Leadership to Improve Quality in Diverse Situations (3)
“The constant change in health care delivery mandates a need for strong leaders in healthcare organizations who are able to effectively create organizational goals and then motivate and inspire others within the organization to work toward achieving those goals” (Balderrama, Schub, 2017, p. 1). There are so many variables in healthcare that we have to endure. Through these changes it is important for the maintenance of the team to have a static element. We need to be able to rely on one another and lead one another to the best decisions. Leadership does not only come from our managers or our administration. All nurses have the potential to be a leader in their work place. If you have the opportunity to be a leader, you have the potential to inspire all others around you.
According to Hood, “leadership can be transactional (relationships based on the exchange of effort or something valued by followers) or transformational (empowering others to create and work toward achieving anything that is possible)” (2018, p. 448). I envision leadership as empowering those around me to make the best possible decisions for themselves in order to achieve the best possible patient outcomes. Over 50% of the intensive care unit where I work is made up with novice nurses. It is important that novice nurses feel empowered to do their best work every day. Often times, in the nursing culture, there is a potential for newer nurses to be intimidated by senior nurses. This intimidation leads to a breakdown in communication, mistrust in the workplace and ultimately, patient care suffers. We need to build one another up and help each other realize our greatest potentials, strengths and weaknesses in order to provide the best patient centered care.
I am a part of the welcoming committee on my unit. We are interested in learning more about our new nurses, likes and dislikes, goals and where they feel their downfalls are. We encourage everyone to take certain leadership roles especially novice nurses. Encouraging one another to push themselves and realize their greatest potentials is what leadership truly encompasses. “The Nurse of the Future will influence the behavior of individuals or groups of individuals within their environment in a way that will facilitate the establishment and acquisition/achievement of shared goals” (Nurse of the Future Competency Committee, 2016, p. 18). As nurses it is our duty to provide the best possible care to our patients. We need to cultivate leadership in everything we do. It affects not only our team members but also our patients. The leadership we provide in our work will allow us to inspire, empower and work toward common goals in providing the best possible patient care.
References:
