the roots, mediators, and outcomes of this style of leadership. After assessing and analyzing the research, the team determined that authentic leadership was directly associated with patient outcomes and the performance, health and well-being, job satisfaction, work environment, and psychological state of healthcare staff. Malila et al. (2017) conducted similar research in their review of studies on authentic leadership in healthcare settings. The researches define authentic leadership as a transparent, ethical, and non-authoritarian behavior pattern. The team conducted a thematic analysis together with their review of research articles in different academic databases. The findings showed that authentic leadership is directly associated with the conditions of the work environment, the quality of care patients receive, staff well-being at work, and the promotion of this style of leadership.

Psychological factors are crucial in the development and attainment of leadership skills. To this end, Jaworski et al. (2022) looked into the role of perfectionism as a mediator between self-efficacy and the development of authentic leadership skills by nursing students. The team conducted a cross-sectional study involving 615 participants and found a positive relationship between the level of perfectionism and the level of authentic leadership. The team also found the relationship persisted without a mediating factor. Thus personality traits play an important role in developing the authentic leadership skills of nursing students. These findings can be reasonably generalized to other healthcare professionals. Johnson (2019) explored authentic leadership theory and looked into its philosophic foundations in a nuclear medicine context. The researcher also looked into the characteristics of an authentic leader. The study yielded the results that authentic leadership is rooted in humanism and can be used with other styles of leadership. In addition, the researcher reports a positive relationship between authentic leadership and improved knowledge sharing, collaboration, motivation, job satisfaction, and patient care. This study speaks to the applicability of authentic leadership in various fields of health care.

Patient outcomes are some of the most important results in healthcare. Washburn (2017) looked into patient satisfaction in the context of nurse engagement and an authentic style of leadership. The team sampled 369 acute care registered nurses and took the four constructs of authentic leadership theory (internalized moral perspective, relational transparency, balanced information processing, and self-awareness) as the independent variables. The team also took nurse engagement as the independent variable. Using multiple linear regression analysis, the researchers determined that authentic leadership led to higher nurse engagement, which translated to improved patient outcomes. The retention of skilled and talented employees is key to the performance of healthcare institutions. These institutions understand that employee development plays an important role in retaining these employees by means of promotion. Perez (2021) looked into the leadership styles that can be adopted by employees transitioning into leadership roles and determined that authentic leadership styles were associated with higher retention rates and job satisfaction and commitment. Thus, training employees on authentic leadership is associated with higher rates of retention and other desirable outcomes.

Conclusion

Authentic leadership is a new theory that is still under development as shown by the difference in the opinions of most researchers. This discussion has presented a synthesis of the common grounds scholars on this topic have. Most scholars agree that authentic leadership as a pattern of leadership behaviors imbued with self-awareness balanced processing of information, internalized moral perspective, and relational transparency. Scholars also agree that this style of leadership avails many benefits to healthcare settings including better quality of patient care, increased staff job satisfaction, collaboration, motivation, engagement, and psychological state.

References

Alilyyani, B., Wong, C. A., & Cummings, G. (2018). Antecedents, mediators, and outcomes of authentic leadership in healthcare: A systematic review. International journal of nursing studies, 83, 34-64.

Couris, J. D. (2020). Vulnerability: The secret to authentic leadership through the pandemic. Journal of Healthcare Management, 65(4), 248-251.

Harris, J., & Mayo, P. (2018). Taking a case study approach to assessing alternative leadership models in health care. British Journal of Nursing, 27(11), 608-613.

Jaworski, M., Panczyk, M., LeDczuk-Gruba, A., Nowacka, A., & Gotlib, J. (2022). The Trend of Authentic Leadership Skills in Nursing Education: The Key Role of Perfectionism and Self-Efficacy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(4), 1989.

Johnson, S. L. (2019). Authentic leadership theory and practical applications in nuclear medicine. Journal of nuclear medicine technology, 47(3), 181-188.

Malila, N., Lunkka, N., & Suhonen, M. (2017). Authentic leadership in healthcare: a scoping review. Leadership in Health Services.

Perez, J. (2021). Leadership in healthcare: transitioning from clinical professional to healthcare leader. Journal of Healthcare Management, 66(4), 280-302.

Raso, R. (2019). Be you! Authentic leadership. Nursing Management, 50(5), 18-25.

Saxe-Braithwaite, M., & Gautreau, S. (2020, May). Authentic leadership in healthcare organizations: a study of 14 chief executive officers and 70 direct reports. In Healthcare Management Forum (Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 140-144). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.

