Clinical Leadership Characteristics Qualities

Rationale for development of leadership capacity in aged care

Discuss about the Clinical Leadership Characteristics Qualities.

Leadership possess similarities in almost all industries although healthcare is marked by the complexities and wide range of purpose. Health leaders are in the attempts to bring improvements in the quality of life indictor and clinical practices. Quality of healthcare leadership has a direct impact on the quality of care and this achieved through a strong workforce of healthcare professionals. Leaders can successfully manipulate the satisfaction levelsof care workers, their trust in the heathcare setting management, lead to increased motivation and commitment, eventally giving rise to a team with suitable effectiveness (Kaynak, 2016). Leadership is a vital concern in aged care workforce as this group of professional face a number of challenges caring for the aged patients with diverse and ever-changing needs. Aged care workforce suffers from issues like staff performance, job satisfaction, care quality, productivity and staff commitment. Against this backdrop leadership might prove to be the best strategic tool for brining improvements in the scenario (Careau et al., 2014).

The present paper would relate to the development of leadership capacity to support and lead the aged care workforce in innovation and reform. The paper presents the rationale for the development of leadership capacity to support and lead the aged care workforce in innovation and reform being a strategic workforce issues. The next section of the paper highlights the objectives that are beneficial for solving the workforce issue of the development of leadership capacity for supporting and leading the aged care workforce. Evidence-based strategies addressing the issue of development of leadership capacity is presented thereafter. The last section of the paper throws light on the consideration of the change management issues that are to be addressed in order to implement each of the evidence-based strategies.

Rationale for the development of leadership capacity to support and lead the aged care workforce in innovation and reform being a strategic workforce issues

Jeon et al., (2015) have highlighted healthcare leadership to be an attitude that informs the behaviour of professionals in the context of healthcare delivery instead of merely a skill or a task. Leadership in healthcare is the action of leading the group of health care professionals in a desirable direction for achieving a set of goals. The majority of the issues related to aged care sector revolve around the scarcity of adequate leadership exhibited by the professionals. The underpinning impact is the inability to align with the vision and mission and the objectives of the organisation. Brownie and Nancarrow (2013) point out the leadership is often found lacking in the due course of practice of many care professionals in the aged care facility and the reasons may be individualistic as well as organisational. Stress levels, lack of knowledge, limited experience and lack of personal investment are the major issues that act as barriers to the development fo leadership. On an organisational level, workloads, improper workplace culture, the cost of education and training,  and limited sources are the challenges faced by professionals.

Goals for solving workforce issues

Grohar-Murray et al. (2016) throw light on the fact that most older individuals actively contribute to the health fabric of the society. However, increasing age is accompanied by increasing health issues, more precisely multi-morbidity and chronic diseases. Consequently there lies an increasing need of aged care services in healthcare settings. The expectations of the standards of services in the aged care sector are rising with each passing year, and there is a continuous demand for having provision of therapeutic care to be delivered by healthcare professionals. Nevertheless, the capability of the aged care services to deliver high quality of care is usually challenged as a result of a number of workforce issues. With the passage of time,  the issues have created an extensive change in the workforce profile of aged care. Policy makers in varied healthcare organisations have been putting a major emphasis on the quality of organisational leadership and individual leadership capabilities in care settings. Leadership, along with social and emotional intelligence would help in bringing innovation in the way services are delivered n the aged care facilities. In addition, it would be easier for the stakeholders to bring about major reforms in the workforce. It is assumed that leadership can solve the major issues faced by the strategic workforce in aged care sector (Barr & Dowding, 2015).

Goals or objectives for solving the workforce issue of the development of leadership capacity to support and lead the aged care workforce in innovation and reform

One might point out that leadership implemented in adequate extent in aged care facility has the ability to bring about drastic reforms in the way healthcare is delivered. The goal for solving the workforce issue of the development of leadership capacity for supporting and leading the aged care workforce in reform and innovation would be to ensure that all professionals have a shared vision within the context of the organisation and are able to manage successfully the changes brought about in order to have successful performances and meet the strategic needs of the facility. The objective of the development of leadership would be to have a certain management style that intersects with the four domains of relationship management and communication, social responsibility, suitable healthcare environment and business (Jackson et al., 2013).

