Clinical Leadership For Nursing Profession

What is Clinical Leadership?

Discuss about the Clinical Leadership for Nursing Profession.

Success of any organization is largely dependent upon the leaders and how effectively they perform their leadership duties. The same has also gained importance in the professional field as well, and nursing profession is no exception to the same. The existence of clinical leadership has come to form due to the success that various business houses and professions have attained because of good leadership qualities and attributes.  The real meaning of clinical leadership can be summed up as those individuals or group of individuals who try to do the right work, ensure that the support staffs conducts their work in the correct manner and take a step ahead to perform the same work in an improvised fashion.

The main purpose behind presenting this paper is to highlight the meaning of clinical leadership and further differentiate the same from clinical management. It even aims at highlighting the practice that should be undertaken and whether the outcomes match with the desired results. It further discusses about real life communication with a clinical leader whom I consider to be a mentor and whose performance as a clinical leader is idealised by me.

What is leadership is the most obvious question which must be hovering over our minds before we understand the concept of clinical leadership. Leadership is a quality which an individual possesses basis which he or she can inspire and self force a person to work or perform a task towards the accomplishment of the goals set by a leader. Leadership is viewed differently by different people but the ultimate goals are same i.e. to inspire its followers to work ethically and do the right things in the right manner and ensure that the vision is fulfilled (Giltinane, 2013). In recent times, I have viewed an increase demand for leaders in the nursing segment simply because there has been a shortage in the number of nurses. Reasons are low pay scales, lack of career growth in the said segment and low profile in the healthcare sector. Due to the same the need for a good clinical leadership took shape that would enable retention of good nurses and ensure that adequate support is being given to the patients.

The very next question which arises is what clinical leadership means. On communicating personally with a clinical leader I understood that experience in the field of nursing is the main requirement for becoming a successful leader in this field. An effective clinical leader is one who leads by example and follows all the rules and regulations spelt out by the hospital to which he or she is associated with so as to conduct his duties smoothly (Cook.& Leathard, 2004).  Thus a clinical leader is one who himself provides first hand care to the patients and also has the ability to drive other nurses to work efficiently.

Difference between a Clinical Leader and Manager

However, there exists some difference between a clinical leader and a manager even though the two words are used interchangeably. A leader does not have the power to delegate. The powers that they have acquired are by time and informal and their main task is to motivate their team members and guide them towards working for a common goal, thus a good clinical leader is one who has appreciable communication skills. But clinical managers have to play a formal role wherein his position is well defined by the organization and his duties and responsibilities are also pronounced by the management. He has the authority to define the work of his juniors and make strategic decisions as well (Anderson, 2012). The confusion lies with regards what is the difference between the two then. The line of differentiation is very thin with overlapping duties.

My interview with the clinical leader made me conclude that she follows transformational form of leadership which helped her attain success as she ensured to involve her subordinates and understand their requirements as well. She believed in the concept of raising the morale level of the team members and motivate them towards fulfilling of a common goal i.e. taking care of the patients with the best possible efforts (Hutchinson,&  Jackson, 2013). The views of all the nurses who are a part of her team were always welcomed. Thus before arriving at any specific decision, involvement of all the team members is a necessity is what she preaches. She enlightened me to the fact that where the staff turnover is the highest, such a form of democracy is the best possible method for achieving success. Further to this, I also came to know that she follows a coaching leadership style wherein she also discusses with individual members of her team and helps them to overcome their weaknesses and boost their strengths further(Weselby, 2014). She said transformational form of leadership if coupled with an attitude of concern for the employee’s career will yield better results.

On asking her further questions about what is lacking in most of the clinical leaders which deters them to achieve success, she replied in one word i.e. accessibility. She says that being a leader does not mean that the individual has to be high-headed. Many a times nurses want to discuss about their problems and issues with their leaders as they know that he or she will be able to help her but the issue with regards accessibility of the leader defeats the entire purpose. The said theory stated by her got strengthened when I conducted a survey amongst various other nurses (Bott et.al. 2011). They all voted for ease in approachability and the fact that the leader herself should have the quality of self efficacy else it is difficult to gain support and motivation.

Qualities of an Effective Clinical Leader

Communication, is what the interviewee specified by herself while I was shooting my questions. She emphasized that success of any leader is impossible if he or she cannot communicate clearly and transparently. It is through effective communication that medical errors can be eliminated at the most and the patient’s queries can be resolved (Eason, 2009). It is very important in this field that the patients are made to feel at ease and the same can be possible only if the nurses are lead by such a clinical leader who encourages them to be optimistic in their approach. Communication skills should be developed through adequate training sessions which would help to boost a level of confidence amongst the nurses as they would be able to resolve to the patient’s needs and desires more effectively. However it is the duty of a leader to understand these requirements of its members and if training is not possible then hold sessions amongst its team only to eradicate such problems with ease and gain their support.

