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Nursing leadership is essential in the clinical settings. It plays a big role in the development of the nurses as an individual and as a profession. With nursing leadership, management skills are beneficial; nurse leaders are accountable in empowering, influencing, motivating and advocating for the nursing staff and patients. There is a common denomination between the nursing staff providing nursing care in patient satisfaction as an effect on clinical outcome with the nursing leadership.
In this discussion paper, the importance of nursing leadership in the health care system and its definition will be conferred. The applicability in the clinical setting and its several effects on nursing staff and patient outcomes will also be discussed. With the use evidence based literature, this paper will elaborate on how nursing leadership will affect on the nursing satisfaction, nursing retention and patient outcome. Shaw (2007) described leadership as that it is having vision, being able to inspire confidence and motivate others in a common vision and goals and works together to accomplish them.
Leadership is about passion and commitment (Shaw, 2007). Leadership is a key requirement in organizations, and nurse leaders carry a host of susceptibilities. Daly, Speedy and Jackson (2010) defined nursing leadership as a combination of personality traits, knowledge and skills that foster a nurse to become confident, have the ability to motivate, build effective partnership and alliances with others and direct the staff in attaining the optimal clinical outcomes. Racer (2007) discussed trust as a measure of success and effectiveness of nurse leaders.
Their findings reinforce the significance of the leader’s role in creating a work environment that supports autonomy and decision-making participation. It also found evidence to support the leader as the most important actor in staffs job satisfaction, productivity, and loyalty. An effective nursing leadership involves a high level of oral and written communication skills, excellence in interpersonal skills, flexibility, and good planning skills and trustworthy Jackson, 2007). Effectiveness signifies to the extent where an action produced a desired outcome (Sullivan & Decker, 2008).
The nurses’ strong leadership skills are of key importance in today’s health care environment. With rising patient acuity, decreased lengths of hospital stay, staffing shortages, pay of performance initiatives, and complex technologies, nurses take on challenging susceptibilities (Coachwork’s, Sherman & Krieger, 2010). Nursing leadership skills influence nursing staff satisfaction, nursing retention, which results in patient satisfaction as an outcome (Robbins & Advisor, 2007).
Aside from nursing leadership skills, effective nurse leaders that has the ability to act and adapt to change and committed to learning are essential in order to build a competent, confident and efficient nurse and be able to keep up with the changing health care system. Sullivan and Decker (2008) demonstrated a relationship between nursing leadership and staff and patient outcome. Leaders that are relationship- oriented facilitate more positive staff and patient outcomes. This results in an increase of information flow and change, providing diversity of viewpoint and facilitates relational influences among staff.
Active support for nurses’ partaking in decision making affects patient care; nursing leaders regarding provision of care used this. The foundation of leadership on a nursing unit is primarily based on the leader. According to Robbins and Advisor (2007) a leader who shows high levels of competency, effective decision-making, compassion and trust is gaining the respect of the staff. The leader forms a level of trust with the staff that then feels enriched and motivated to accomplish tasks. Nursing staffs are empowered to deliver excellent patient care, resulting in increased patient satisfaction (Robin & Advisor, 2007).
The applicability of nursing leadership in the clinical settings is evident in several circumstances having a more inclusive and interdisciplinary health care system, chances for nurse leader to start change will increase and high quality of care in clinical practice will develop. In every clinical setting, inspiring and motivational leadership s essential for education, organization, staff arrangement and professional development. Application of leadership is applied in nursing to encourage staff to attain a mission, vision and optimization of patient outcomes (Kennedy, The effectiveness of nursing leadership has been discussed in a 2008). Umber of studies relating to staff and patient outcome. One key of nursing leadership being effective is the role of the nurse leader in managing staff and resources and in developing strategies for the group to succeed in giving quality patient care. In a research by Wong and Cummings (2007), having good immunization skills, being able to adapt to change, open and demonstrating staff relationship and patient safety and staff outcomes is proven to have a significant correlation amongst positive leadership style.
A positive relationship amongst leaders and team members facilitates support in staff, staff stability and increases staff satisfaction, the result of collaborative and affirmative team would then lead to increased productivity and higher quality of work (Bassoon & Alaska, 2011). Another research on the effectiveness of nursing leadership in the area of recruitment and retention of staff has discussed on the effect on attain safety and care. Shortage of nurses is considered to be a problem in the current health care system, Robbins and Advisor (2007) mentioned in their article that the no. Reason people are leaving their job is job dissatisfaction, this causes high rate of nurses leaving their positions. The shortage is impacting on the quality health care for patients. Likewise, skills mix results in a high number of junior staff nurses with lacking senior nurses to supervise them (Carling, 2008). Therefore, the need for efficient leaders in nursing is essential to support noir nursing staff at the same time maintaining retention of senior staff.
Safe, effective and ethical staffing is necessary for ensuring that a sufficient number and appropriate mix of competent nurses are available to maintain patient care (Faber, 2009). Poor patient outcome relates to poor nurse staffing that increases mortality, morbidity and adverse incidents like falls (McGee, Ellis & Sanchez, 2005). Effectiveness of nursing leadership can also be measured between staff retention and recruitment through the leadership style being followed in its relation to addressing staffing issues and patient outcome.
Racer (2007) conducted a study comparing the relationship between two types of leadership style being transactional and transformational leadership style in retention of nursing staff, she concluded that the transformational leadership style that encompasses individualized support and consideration, influence and motivation, provision of practiced knowledge and involvement of team member have resulted in job satisfaction and therefore successful for recruiting and retaining staff and resulting to being able to provide safe, quality care for the patient (Racer, 2007).
Nursing leadership has the ability in controlling or influencing most variables that positively impact on retention. Research has exhibited that nursing leadership has a relationship with and a direct effect on the retention of hospital staff nurses. Transformational leadership style has been determined to be the most effective (Schwartz, Spencer, Wilson & Wood, Dutton, Cramping and Wood (2007) conducted a study on the impact 2011). Of leadership and its relationship in highest staff retention and lowest retention in a unit on 71 staff nurse.
The sample from the highest retention acknowledged he leaders influenced and empowerment and having a good leadership style while the sample from the lowest retention professed that their leader applies leadership style that forces on pushing for productivity and creating more stressful, demanding and inconsiderable work environment (Tauten, Cramping & Wood, 2007). This study findings may be essential to be used to inform on aspects of leadership and hospital retention, that relates to a specific leadership styles.
The relationship between the nursing leadership and staff retention and recruitment, emphasizing the probability of exercising effective nurse adhering to stimulate retention and recruitment and therefore improve staff and provide high quality patient outcomes and healthy environment. In conclusion, nursing leadership is important in contemporary clinical practice, the quality of nursing leadership is the cornerstone of a healthy workplace environment, and an empowering nurse leader has the capability of influencing the staff and patient outcomes.
Nursing leadership requires a good leader that is responsible to achieve optimum outcomes for the nursing workforce. Overall, in this discussion paper, the importance, applicability of nursing leadership and TTS effectiveness in improving staff and patient outcomes has been provided. Identification of some leadership style was also identified in order to provide implementation of leadership strategies and reach a higher level of achievement for staff and patient outcomes.