Leadership and Management in Nursing Essay

Nursing is a very demanding and consecrate profession and the current deficit is a serious problem at every(prenominal) levels of comfort and is the dearth of loss leading among checks. leading and worry atomic number 18 essential skills for each qualified wellnessc be professionals and permit a pivotal role in ensuring a delivery of eminent standards of c ar. Developing coming(prenominal) keep attractors is one of the great ch aloneenges faced by the care for profession, (Mahoney, 2001).The germ is currently gaining as a midwife in one of the monumental hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The average deliveries per month are 500-600. There are 22 midwives in this social unit and in that respect are eight va foott posts for midwives . Due to the shortage of midwives, these professional provides are subjected to personal and trim related stress. Preston et, al. (1981) delimitate stress as an adaptive response, mediated by singular characteristics or psyc hological processes. The negative set up of stress could be evident in round absenteeism, hostility, and aggression.This entrust impair the preparedness of reference care and the trenchant execution of the organization. (Healy & vitamin A McKay, 1999). The adverse effect of serveload and stress in the ca drills attitude has lead to an alarming high cater turnover. Apparently, the adjoind workload has abnormal the module exploits and the quality of nursing care. When the rung feel that they are not cared for, and so they find it difficult to care for long-sufferings ( Atwater & group A Bass 1994, Lancaster 1999).In this assignment, the author lead seek the different leaders elbow rooms and their theories and also distinguish the functions between lead and management. The author exit also critic eithery explore the managers leaders work in labor and delivery suite, therefrom creating a culture of cut back stress. The relate of leadership vogue from the aspect of work, milieu, communication, empowerment, delegation, implications, completion and recommendations will be discussed further.Leaders are not nighone who holds give slip simply also able to institute assistance to others, (Mahoney, 2001). Whereas in my placement, the learning ability draw, who is the leader, never gives a helping hand during the deliveries. She anticipates the midwives to shoot and manage the deliveries, even though theres shortage of staff. The she-goat manager has to prepare the correct number of staff on each shift with the authentication to do the job and must be aware of the policies regarding overtime, floating from one unit to another.She must produce a adapted squad and manage them to carry divulge the plan for reaching the goal of hand any(prenominal) patient of care. Effective leaders are not merely someone who is upright exclusively they must acquire nifty attitudes, (Cook, 2001). The nurse manager must encounter the factor s surrounding the current situation in the unit and have the knowledge of various cominges to leadership that will help to comprehend and determine the best leadership approach to effect a substantiating work environment to reduce stress.Leadership is defined as the faculty to make up ones mind, inspire and make a motion a group of people towards the work of its goal, (Yuki, 2002). Management is a process of get things done in effect through prep and organization of service which is one of the radical function of management whereas the leader is an mediator between work group and the top management, (Marquis and Huston, 2006). The manager procedures a formal and keen method whilst the leader uses passions and stirs emotions.Without enabling and empowering nursing leadership, efforts to improve the quality and safety of health care will be limited and short-lived, as say by Kelly (2008). For a leader to achieve the goal, she must have the triad essential things which are power, authority and influence to act in a look that will stimulate a positive respond from the staff (Tomey, 2009). Leaders will emerge when nurses feel valued and divine to strive for excellence. They aim to improve patient care via a cohesive work force by foc apply on interpersonal relationships between leaders and subordinates, (Malby 1997).A nursing leader should have a distinctive set of personal qualities, integrity, courage, initiative, ability to handle stress, think critically, able to closure problems without conflicts, skillful communication and must be empathetic. They are not those who control others but they act as visionaries who help staff to plan, lead, control and organize their activities, (Jooste,2004). There are mevery types of leadership. Autocratic type of leaders are those who make all decisions and reward others to follow without questioning and never prove advice from others, (Sullivan & Decker 2005).This situation had made some of the midwiv es to leave for greener pastures. The current health body has advanced in technology and meliorate in care giving services (Cook, 2001). The author feels that this leadership style is no longer tenable and fits into the contemporary nursing practice and a consumer responsive culture. pop leaders encourage the participant of staff and use a consensus for decision making, (Sullivan & Decker 2005) whereas bureaucratic leadership occurs when a leader rigidly adheres to rules, regulations and policies of the organization, (Jenkins and Henderson, 1984).Instead of providing sufficient support and consideration, my nurse manager demonstrates these leadership qualities because she uses rules and policies thus expecting strict compliance from the midwives. . By side by side(p) the organizational hierarchys influence, she puts herself in a high position but never use her power constructively (Masquis & Huston, 2006). Due to top management instructions, she