Leadership Philosophies in Nursing

Leadership: It is a process in which a person directs, guide and inspires others to accomplish a specific goal in a given situation. Leadership plays a significant role and it helps to increase the productivity and efficiency of the employees (Juneja, 2015).  In other words, leadership is an attitude of an individual to lead a group optimistically. It is the responsibility of a leader for his actions and consequences. He always establishes a clear vision and provides resources to work smoothly. I believe that sometimes the leadership skills are inherent but on the other hand, it is possible to attain also with the help of continues learning and willingness. Because, with the help of experience a person’s behavior can be changed and learn things from surroundings.

Leadership in Nursing: In Nursing it is a difficult and multifaceted process. It includes providing direction and support, motivating, collaboration, coordinating, effective communication, advocating for patient for optimal patient outcomes. In nursing, leadership showing the followers how the things are done and get regular guidance. ( AL-Dossary, 2017)

Leadership is divided into two categories: Formal and Informal Leadership.

Formal Leadership: In this, the leader is appointed by an organization with proper designation and he is empowered to take decisions. For instance; CEO, Teacher, Manager. Formal leader has the right to make decisions and assign the work to his co-workers. He is a person who represents the company or a group with their work and outcome and shares his experience, values, and belief with the team member to help them to attain their goals. . (Anderson, 2018).  For instance: Nurse managers and Nurse Administer are officially designated as leader by the organization as per their education, experience, and competency. They are an integral part of nursing recruitment and continuous training. ( ANA,2013 )

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Informal Leadership: In this group member are looking towards the potential candidate and learn from his knowledge, belief, and experience. In informal leadership, the leader is not designated by the organization but the group members acknowledge him as a leader. (Anderson, 2018). Informal leaders in nursing are often nurses with a high level of clinical competencies and influence other team members. This type of leader motivates the team, comes from the team, and is chosen by the team. (ANA,2013)

I have started nursing profession as a bedside nurse. One day I received a call from my chief nursing officer to lead a medical camp in community because the previous assigned staff got sick. At that time I was anxious because it was a challenging assignment. As this was my community assignment, I made a checklist of all the equipment, medicine and documents. Then I met with other team members for the camp and briefed about their duties at camp. One day before, I met with doctors to know about their requirements. On the camp day I reached before the camp started to make sure that everything was in place. During the whole day, I regularly observed each team member and make sure about the standard protocols of employee and patient safety. The camp went very well and received appreciation from senior team members for my informal leadership style.

CNA, RNAO, RPNAO, and CNO are the organizations which give us a framework for how to work in our professions. They help us to learn and understand the standards, policies, and protocols related to our professions. They all are our mentors and show us a path to achieve our goals. Professional associates have a huge impact on my leadership philosophy. These organizations set standards for other nursing personnel for the safety of staff and patients. These organizations enlighten the nursing staff about the requirement and standards of their profession.

My philosophy of leadership is based on that, leadership is not only to give command to others but it is a huge responsibility also. If a leader only dictates things to others than it will be very difficult for others to work towards the same goal. It is the responsibility of a leader to understand the perspective of the group members and help them by providing the right guidance and resources. I believe that to work as a good leader is not an easy task, because it is a challenging situation. I still remember one incident of my previous hospital. It was a newly built hospital and all the departments were not functioning properly. One day suddenly we received 20 patients in an emergency due to a bus accident. At that time there was a shortage of staff and I was present there, immediately I instructed to other team members about the work. Few staff assigned for medication, few were for receiving and others are assigned for shifting the patient. At that time I acted as a leader and assessed the competencies of other staff members. At the same, I was monitored others to prevent errors and making sure that each staff should follow the standards and patient health will not comprised. This is a period, where I was working as a leader and tried to transfer my skills to other team members for the patient benefit. In this situation, I used transformational theory style which I studied during my theory classes.

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