My next question was about bedside leadership- an area which has always been of concern for most of the hospitals as well as the patients. People who get admitted are seen praying for good nurses who are supportive and understanding as well. On the same, she replied that she herself was a bedside nurse when she started with her career in this field and it is this area of the job which helps to develop the skill of a leader most appropriately. She said that to become successful in this field, firstly she undertook adequate training as to how to behave with patients of different kinds. Secondly she worked upon her patience level which is the most important else the patient and his or her family members will never be satisfied (Cummings, 2013). Patience is the core need for achieving success in this profession. Thus I came to know that the clinical nurses became part of committees, participated in the projects and also imparted superior care to the patients. Further to this the various leadership training programs and seminars also boosted their morale to lead the team and transforming their skills from just a nurse to a clinical leader.

The reforms being bought in this sector clearly shows that expert and knowledgeable nurses should be employed at the bedside as such a care is ultimate for the recovery of any patient. They are well trained and understand the meaning of urgency of the hour, know how to deal with critical situations with bravery and courage, are experts in multi tasking, ensure that the requirements of the family members as well as the patients are fulfilled at the most and most importantly coordinate with the health care team (Mannix, et.al. 2013). There is a positive correlation between the retention of the nurses and the output of the patients. Thus bedside leadership can reap in benefits only through adequate training and awareness programs.

Importance of Communication Skills in Clinical Leadership

Lastly, seeing the kind of success she has attained in this field in such a short time, I could not resist myself from asking her as to who her role model was and what forced her to take up this responsibility. She said that it was her boss who was her role model and she had taught her to be supportive and it was under her guidance and influence that she took up the said position. She also added that she had never lead a team in the past before this but when she was at a junior level, she used to ensure that all her colleagues and those junior to her performed their work at their best. She used to talk to people personally and this is how she is now a successful clinical leader (Mannix et.al. 2013). Thus if I have to sum up with regards what makes her an effective clinical leader, the attitude of passion, dedication, clarity in communication and easy availability to the team members is the crux to accomplishment of her duty with ease.

Therefore this interview changed my perception and I concluded that in order to become a successful leader especially in the field of nursing it is very important to have trust in one’s own self and should have good values. Those who are not compassionate towards their work will ever be able to provide the best care to their patients (Happell, 2009). One more thing that I learnt from this interview was that in order to ensure that the patient recovers fast, the nurses play a very integral part as they are the ones who take care of the patients after any surgery or treatment.

I am more inclined towards understanding the meaning of bedside leadership as this is the most difficult part of this profession as per my view and what I could gauge from the interviewee as well. She made me realise that for a nurse to lead at the bedside she should possess some characteristics such as flexibility, confidence in one self and attitude to motivate others. They are leaders of the patients they look after at the bedside, although the role as a leader is not defined officially. There performance has a direct control over the safety and the recovery of the patients. They are the ones who have a direct impact on the organizations’ performance as well. Therefore on a summarising note, I am of the concept that to become an effective as well as successful leader, I need to ensure to develop my communication skills and patience level as well. I should listen to my seniors and try to improvise in order to climb the ladder further up. Lastly, I should believe in myself and should not deceive my morals and values.

References:

Anderson, L., (2012), The Difference Between Nurse Leadership vs Management, Available at https://www.nursetogether.com/difference-between-nurse-leadership- (Accessed 18th November 2016)

Bott, G. Mohide, A., Lawlor, Y., (2011), A clinical teaching technique for nurse preceptors: The five minute preceptor, Journal of professional nursing, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 35-42

Cook, M.J.& Leathard, H.L.,(2004), Learning for Clinical Leadership, Journal of nursing management, vol. 12,no. 6, pp  436-444

Cummings, G.C., (2013), Nursing Leadership and patient outcomes, Journal of nursing management, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 707-708

Eason, T., (2009), Emotional Intelligence and Nursing Leadership: A Successful combination, Creative nursing , vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 184-185

Giltinane, C., (2013), Leadership Style and Theories, Nursing Standard, vol.27, no. 41 pp. 35-39

Happell, B., (2009), Model of PRECEPTORSHIP in Nursing: Reflecting the Complex Functions of the Role, Nursing Education Perspectives, vol. 30, no. 6, pp. 372-376

Hutchinson, M. & Jackson, D., (2013), Transformational leadership in nursing: towards a more critical interpretation, Nursing inquiry, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 11-22

Mannix, J., Wilkes, L. and Daley, J. , (2013), Attributes of clinical leadership in contemporary nursing: An integrative review, Contemporary Nurse, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 10-21

Weselby, C., (2014), The critical need for Leadership in Nursing, Nursing Community Journal, Available at https://onlinenursing.wilkes.edu/critical-need-for-nursing-leadership/ (Accessed 18^th November 2016)