The goal would be to maintain a consistency in the existing workforce dynamics while bringing improvements in the productivity and quality. The leadership style selected for implementation would be as per the specific project. The needs of the team and individuals would be taken into consideration. Aged care workers would need to carry out their tasks in an independent manner without support and power of the higher authorities. It is also desirable that they have a strong collaboration amongst themselves so as to enhance co-operation. Developing trust relationships would be beneficial, however, these are to be based on ethical principles. With strong leadership skills led acre workers would be better able to delegate tasks and responsibilities and better handle the challenges faced while caring for older patients with varied needs. Self-confidence, in adjunction with unassuming nature, would help in establishing a positive therapeutic relationship with the healthcare consumers. The ability of the workers to work across different units and functions would also be a part of the overall aim of developing leadership (Whitehead et al., 2015).

Evidence-based Strategies for leadership development

Evidence-based strategies that would address the issue of development of leadership capacity to support and lead the aged care workforce in innovation and reform being explored

A rich pool of literature has given insights into the methods by which leadership can be developed in the healthcare facilities. Healthcare professionals can move into the positions of healthcare leaders by application of a number of suitable strategies. The leadership deficiency that is widely been created in the aged care facility due to certain negative conditions can be filled up through coping up with the challenges in innovative ways. A set of guiding principles are to be followed in order to achieve maximal leadership potential and result in better care outcomes (Stanley, 2014). As opined by Jeon et al., (2015) leadership skills could be nurtured and adequately honed in a number of ways, and each of these approaches is to be included in the development plan for all the care workers of whom increased the level of leadership is expected. The taken approaches are to be tracked with the help of a talent management system that is well-deigned. It is the responsibility of the healthcare organisation to ensure that the initiation of leadership development is done in a suitable context, encompassing the muti-faceted social and psychological needs of the workforce.

The most important strategy that can be applied for addressing the issue of development of leadership capacity in the aged care workforce is to conduct webinars, conferences and seminars. These retreats would be successful in providing formal training to the workforce on varied topics and impart knowledge on the broader challenges faced by the aged care workforce. Outsourced training opportunities would prove to offer multiple benefits. Training needs to be on a wide array of topics covering employee motivation, conflict resolution, time management and strategic planning. The subject matter experts would deliver up-to-date perspectives and participants would have a greater understanding of concerns and issues faced in daily practices of aged care (West et al., 2015)

On-job leadership training would be another evidence-based strategy that looks beyond the current level of confidence of the care worker and facilitates learning. Four kinds of experiences may be valuable in this regard; implementation of needed change, new responsibilities, expanded responsibilities and diversity. This would provide a suitable opportunity for professional development of the care professionals. The challenges faced by professionals in the due course of practice would work as the powerful tool for learning how to exhibit leadership. This approach would lead to increased motivation, commitment, confidence, retention and lastly organisational citizenship behaviour. It is pivotal that specific competencies of the workers are identified in the first place. Competencies can be defined as the abilities and skills one possess. Leaders across the organisation are to be interviewed for identifying the key events that are to be handled on a priority basis. Using the confounding results, a matrix is to be created that would link abilities with desired outcomes (Delmatoff & Lazarus, 2015).

Gopee and Galloway (2013) in their article has emphasised on the effectiveness of mentoring in developing leadership. Mentoring acts as a key tool resorted to by many professionals across different healthcare settings whereby they achieve the desired level of accomplishment. Mentoring professionals in a formal or informal manner effectively assist workers to develop their communication skills and ability to build up relationships. The authors also discuss the importance of coaching in the context of leadership development. Coaching might be used primarily for aiding the growth of care professionals in whom the care settings might want to invest in. It is a one-to-one development of a leader. Coaching could form a confidential set of consultation between a professional and the coach whereby the focus would be on improvement of skills to lead other professionals. It would resemble partnership with the personal coach who would reinforce new skills and would ensure that newly learnt exercises are being practised regularly. For the purpose of coaching and mentoring it is desirable that professionals are hired from concerned organisations who can play the role of coaches and mentors and add value to the organisation in terms of leadership. 

