Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management

Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management

Grand Canyon University: NRS-451V

Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management

Nursing shortage has been a very popular topic for several years, which has increased the popularity of the nursing (American Nurses Association, 2011). These nursing shortage is due to different factors such as: rapid population growth in different states, decrease amount of students entering nursing school, aging nursing workforce, and increase in aging population with increased needs (American Nurses Association, 2011). In order to provide patients with both safe and good quality care, education, staffing and experience needs to be a top priority in all organizations. These shortages of nurses have affect patient with negative outcomes and contributing to an increase in medical errors. Many of the solutions that have been previously used have focus on increasing wages and recruiting nurses from other countries. This problem has led to state legislatures to add obligatory laws that encourage adequate staffing regardless of the patients condition (American Nurses Association, 2011). Not only are patients being affected but also the staff at any given institution will suffer the consequences of nursing shortages. In this case it is the responsibility of both leaders and manager to find effective ways to handle such given situations. This essay will compare and contrast the way nursing leaders and managers approach the issue of nursing shortage while promoting safe and quality care to patients. Will also identify skills and tools that could be useful in improving this situation while meeting patient’s demands.
Managers and Leaders
Both managers and leaders play a key role in hospital and organizations as their role is to be the head of the team, they ensure that the needs of both staff and patients are been met, and they also promote the well being of the organization or hospital. Managers and leaders are both responsible of guiding a group of people. A leader and a manager may share similar roles and duties, but they also play distinct ones. Anybody can manage, but not all can be leaders and visa versa a manager can also be a good leader, but a leader is not always a manager (GCU, 2011). Leadership unlike management cannot be taught, but it could be learned through mentoring.

Managers
As a manager, the individual is responsible to provide adequate and functioning resources and material to their staff. Managers also need to make sure that they have adequate and well-trained people working for them by providing them with the adequate tools in order to complete a task successfully. In the case of nursing shortage, a manager has the responsibility of assuring that the nursing staffing ratio is adequate in order to meet both the demands and needs of patients based on their condition and necessities (GCU, 2011). A good manager should make good use of their skills in quality care, people, leadership, and communication. For example, quality care skills can help a manager gather adequate and relevant data that can be used to improve and find ways to promote staffing performance. People skills are beneficial while performing new hires interviews and hopefully have new additions to the team. Good managers with leadership skills are able to lead others by setting the example. The ability to have an open communication all staff provides a sense of trust, which can benefit the staff relationships that will then benefit patients. Consistency is the key to being an efficient and effective manager. Managers can make a nurse’s job easier by supporting them with their demands, responsibilities and even concerns (GCU, 2011).

Leaders
Leaders are individuals able to lead a group or organization. They help promote and support the development of the people or organization they are lead. A leader is able to establish a goal/vision and they are able to share such vision as to encourage people to follow them gladly. Along with that they are able to provide their people with information, methods and the knowledge in order to effectively carry on their visions. A leader is someone that has naturally acquired this skill but becoming good leaders takes work. For example it is important to know yourself and what you can accomplish as a leader; successfully transmitting your vision, and creating a trust relationship with others are important skills a good/excellent leader should poses. This is true with nurse staffing ratios, building trust with the other staff can help in them opening up and communicating how they are feeling about there job mentally, emotionally and physically. Also, listen and support the employees to communicate with each other regarding their concerns. This is an important skill; as it will benefit the leader gather support from his/her followers. Primary a leader is able to lead by example, inspire and motivate their staff.
There are many times when communication skills are not considered as important when compared with other management and leadership skills (Hauser & Preston, 2005). As a leader of a nursing dialysis clinic the main focus is educating the staff members under the nurse’s supervision. A greater emphasis needs to be placed on communication techniques because if a person can not communicating efficiently with his/her staff, then leader and managers has not been able to obtain positive end results. Effective communication can be both nonverbal and verbal; the key is to know ways of approaching people. To be both a good manager is important to utilized leadership skills, like lead by example on a regular basis, that demonstrates that the person can be trusted and respect. Another beneficial thing is setting staff meetings, the idea is to gather feedback and listen the staff worries and concerns, and this is beneficial as to promote teamwork, satisfaction, better outcomes and a successful team.
Large numbers of studies have been conducted in regards to this issue of nursing shortage consequently linked to nurse staffing ratios and the impact it can cause on patient outcomes. Nurse staffing in hospitals settings is main concern because of the impact that it can potentially have on both the safety of patients and on the overall quality of care (Stanton, 2004). Sadly and unfortunately this is a problem that has been ongoing for sometime now, leading to poor patients outcomes, and unsatisfied and overworked nurses. Overworked nurses can lead to compassionate fatigue and burnout. This nurse understaffing is negatively impacting patients and the hospitals as a whole. The importance of how these situations are handle lays on the ability of managers and leaders to deal with them. Both managers and leaders have certain skills that play an important role in the success and growth of the hospital, and both the patient and employee satisfaction. Despite whether one is a leader or manager, they should both be aware of their roles are and how and when to they should utilize their communication skills both in and out of the hospital (GCU, 2011).

References

American Nurses Association. (2011, november 15). Nursing world. Retrieved from

http://www.nursingworld.org/nursingshortage

Donnelly, G. F. (2003). How leadership works: Myths and theories. Five keys to successful nursing management. Philadelphia: Lippincott, William & Wilkins.

Editor. (2012). businessdictionary.com. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/leadership.html

GCU.edu. (2011). Module 2 Readings. Retrieved on September 13, 2012 from Grand Canyon University website: https://lc.gcu.edu/learningPlatform/user/users.html

Hauser, J.L. & Preston, P. (2005). Communication Strategies for Getting the Results You Want. Retrieved on September 13, 2012 from: https://lc.gcu.edu/learningPlatform/user/users.html

Stanton, M. W. (2004). Hospital Nurse Staffing and Quality of Care. Agency for