Running head: NURSING LEADERS AND MANAGERS

Nursing Leaders and Managers in Unison

Vivarian Malcolm, Nursing Student
University of South Florida
April 6, 2016

NURSING LEADERS AND MANAGERS

Nursing Leaders and Managers in Unison

Dwight Eisenhower once said that leadership is an art of getting someone else to do
something you want done because they now have the desire to do it. Leadership is about
mapping out where you need to go to "win" as a team or an organization; and it is dynamic,
exciting, and inspiring. There must also be management skills present to guide their people to the
right destination, in a smooth and efficient way. This paper will compare and contrast the
similarities and difference between the leaders observed and how those differences were evident
on the floors they managed through their leadership style and collaboration with others.
During my leadership experiences Mrs. D, a Nurse Manager of the Burn Unit and Mr. M,
an Assistant Manager of the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) were
observed. Leadership and management are often used interchangeably, but there are stark
differences. Mrs. D has been a manager and leader since 1983. The nurse managers
responsibilities align with the duties described by Yoder- Wise to include providing support to
staff and direct/indirect care to patients; for the programmatic, operational, and financial
management of the unit; hiring, assigning work to and evaluating work performance of
employees supervised (2015).
As a bedside nurse, Mr. M embodied integrity, self- awareness of his weaknesses and
strengths and that of others, and a higher level of maturity that enabled him to accept
constructive criticism and seek opportunities for improvement in himself and for the floor. Mr. M
exemplifies Porter-O'Grady, T., & Malloch, K. when he voiced that as a leader he was
responsible for staff buy- in of the facilitys values and the floors vision; building employees by
motivation, empowerment, and allowing them to grow; scheduling of adequate and safe staffing;

NURSING LEADERS AND MANAGERS

for maintaining availability and workability of the floor's equipment and addressing interpersonal
issues with staff and patients and their families (2016).
Within the roles of a leader and manager there are stark differences. Professor Warren G
Bennis describes a leader and manager perfectly when he stated that leaders are people who do
the right thing; managers are people who do things right. Mr. M mirrored this when he stated that
as a leader he handled the duties that the manager could not. He ensured that the floor ran
efficiently by taking initiative, he coached and counselled, and took ownership of the floor. He is
an effective leader because he provides guidance and is sought out by staff members for advice
and to collaborate with. As a manager, Mrs. D supervises and makes the final decisions on
staffing, she sets the tone for the direction her unit is headed, handles conflict resolution,
delegated duties to her assigned leader, and ultimately makes the final decisions for her
subordinates. Overall, Mrs. D and Mr. M had the authority and control, support, buy-in, hearts
and ears of their units to do their job to the utmost.
Hamstra, et al describes transactional leadership as setting up and enforcing laws and
following up on the consequences of upholding or breaking these laws. Employees of
transactional leaders are also observed diligently for inaccuracies. A transformational leader
stimulates workers to embody the beliefs of the organization, and cultivates positive changes in
them so as to develop valuable leaders (2014). Mr. M displayed a mixture of leadership styles. I
observed him being authoritative with staff to ensure patient satisfaction and unit guidelines were
upheld, yet he was also transformational in his approach to fellow nurses. However, during his
staffing meetings he was transactional in what the unmet needs of the floor were. Overall, he was
a transformational leader who believes in sharing knowledge to empower others and encourage a
positive attitude and work environment.

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Mrs. L profoundly stated that competence isnt her priority as a leader and manager,
however, someone who is able to connect to patients, kind, and is a team worker is. She states
that competence can be taught but personality is innate. It is evident that Mrs. L is a
transformational leader who can be transactional when necessary. She exudes the epitome of
having a bigger vision and setting the tone for that.
Mrs. D and Mr. M collaborated with the nursing supervisors, other clinicians, managers
of other floors, and their patients throughout the day. By collaborating, ideas where exchanged
and the pool of solutions multiplied thus inspiring others. As a leader and manager, Mrs. D and
Mr. M are in charge of making decisions that impact everyone. By being a member of an
interdisciplinary team Mrs. D and Mr. M were able to digest the perspectives of others so as to
make well-rounded decisions. Without this daily collaboration and immense teamwork there
would be unnecessary chaos on these units and unsafe patient measures and
outcomes. Collaboration is a must in healthcare (Porter- OGrady et al., 2016).
The professional nurse does not have to be higher level clinician to be a leader. Being
honest, accountable, responsible, proactive, teachable, and sharing expertise will make a nurse
embody leadership. On all of my leadership experiences, there was a culture of learning,
sharing, openness, and respect. Collaboration was also fundamental on these observations. As a
new graduate nurse with experience as a patient care technician, I have seen where going the
extra mile, holding others and myself accountable can be beneficial and life-saving. I have
floated on various units and the ones that I would like to be a member of had strong yet
caring management and leaders. I would add to this positive culture by maintaining my ability to
hold myself and others responsible for all patients, being teachable, and showing initiative in
increasing knowledge and sharing it.

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References:
Hamstra, M. W., Van Yperen, N. W., Wisse, B., & Sassenberg, K. (2014). On the perceived
effectiveness of transformational-transactional leadership: The role of encouraged
strategies and followers' regulatory focus. European Journal of Social
Psychology, 44(6), 643-656 14p. doi:10.1002/ejsp.2027
Porter-O'Grady, T., & Malloch, K. (2016). Leadership in nursing practice: Changing the
landscape of health care (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Yoder-Wise, P. (2015). Leading and managing in nursing (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO:
Mosby/Elsevier.