Nursing Leadership and Change

Nursing Leadership In any organization, leadership is a key element of success. The leader is the person who defines not only the organization's mission, but its tone and cultural, and determines how the organization's resources will be deployed to achieve these goals. This paper will examine the role of nursing leadership, in particular how leadership can change a nursing unit.

Leadership study has developed over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries to move from the basic principles of scientific management to modern conceptions of the transformative leader who emphasizes organizational culture and personal development. Where the leader as manager was intended to be replaceable, modern leaders are individualistic and as such they can have a significant influence over the organization. One of the unique facets of contemporary nursing leadership is that it has both an internal and an external focus.

Internally, the leader must guide the unit, but the leader also must work to influence external forces such as nursing policy, because those have a profound impact on the organization and nurse performance as well (Antrobus & Kitson, 1999). The nursing leader, by influencing nursing policy at the highest organizational levels of the organization can therefore influence workflow, resource allocation and culture of the unit, bringing about changes to fit the leader's vision. Furthermore, the nursing leader plays an important role in achieving superior patient outcomes.

The leader can influence change in terms of nursing practice and attitudes by ensuring that the nurses within the unit have a high level of patient focus, that they adhere to evidence-based practice and that they also adhere to the ethical and privacy guidelines that the leader has prioritized (Richardson & Storr, 2010). Furthermore, the nursing leader has the capacity to empower nurses.

The degree to which this is done can make for significant changes in the organization, allowing nurses more autonomy, but also enabling them to collaborate more with internal and external actors. A greater degree of autonomy and collaboration can be a significant change for the unit. Another area where the nursing leader can have a significant change influence is with respect to workflow. The leader can change the way people are scheduled and resources are utilized.

For example, if the organization was facing significant burnout issues -- something common in nursing --the new leader can take steps to reduce this (Laschinger & Leitner, 2006). Steps that reduce burnout can improve morale, improve patient outcomes, and ensure a higher level of nurse empowerment. Discussion: Strengths One of the biggest strengths that a new leader has is that there is a mandate for change. The bosses brought in a new person with the expectation that they will make a mark on the unit, and the nurses expect this, too.

In other words, the new leader has people ready to make some changes, because it is expected. When people expect changes, they are usually willing to accept some, and if the organization is well-functioning it might be open to many changes. Another strength that a new leader has when joining the unit is that the new leader is not burdened by the prior way of doing things.

This may not always work in favor of the new leader, but in general bringing in a fresh perspective is something that can lend the new leader a.