Question

Identify three leadership strategies that can be utilized to manage positive, effective change within an nursing organization

Answer 1

Leadership has been defined in a multitude of ways. Nurse leaders are essential to healthcare, from providing bedside support to guiding administrative decision-making. Novice nurses, patients, and staff look to experienced nurses for assistance and guidance. With a growing number of experienced nurse leaders retiring and the healthcare landscape rapidly changing, nurse leaders are being asked to step forward. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS), an independent, objective science think tank, said nurse leaders are needed to provide transformational leadership in healthcare.

Nurse leaders must cultivate their leadership skills byutilising the following core principles:

1. Focus on Excellence : Excellence in nursing isn't just a phrase; it's a way of life. In general, healthcare organizations define nursing excellence as ensuring nurses make optimal contributions to patients andtheir work and provide professional and competent care.

2. Target Important Tasks : Nurse leaders should focus on several important components of leadership to encourage quality patient care and staff satisfaction.

a) Service - Patient and staff satisfaction is equally important because of their cooperative relationship.

b) Quality - Concentrate on patient safely and other core quality measures to make them a way of life.

c) People : Attend to the needs of all staff and patients.

d) Growth - Look for ways to encourage growth within the department to free up beds for additional patients.

e) Finance - Review the department's business plan and make changes accordingly.

3. Establish Individual Accountability : All nurses should be held responsible for the part they play in the overall healthcare goals of an organization.

Three Leadership Strategies that can be utilised to manage positive, effective change within an nursing organization.

Navigating organizational change can cause concern in a health-care facility's nursing staff and strain employee morale. By carefully planning strategies for iplementing the changes, however, administrtors can enlist the support of their nurses and even assign them roles in developing and evaluating the new plan.

1. Communication

Even minor changes can alarm a facility's nursing staff, who often worry that the transition will mean for them. They may fear they could lose their jobs or that the organization will lower their salaries or increase their job duties. Communicating with nurses during change can ease their uncertainty, eliminate surprises and make them feel involved. Administrators should plan their communication strategies well in advance, designating nurse leaders to oversee the effort and determining when and how to alert nurses regarding key events. Healt-care administrators can use communication strategies such as community meetings, e-mail and social media to stay connected to the nursing staff.

2. Encourage Teamwork

Enlisting nursing staff to offer input and assist in problem-solving can prevent resistance and offer insight from those closest to the issue. Managers can organize nurses into teams, asking them to brainstorm solutions for problems or offer recommendations for implementing theproposed changes. This can draw out valuable information from the people responsible for integratig the changes. It also demonstates that the organization values the opinions of its nurses.

3. Explain Your Reasons

To the nursing staff, planned changes may seem arbitrary or confusing, but administrators who explain the motivations behind them can turn the nurses into their biggest supporters. If nurses know the changes will enhance patient care, make employees' jobs easier or offer the facility significant financial benefits, they're more likely to champion the new structure and do whatever it takes to ensure the plan's success. It also shows them the facility's leadership doesn't expect them to accept the changes without understanding the reasons for and benefits of the new way of doing things.