adheres to the current pol icies, making no castrates in them but gives verbal instruction and ever-changing policies to her likes and dislikes.This swifts away trust and dependent communication theory between the manager and the midwives. Due to unventilated stress and high expectations from the nurse manager, the midwives burnout level have been exacerbated . Burnout is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, reification and lack of personal accomplishment, as said by Maslach &Jackson (1981). Reports have proved that in this kind of environment, patients safety is at venture (Institute of Medicine, 2004). Participative leadership allows staff to participate in decision making and actively try out out the participation of those involved.This type of leadership allows staff to feel more(prenominal) attached to the goals they were involved (Faugier & Woolnough, 2002). The author feels that the head nurse should have these qualities so that the unit will run smoothly, and the staff will be appreciated and acknowledged so that favourable nursing care can be rendered. Transformational leadership is especially easy suited for to twenty-four hour periods immediate changing healthcare environment where readjustment is extremely important (Welford,2002). It starts with the development of a vision that will excite and transfer potential followers, (Outhwaite, 2003).To achieve organizational success, this style advocates for strong leadership qualities and these leaders use motivation in their approach than use rewards and punishment as said by Kouzes & Posner (2002). In the authors point of view, this leadership is proposed as empowering leadership style which well suits in my unit and to be recognized by the nurse manager. According to Bowles & Bowels (2002), transformational leaders create a leadership culture for all team members nurturing empowerment, increase their autonomy and open communication for inclusive decision making.The nurse manager takes responsibilities for discussing care related matters with the midwives which makes them to be motivated and work more effectively to contribute to the development and provision of the unit, (Murphy. 2005). The ability of the leader to articulate a shared out vision is an important aspect of transformational leadership (Faugier & Woolnough, 2002). Another leadership style is transactional leadership which focuses on providing day to day care between leaders and their employee.It aims to prohibit equilibrium and harmony by using incentives to enhance staff loyalty and transactance (Bass and Riggio, 2006). Laissez faire leadership is another style that leaves the staff alone to work with no directions or facilitations and is a highly risky form of leadership, (Sullivan & Decker 2005). Since the authors placement is labor and delivery, its not well(predicate) to have this kind of leader in this unit as it will increase the mortality rate.The high level of burnout and increase workload due to sho rtage of midwives and little rest days has resulted them to leave. This disequilibrium may trigger the risk of physical and mental health of these midwives. The manager has depleted the nurses basic psychological needs which are rest and stop and at the same time reducing their self- esteem, as said in Maslows theory of human motivation. The leader should explore barriers and identify conflicts when they arise and collaborate with the team and be able to understand the employees perspective (Outhwaite,2003).A more effective form of leadership maybe situational leadership where the leader switches the style depending upon the situation at hand and upon the competence of the staff, (Faugier & Woolnough, 2002). The nurse manager must be thoroughly clinician and have judgment skills to handle any problem that cannot be handled by the staff. By doing so, the staff will listen to her as she guides them. Communication also plays a vital role as this can prevent conflict and smoothe s the progress of team mental synthesis in the unit Calpin-Davies, (2000).A good communicator gives the staff detailed instructions to perform capers that are necessary to reach the goal. The nurse manager uses a communication hold to provide important information to all the staff in the unit, as back up by Sullivan & Decker (2005). By reading and acknowledging with a signature, she assures the message has been reached effectively. As a leader, the nurse manager has to be a good listener. It provides the opportunity to receive expensive feedback that is utilize to avert some problems and cut off others and also giving greater intellect of the issues being discussed.When there are incidences in the unit, the nurse manager gives a earreach ear to the staff and tries to solve the problems. She puts divagation preconceived ideas or prejudices when listening to staff. beingness a leader, the nurse manager delegates some of the tasks to the staff to focus on more complex as pects of running the unit. She delegates the right task to the right person, for example sending and assembling of narcotics by the midwife as these drugs used are cautioned in Saudi Arabia.A good leader fosters a congenial work environment by coaching, appraise and training the staff to perform an subtile job and also by conducting ceaseless nursing education. Supervision goes in the card of staff and to evaluate in the each year performance appraisal. The author would recommend that the nurse manager in this unit has to change her leadership style to She should resources for proper quality care Conclusion Today, healthcare environment requires leaders to be skillful and knowledgeable and have strong inspirational leadership qualities across the health care organization. In this millennium, nursing must make a dedicated effort to nurture its new nurses to grow into effective and motivating leaders.