Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management Essay Paper
Nursing practice faces many complex issues that require leadership and management interventions to be effectively resolved. These issues may be related to professional development, remuneration, and work environment among others. It is important to note that there is no simple answer to any of these complex issues. For instance, a nurse may find that organizational policies hinder professional development, or that remuneration is not congruent with the workload, or that the work environment curtails nurse resourcefulness. Any one of these factors can cause nurses to leave the workplace, resulting in nurse turnover (Allah, 2021). This paper explores the nurse of nurse turnover and the role of nurse leadership and management in addressing the issue Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management Essay Paper.
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Selected issue
Nurse turnover is an issue of concern in any setting. It involves nurses leaving the workplace owing to a range of reasons that include personal issues and unfavorable work environment. It results in the workplace not having enough skilled nurses. To put it simply, nurse turnover involves nurses who are skilled, have been working within that environment and are familiar with the workflow leaving the work environment resulting in a shortage of work personnel. This would have a negative impact on the work environment, irrespective of whether the organization/facility engages additional nurses to fill the staffing gap. The nurses who leave are familiar with the workflow, implying that those who come in are as yet not familiar with the workflow. The new nurses would be unfamiliar with the organization’s standard operating procedures and other protocols (Lavoie-Tremblay et al., 2021). In addition, nurse turnover causes a nurse shortage that disturbs the wellbeing of the available nurses who must pick up the slack. Besides that, nurses turnover causes the organization to spend more on addressing staffing issues (recruitment activities), resulting in less money being available to address other efforts to improve care quality and outcomes. The result is compromised quality of care and patient safety (Lockhart, 2020) Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management Essay Paper.
Professional standard of practice
A review of professional standards of practice for nurses reveals that nurses are tasked with identifying the expected outcomes for each individual patient. This professional standard of practice appreciates that a registered nurse is equipped to plan care for each patient. In planning for care, the registered nurse outlines the expected individualized patient outcomes and works towards achieving those outcomes, whether working independently or working within a care team that includes nurse assistants, enrolled nurses and registered nurses. Whatever the case (working individually or as a team), the nurse must take on a leadership role in guiding care delivery efforts and delegating responsibilities towards achieving the targeted patient outcome. When facing high nurse turnover, the registered nurse would have to take on a more active role in providing care to patients, and guiding other nurses in providing care. In essence, the nurse must maintain the professional standards of practice irrespective of whether there is a nurse turnover or other staffing difficulties (American Nurses Association, 2021)Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management Essay Paper.
It is clear that addressing the issue of nurse turnover so that it does not compromise care deliver and outcomes requires resourceful delegation of duties. The individual patient outcomes must be achieved and care plans made. Delegating appropriate tasks to the personnel, especially those who do not require supervision would be helpful in freeing up the nurse for other tasks. For instance, the nurse assistants can help with the daily living activities of the patients, such as bathing and feeding, while the enrolled nurses can take on specialized nursing tasks, leaving the registered nurses with more time to take on complex tasks (Finkelman, 2019).
Role of nurse leaders and nursing managers
Nurse turnover is a staffing issue that impacts the availability of nursing staff to take on professional responsibilities at work. In addressing this issue, nurse leaders and managers must understanding that the patient is a priority. This means that patient care and safety cannot be compromised. As such, they must find ways of mitigating the negative effects of nurse turnover. This call for resourcefulness, ingenuity and experience in assigning roles for the available nursing staff. Some of the principles that must be observed include meeting the organization’s expectations as outlined in the strategic plan, motivating the staff to take on the additional responsibilities without feeling overburdened, and maintain the standards of patient safety and nursing care (Finkelman, 2019) Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management Essay Paper.
This may call for an authoritarian approach that forcefully delegates responsibilities to the available nurses. This is useful when there is no time to discuss who should be allocated what tasks. Of course, this authoritarian approach can be counterproductive and worsen the situation if the nurses feel overburdened, causing an increase in turnover intentions. If the nursing tasks are not urgent, then a consultative and teamwork approach can be adopted in which the responsibilities are assigned through a consultative approach. Irrespective of the approach, the nurse leader and manager may need to take on nursing tasks that require the application of clinical skills. This would help in reducing the work burden that other nurses face (Finkelman, 2019).
Additional aspects
In addition to applying authority, responsibility and accountability as described, the nurse leader can ensure that there is the right skill mi within the team. This implies having the right proportions of nurse assistants, enrolled nurses and registered nurses. This would ensure that the nurses are able to take on any nursing duties (Marshall & Broome, 2017). Besides that, the remaining nurses should be monitored for signs of turnover, such as burnout. That is because nurse turnover may act as an impetus for other nurses to leave the organization. To be more precise, it is important to identify and address the root cause of the nurse turnover (Murray, 2022)Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management Essay Paper.
Leadership style
An appropriate leadership style for addressing the issue of nurse turnover is transformational leadership. This leadership style inspires others to discover purpose and meaning in relation to their work. Additionally, it allows the nurses to grow and mature as professionals. In fact, transformational leadership addresses the aspects of the organization that lead to success, encourages enthusiasm among the nurses, and identifies the values that nurses place on their work. A transformational nurse leader and manager would inspire other nurses to develop and implement effective characteristics for the workplace. This is evident when the unique characteristics of a transformational leader are explored to include effective communication, inspirational persona, trustworthy traits, and engagement of stakeholders (Murray, 2022).
Conclusion
Nurse turnover is an issue of concern in any healthcare setting. It can have an overwhelming effective on the standards of care while negatively impacting care outcome and patient safety. Affectively managing the issue of nurse turnover requires that transformational leadership style be applied with a focus on effectively using the available nurses Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management Essay Paper.
References
Allah, A. R. G. (2021). Challenges facing nurse managers during and beyond COVID‐19 pandemic in relation to perceived organizational support. Nurs Forum., 56(3), 539-549. https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12578
American Nurses Association (2021). Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (4th ed.). Author.
Finkelman, A. (2019). Professional Nursing Concepts: Competencies for Quality Leadership (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.
Lavoie-Tremblay, M., Gelinas, C., Aube, T., Tchouaket, E., Tremblay, D., Gagnon, M-P., Cote, J. (2021). Influence of caring for COVID-19 patients on nurse’s turnover, work satisfaction and quality of care. Journal of Nursing Management, 30(1), 33-43. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13462
Lockhart, L. (2020). Strategies to reduce nursing turnover. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy! 18(2), 56. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NME.0000653196.16629.2e
Murray, E. (2022). Nursing Leadership and Management for Patient Safety and Quality Care (2nd ed.). F.A. Davis Company.
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1,000-1,250 word paper describing the differing approaches of nursing leaders and managers to issues in practice. To complete this assignment, do the following: Select an issue from the following list: bullying, unit closers and restructuring, floating, nurse turnover, nurse staffing ratios, use of contract employees (i.e., registry and travel nurses), or magnet designation. Describe the selected issue. Discuss how it impacts quality of care and patient safety in the setting in which it occurs. Discuss how professional standards of practice should be demonstrated in this situation to help rectify the issue or maintain professional conduct. Explain the differing roles of nursing leaders and nursing managers in this instance and discuss the different approaches they take to address the selected issue and promote patient safety and quality care. Support your rationale by using the theories, principles, skills, and roles of the leader versus manager described in your readings. Discuss what additional aspects managers and leaders would need to initiate in order to ensure professionalism throughout diverse health care settings while addressing the selected issue. Describe a leadership style that would best address the chosen issue. Explain why this style could be successful in this setting. Use at least three peer-reviewed journal articles Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management Essay Paper