Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Amy Angell
10/2/18
Nurse leaders do not need to hold the highest management position in the organization or
even be a charge nurse on a unit. A nurse leader can be anyone who seeks to advocate for their
patients, empowers patients to take part in their healthcare, who seeks to inspire other nurses and
educate their patients to promote healthy changes. These are informal leaders. I see myself as an
informal leader but a leader all the same one who can make a difference. Leaders are skilled in
empowering others, creating meaning and facilitating learning, developing knowledge, thinking
reflectively, communicating, solving problems, making decisions, and working with others.
Leaders generate excitement; they clearly define their purpose and mission (Finkelman, 2016). I
will attempt to define my role as a nurse leader, the leadership theory I relate to and how I plan
to develop that in my practice and further my leadership abilities. I also will review my
leadership style and how I plan to incorporate this into my leadership abilities and further
was considered the father of modern management. He felt that staff should participate in the
planning and establishment of goal and decision making. The theory was about promoting staff
involvement and seeking ideas from staff for changes. Leaders have a vision, empower others,
and create a learning environment that welcomes free thought in their sphere of influence. He
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believed staff leaders were not born but nurtured to gain greater leadership competency
staff developed by the feeling of mutual obligation support, encourage mutual trust devotion and
commitment. The front-line employees are the ones with the real power to transform an
organization, and leadership guides them. This something that has no always been embraced by
leadership but it today’s every changing field of healthcare it is necessary to give quality care to
Health care today faces many challenges. Relying on a few experienced leaders at the
top of the organization to make changes may have worked in the past; it does not today
(McGuire, & Kennerly, 2006). There is just too much data for a small group of individuals to
sort through in order to adjust and adapt their organization quickly enough to remain in best
practice (Cherry & Ghans, 2018). It takes many people from all areas of the organization to share
ideas and put into action needed changes. In, the article" Global Healthcare Leadership
Development trends", it discusses how to better think of management concerning "we" instead of
the old way of thinking concerning only "I."As, a leader it is not about just you managing people
but being a team player leading an inspiring other to acts and become better leaders themselves.
(Macphee, Chang, Lee, & Spiri, 2013). This brings me to not only looking at Drucker‘s theory of
leadership but defining a leadership style of being that transformational leadership. These leaders
can inspire and motivate nurses to perform beyond basic expectations and can create a sense of
team spirit across the nursing unit on all shifts (Papathanasio, Fradelos, Kleisiaris, Tsaras,
Kalota, & Kourkouta, 2014). Being a transformational leader encourages followers and
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commitment to a better working environment. It is a leadership style that can inspire positive
changes. Transformational leaders are not just concerned and involved in processes; they are also
focused on helping every member of the group succeed as well. (McGuire, & Kennerly,2006).
My role as a nurse leader has been an informal role. Incorporated into my daily practice
advocating for my patients inspiring them to take control of their health care and encouraging
other nurses. As a nurse leader, I have encouraged those patients I cared for to improve their
health status and educated them on making informed decisions. I have been an advocate for my
patient's care and the treatments needed. Communication is critical when being a leader. I have
to have the skills to communicate which is a two-way process that is used to convey a message
or ideas. It is essential to have clear communication between staff, leadership, and physicians.
This includes listening to others concerns and getting the whole picture to be able to make
leadership skills as a nurse with furthering my education. Taking part in leadership committees
and sharing my knowledge with another nurse through mentoring. As, I am completing my
bachelor's degree and hope to further my education and gain more leadership skills in my chosen
capacity as an educator, nurse practitioner, or continue in staff nursing I have to continue to seek
how to be that nursing leader. I have further gained leadership skill on how that can be achieved
by looking at how a transformational leader is positive and energetic is willing to encourage and
inspire others (Finkelman, 2016). Regardless of my job title, I can be a change agent to promote
effective process changes and advocate for my patients. The nursing profession is constantly
changing and is it my responsibility to keep up with the changes and be that leader. I hope to be
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able to make that difference in my patient's lives and encourage another nurse by being a nurse
leader. Leadership could be defined as the process of influencing the actions and behaviors of
individuals so they can involuntarily and spontaneously work together to achieve their goals
(Papathanasio, & et al, 2014). This can be in many ways not just as a formal manager or in an
upper management position. This is taking part in professional nurse counsels, mentoring new
nurses, following evidence-based practices to make the safety of our patients a priority. Peter
Drucker was quoted to say that” managers are people who do things the right way; leaders are
people who do the right things”, I want to be that leader who is making a difference every day in
the life of the patients I care for by applying the skills I have learned on communication and
References
Cherry, K., & Gans, S. (2018). How do transformational leaders inspire and motivate followers?
Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-transformational-leadership-
2795313?print
Finkelman, A. (2016). Leadership and Management for Nurses: Core competencies for
quality care (3rd Ed.). Pearson.
Macphee, M., Chang, L., Lee, D., & Spiri, W. (2013). Global health care leadership
development: Trends to consider. Journal of Healthcare Leadership,21-29.
doi:10.2147/jhl.s23010
McGuire, E., & Kennerly, S. (2006). Nurse managers as transformational and transactional
leaders. Nursing Economics, 24(4).
Papathanasiou, I. V., Fradelos, E. C., Kleisiaris, C. F., Tsaras, K., Kalota, M. A., & Kourkouta,
L. (2014). Motivation, leadership, empowerment and confidence: Their relation with
nurses’ burnout. Materia Socio-Medica, 26(6), 405–410.
http://doi.org/10.5455/msm.2014.26.405-410