Running head: EFFECTIVE APPROACHES IN LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management Marissa Krick Grand Canyon University: NRS-415V November 18, 2012 Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management Many healthcare organizations worldwide are striving to achieve magnet designation.
Having the magnet title is essential because it recognizes healthcare organizations that act as a “magnet” for excellence by establishing a work environment that identifies, rewards, and promotes professional nursing (ANCC Magnet Designation, 2012).A magnet hospital is considered to be one where nursing provides excellent patient care, where nurses have a high level of job satisfaction, and where there is a low staff nurse turnover rate. This paper will discuss how nursing leaders and managers obtain magnet designation. Nursing leaders and managers play an important role in attaining magnet designation and take different approaches in order to achieve such status.
Obtaining magnet status is essential and highly recognized in the nursing practice today.Nurses play a vital role in patients’ and families’ overall experience and are the primary source of care and support during the most vulnerable times in an individuals’ life. At magnet hospitals, nurses are attentive and knowledgeable, spending more time at patients' bedsides providing compassionate and upmost quality of care. Managers are constantly striving to maintain quality service and patient care through the use of patient surveys in order to plan short and long term objectives in order to take appropriate actions.With the use of patient surveys, managers are able to inform their staff on areas for improvement or where to keep up the good work.
Managers provide direction and motivation to their nursing unit in order to carry out desired actions and are focused on making sure that their staff are following the correct policies and procedures in order to maintain a safe workplace. Leadership in nursing maintains proper policies and procedures, but the main focus is on influencing staff to accomplish goals.Nurse leaders inspire others to work together in quest of a shared goal, for instance, improved patient care. The nurse leader is a critical thinker, sets goals, uses effective communication, and recognizes the emotional needs of others (Roskoski, 2012). Nurse leaders carry out any changes that are to be made that have been implemented by management. Scottsdale Healthcare is an organization of magnet status and is continuously striving to find ways in which to improve patient satisfaction and quality of care.
As of October 2011, Scottsdale Healthcare implemented bedside report in order increase patient satisfaction providing the patient and family knowledge in regards to their condition and plan of care in order to set goals for the patients recovery and gives them the ability to ask questions. Prior to bedside report taking effect, management gathered all employees from the unit going over what is to be expected and how bedside report was not only taking effect on our unit alone, but hospital wide.Nursing leaders knew that they had a situation at hand due to the fact that nursing staff was so comfortable in giving report at the nurses station and did not want to wake the patient or deal with a family member, but they remained positive and encouraged staff that this would dramatically change our satisfaction scores. In maintaining patient satisfaction scores, the hospital would qualify for reimbursement from Medicare.
The nurse leaders were the one’s who made the transition a smooth process, as the managers just informed staff how things were going to be.The nurse leaders give others the ability to understand the vision, informing those of why they are being asked to do things, and how it relates to the bigger picture (The difference between leadership and management, 2012). In order to maintain magnet status, managers and nurse leaders must work together in order to meet the necessary requirements. With implementing bedside report, not only have patient satisfaction scores increased, the rapport between patient and nurse and quality of care has increased as well.Organizations such as Scottsdale Healthcare are recognized for treating their employees with respect and encourage educational growth in offering tuition reimbursement. With upholding magnet status, organizations are able to keep their employees when given the ability to offer such programs.
This writer has been an employee at Scottsdale Healthcare for five years now and has seen many changes take effect on the unit implemented by the nurse manager striving to increase patient satisfaction. Changes that have occurred on the unit consist of edside reporting, hourly rounding, and updated white boards for patient information, just to name a few. Within the past couple of months, patient satisfaction scores have decreased and management is not happy. The nurse managers have informed staff that if hourly rounding, bedside reporting, and updating white boards are not being completed employees will be reprimanded.
The nurse managers have been going into patient rooms asking the patients if their nurse has been performing the tasks as listed above, and take it upon themselves to tell the patient that if these tasks are not being performed, then the nurse could possibly be terminated.With all the negative feedback from the managers, nurses are becoming burned out. The nurse managers want to see an increase in outcomes, but drive to do so is lacking from constant negative feedback. At the last staff meeting, we were informed that if patient outcomes did not increase, then we need to start looking for employment because there are other individuals out there that would love to have our position.
On the other hand, the nurse leaders acknowledge the irritation of decreased satisfaction scores, but go above and beyond to build up morale for a positive change.Those who take the time to listen to others and incorporate ways to improve issues on the unit are considered as participatory leaders. This leadership style includes the leader and one or more employees in the decision making process (Leadership Styles, 2010). As a team, the nurse leader and employees will be able to come up with a plan on ways to improve patient satisfaction, with the nurse leader having the final say.
All in all, managers and nurse leaders ultimately have the same goal; it is just the difference in approaches and how one handles stress.A nurse leader wants to provide assistance in any way possible, they are creative and remain positive, whereas, nurse managers will stay completely focused on improving situations and are more controlling not providing any assistance. This writer believes that she is a better leader than manager. Participatory leadership is this writers way of dealing with situations at hand.
Effective communication and taking into consideration the feelings of others along with providing a helping hand whenever in need is of upmost importance to this writer.A way that patient satisfaction scores could increase on the unit that this writer works on is if the managers took a different approach in how they speak to their staff creating a different vibe on the floor rather than biting your tongue every time you see their face. However, it is very possible that due to the clientele we provide care to, a lot of them suffer addiction problems and often times request more medications than what we are able to give. These unhappy patients are more than likely the ones who return the patient satisfaction surveys, therefore, resulting in poor satisfaction scores.
Leadership and management play an important role in the nursing process, but their focus is different depending on the situation. Nurse managers and leaders strive for doing the right thing and doing things right. With the dramatic and rapid changes in healthcare today, possessing critical thinking, active listening, and coping skills are essential in the nursing workforce. Together, leaders and managers need to imagine the future and lead the way to a productive and well-organized unit with satisfied employees in order to maintain magnet status. References ANCC Magnet Designation.
(2012). Meridian Health.Retrieved November 16, 2012, from http://www. meridianhealth.
com/MH/ForHealthProfessionals/NursingAtMeridian/ANCCMagnetDesignation. cfm Leadership Styles. (2010). Big Dog and Little Dog’s Performance Juxtaposition.
Retrieved November 16, 2012, from http://www. nwlink. com/~donclark/leader/leadstl. html Roskoski, J. (2012).
What Is Nursing Leadership?. eHow. Retrieved November 16, 2012, from http://www. ehow. com/about_6579387_nursing-leadership_.
html The difference between leadership and management. (2012). Strategies for Nurse Managers. Retrieved November 16, 2012, from http://www. strategiesfornursemanagers. com/ce_detail/208037.
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