Washburn, K. D. (2017). Effects of Authentic Leadership Style and Nurse Engagement on Patient Satisfaction (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).

Leadership is increasingly generally regarded as a critical component of comprehensive, successful healthcare. The nurse manager is a vital component since caregivers are now the single most prominent healthcare profession. A mindset of effective governance in healthcare has been related to enhanced clinical outcomes, higher work satisfaction, and decreased staff turnover levels. This reflective writing carefully examines the notion of healthcare leadership, the appropriate governance approach, and the most excellent significant abilities required to be practical nurses. Furthermore, the essay analyzes my current leadership abilities and how these had evolved while operating at a clinic.

Efficient and consistent nursing leadership foundations are respect, tolerance, and equality. These traits are common among healthcare firms that excel at displaying sound business operations and maintaining a balanced and happy working atmosphere. Since administrative variables and people elements impact all nursing and medical environments, leadership is vital in the nursing industry. Nursing leaderships objective and significant purpose is to build healthy and positive connections among all professional nurses and medical personnel, resulting in a favorable work setting.

During my contract at a clinic where I worked as a chief nurse, the institution grew from four units to eleven. The clinic was underperforming because it lacked a professional webpage or any form of internet footprint. With 70 percent of people utilizing the internet for medical knowledge and 60 percent using online evaluations to discover new providers, having a robust online platform is essential (Wijesooriya et al., 2020). The nursing team and I concentrated on establishing an internet presence, which helped boost the number of units. We listed the clinic in internet directories, set up an account on the leading reviewing websites, and set up a social media presence for it. Every one of these efforts assisted the clinic to appear in search results, and present patients were pleased that it was now available online.

The growth and increase of the clinics units improved the infrastructure. Infrastructure enables the general populace healthcare workers to react to persistent medical issues like chronic illness and plan for and manage critical health hazards like catastrophic events and infectious diseases. Disease epidemics can prove much more devastating if there is no solid preventive health system. The improved equipment enabled the clinic to handle two COVID-19 cases in the previous 18 months effectively. This was a significant contribution and sign of progress to the clinics prosperity and helped the staff gain additional skills to deal with serious illnesses. The extra information learned from handling the coronavirus crisis was shared with the local community to help prevent the spread of the pandemic.

During my time at the clinic, we solved numerous challenges and increased the establishments units. However, it was time for me to leave the clinic since my contract as the chief nurse had ended. Due to the positive changes made during my stay at the premises, the management decided to reelect me again because they were impressed with my leadership skills. My leadership style was transformational and involved consensus-seeking, consultative and collaborative approaches in the daily operations. Nurses feel engaged in the clinic attributable due to transformational leadership. I would delegate particular duties to every nurse in line with the expansion of units and encourage them to perform excellently. Transformational leaders inspire personnel through enhancing self-efficacy, promoting collective psychological connection, and aligning company ideals to staff objectives.

References

Wijesooriya, N. R., Mishra, V., Brand, P. L. P., & Rubin, B. K. (2020). COVID-19 and telehealth, education, and research adaptations.Paediatric Respiratory Reviews, 35(2), 38-42. Web.

Nursing leadership is the most important factor in day-to-day medical care. A nursing leader within a healthcare organization is necessary to inspire and motivate nurses to heal and comfort people in need (Stanley, D. & Stanley, K., 2018). To me, leadership means respect and loyalty to my job, my clients, and co-workers. Being responsible for patient care and safety should be the leaders top priority. However, a nursing leader should never forget the importance of teamwork and communication. As such, bearing the weight of leadership, a nurse must work diligently to provide care and support other nurses.

Being a successful nursing leader primarily requires agility and adaptability. At the time of new technologies and challenges, the leader must be able to learn new skills. Unpredictable changes within different situations would be impossible to overcome without the ability to adjust. Flexibility and thinking ahead help a nursing leader prepare for any possible difficulties and opportunities. Whether it is a severe injury or force majeure at the workplace, nursing leadership must be ready to act and assist the team.

Such a leader should always strive to excel and serve as a role model to others. Knowledgeable and experienced team leader cares not only for patients but also for other nurses. Being understanding is necessary, yet a leader needs to be able to empower and inspire the team as well. Through this work, nursing leaders have the potential to change the future of the healthcare for the better. Influencing the medical field can be done through both initiatives and the transformations within the team. My ultimate goal as a nursing leader is to improve the quality of care and the lives of those I lead.

Reference

Stanley, D., & Stanley, K. (2018). Clinical leadership and nursing explored: A literature search. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 27(9-10), 1730-1743.