Modelling and shadowing is a good method of incorporating the motivation to be effective leaders in a healthcare setting. All professionals could be made aware of the individuals who can play the role model for others in the same field. Constructive modelling can be considered for building up leadership where individuals could be made to understand that the behaviour they exhibit is set as positive examples for others. Accordingly they might act in a similar line and motivate others to act in the same manner. Shadowing is a formal method inviting an employee to shadow or follow, a leader for a certain period of time. This would bring positive changes in the decision making skills, problem solving skills and skills of leading others (West & West, 2015).

Consideration of the change management issues that are to be addressed in order to implement each of the evidence-based strategies that have been decided to be used in the plan

Implementation of any strategy in a healthcare system is not without a pool of challenges, and it is utmost necessary to pay attention to these change management issues if the successful change is to be brought about. Strategies are to be implemented to overcome such issues that hinder the path of success. Change in the way leadership used to be implemented previously might be a stressful process in the organisation as individuals may perceive the change to be a retrograde action (Fitzgerald et al., 2013). The most vital issue is permitting complexities in the implementation of desired strategies pertaining to leadership. It is better the keep the process simple and not permit complexities to hinder any easy flow of communication. Failure to build up a proper coalition may be another challenge. It may so happen that momentum is failed to be created with different teams who can drive the change. This issue is to be addressed readily. Teams are to be build up in a manner so that each team has one strong candidate who has a distinct focus and a clear mission for developing leadership (Aarons et al., 2015).

According to Evans et al., (2015) one must be presented with a clear vision if the change is to be implemented in an organisation. For leadership, this holds truer against the backdrop that leadership development takes many efforts and failure can be faced at initial phases. Setting up a clear vision would drive towards success. Adequate planning is necessary if the outcomes are to be achieved in a relatively short period of time. Planning is to be done by utilising the available tools and involving the concerned authorities. Setting up short-term goals and achieving them before shifting on to long term goals would be appropriate. Successes are to be celebrated as they come in as this motivates the workers to show more dedication and put in more efforts.

According to Hayes (2014), changes are obvious to face challenges and issues, and these barriers are necessary to be overcome if the change is to be made sustainable. Using a change manage plan would solve the problem to a considerable extent. The change management plan would focus on the process that is to be abided by for bringing about the change and sort out tasks to be done on the priority basis. Adequate funding is necessary if the outlined strategies are to be used in practice. Health care setting must consider adequate funding and resource allocation so that leadership could be developed among the desired population. Government aids can be beneficial in this regard.

Conclusion

Effective and strong leadership promotes job retention and job satisfaction among with high quality of care services and well-being of the health consumers. The associated costs of health care are also reduced as a result of the proper exhibition of leadership. Research indicates that aged care facilities are often faced with multi-faceted challenges that lead to poor staff satisfaction and as a result poor retention. In such cases, the most significant aid that can bring a positive change to the scenario is effective leadership. Good leadership would play a key role in changing the environment into a positive workplace culture with the help of innovative programs and research projects. Organisations must consider investing in the improvement of leadership skills and other allied capabilities of the health care professionals for improving productivity and staff stability and better preparing the aged care sector. Acknowledging the role of care professionals in the aged care facility is a crucial aspect. Education is needed in this regard to make the professionals aware of the ways by which they can exercise leadership and the varied contexts in which leadership is most needed. Further research into the function and role of care teams in the aged care facility would enable the concerned stakeholders to find out novice ways by which leadership can be developed in the potential leaders so that they can lead and support the aged care workforce in reform and innovation.

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