Leadership in Nursing Organizations
Nowadays the concept of leadership and effective leadership qualities is one of the most interesting topics of discussion, because in contemporary highly competitive world it is necessary to become effective leader to succeed in nursing organizations. Nevertheless, it is apparent that not every employee is able to become an effective leader or leader at all, because not all people possess the required skills, knowledge and ability to self-develop. Only strong-willed, hard-working and shrewd people may become really effective leaders. Actually, a leader is a person who directs and helps other to perform their job mote than they ever have thought possible. A leader is able to organize and to lead the team in order to ensure the best performance of nursing organization. However, leadership doesn’t mean to tell what to do; leadership is the ability to inspire the team, to see what they are capable of and to help the team to work coherently and harmoniously. (Kerfoot et al. 2006)
There are two types of leaders: technical leaders and professional ones. The main difference between them is that technical leader deals with the issues of where the company needs to go, whereas only professional leader comprehends the importance of conceptual framework as well as he always knows what is important for him, for his working team, he realizes strengths and weaknesses, driving forces and pitch falls. It is known that conceptual model “provide high-level operating framework from which to do the work, as well as the direction for what will or will not be done, the hiring and retention of people who can operate within this framework, and performance evaluations and continuing education for organization”. (Kerfoot et al. 2006) Effective leader possesses clear values and objectives as well as self-confidence, savvy, persistence and knowledge. It is necessary to outline the personal qualities such as passion, empathy strength of a character, humor, wisdom reliability, sensitivity, creativity at work, common sense, etc. Therefore, the role of leadership should be paid special attention in nursing organizations.
Leadership models provide certain benefits for nursing organizations. For example, they ensure fewer variations among the nurses as well as stimulate critical thinking. It is apparent that nurses come from different schools and they are taught differently. Schools may emphasize the role of nurse as facilitator, stimulate system thinking, etc. However, all the schools admit that nurses should care about patient education. Organizations preferring conceptual framework are professional, they are not considered technical. Conceptual model is treated as powerful tool of nurse recruitment. Nowadays nurses who seek professional working environment are attracted by benefits offered by conceptual model. The model focuses on core mission of nursing organization such as high-quality treatment and support.
It is necessary to admit the synergy model for patient care which suggests that “needs of patients and families drive the characteristic of the nurse”. Thus, nurse’s competencies should match patient and clinical system. This model assumes that the goal of nursing in organization is to restore the “patient to an optimal level of wellness as defined by the patient”. (Kerfoot et al. 2006) This model also suggests 8 competencies of nursing: clinical judgment, clinical inquiry, caring practices, response to diversity, advocacy and moral agency, facilitation of learning, collaboration and, finally, systems thinking.
Synergy model of leadership involve learning curriculum aimed at developing nurses to the next step of professional advancement. Nevertheless, organizations may focus only on some of the mentioned competencies such as teamwork and caring practice, for example. The next moment to main is that synergy model outlines also 8 characteristics of the patients such as resiliency, vulnerability, stability, complexity, resource availability, participation in care, participation in decision0making process, predictability. All these characteristics represent a state of being and they are used in describing micro and macro levels. Summing up, synergy model promotes skilled communication, true collaboration, effective decision-making, meaningful recognition, appropriate staffing and authentic leadership. (Kerfoot et al. 2006)
References
Kerfoot, K., Lavandero, R., Cox, M., Trlola, N., Pacini, Ch. & Hanson, D. (2000, August). Conceptual Models and the Nursing Organization: Implementing the AACN Synergy Model for Patient Care. Nurse Leader, 20-26.