What qualities identify a good nursing leader?
Nurse leaders are often looking at what’s good for the organization, what’s good for their patients, their staff, their team. It’s not about them. Their focus stays on the goal.
While not every nurse with leadership skills is in a leadership position, they’re passionate about what they do! They ask questions like, how can we do things better? How can we make staff’s work life better? The readings reflected that with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) saying that all nurses should become active leaders. They call for all nurses to further their education.
Nursing leaders are knowledgeable, well-versed in the field and what’s going on in the industry. They are not afraid to make evidence-based decisions.They’re transformational. They give those around them a voice. They encourage decision-making and to take ownership in their work and practice.
If given autonomy to be their best, nurses and leaders will flourish. Outcomes often are better.
Healthy leadership begins from the top down. In a healthy environment, leaders don’t just talk the talk, but they also walk the walk. They don’t say they have good communication, but then speak to others rudely, for instance. People aren’t micromanaged, but are pulled together. In a healthy culture, leaders are confident enough to allow their people to flourish and let them get the credit when things go right.
Most importantly, leaders set a tone and help their people do the best they can with what they have to still achieve positive outcomes for patients. The mindset, if not there, needs to be developed. It depends on the staff. Sometimes, unfortunately, some people just have to go. I would tell them, I wish you well, but perhaps you would be happier in a different place.
Reference:
Nine principles of successful nursing leadership
August 2012 Vol. 7 No. 8
To further the discussion, I would add that being a leader is becoming a requirement to be a nurse. Nursing schools are adding classes and making it a requirement to take leadership and management courses. In addition to the professional nurses as leaders it is important to remember that nurses are also patient advocates, team members, mentors, and educators. Nursing team work is becoming a big process where nurses have to interchange multiple roles at the for the patient’s well being.
Fitzpatrick,J. & Glazer, G.(2013). Nursing leadership from the outside in. Retrieved from http://www.ebookcentral.proquest.com
You made some very great points. Nurses are leaders. I never really thought about that until lately. I work in a rural community hospital and the nursing staff has a Director of Nursing and Assistant Director of Nursing but no other hierarchy. When you talk with the other staff in the building they think of the nursing staff differently than the rest of licensed staff. When there are projects facility wide to be completed most generally they want a nurse on the project to help lead the staff, when there are presentations to be given they want a nurse to be there to talk to people, when the community is involved they want a nurse to be there because they know how to relate. These are all just everyday parts of our jobs but to everyone else they see us as leaders in our building.