The COVID-19 pandemic has created a disruption to the healthcare facilities across the world, making operations a challenge to many hospitals. Coronavirus disease spread to 198 nations, with currently millions of confirmed cases and deaths being recorded globally (Shaukat et al., 2020). COVID-19 pandemic has affected the health and life of millions of people across the world (Wadali & Khosla, 2021). It overwhelms several nations’ healthcare systems. This also affects healthcare providers like doctors and nurses fighting on the frontlines to protect the lives of those affected by the coronavirus. Healthcare systems have statistically sustained an intolerable safety violation level by continuing to assume too many risks with little gain. It is partly blamed on the career that has culturally supported a desire to illustrate personal courage in the line of duty and kudos in superseding physical capability and safety protocols.
The Change Needed at Northwell Health Care
The statistics have exposed that frontline healthcare employee’s experience a substantially higher risk of infection and death because of excessive exposure to coronavirus disease in the line of duty. It is noted that over 3000 healthcare workers have died from COVID-19. Case analyzes indicate that a majority of the line of duty infections and deaths were avoidable in the first place (Wadali & Khosla, 2021). The numbers need to be declining with the data. There is no organizational change within the healthcare system that has more significance than the urge to enhance the safety culture in the health sector. The following is the rating based on Kotter’s 8 steps to change needed at Northwell Health Care on a scale of 1 to 5 (Small et al., 2016). The check-marks show the rating for each step.
Analysis of the Leadership Styles
For Northwell Health Care to execute the organizational change required to enhance safety and quality of care delivered, an assessment was carried out into the leadership styles and theories best supported by the organizations in the healthcare sector. The trait theory of leadership is the oldest, but it supports most of the operational leadership in the healthcare service industry. This theory assesses the features of unsuccessful and successful leaders, measuring their effectiveness, and appears to choose the leaders who have these features. Key individual traits of the theory are clear and robust values, basic intelligence, and a high personal energy level. However, the trait theory basis is that leaders are born –it is in-built, its sophistication cannot invalidate that a good leader cannot be taught (Stanley, 2017). Hence, healthcare worker cultures adhere to the trait leaders’ guidance more easily as the role models of safety.
The leadership contingency model or theory proposes that the most effective leaders understand how to adopt the needed leadership style relying upon it. The situation may differ by its organization’s structure, the form of information required to address a problem, and the time available to create the resolution. In any given situation, the best outcomes are if the deeds and ideas of a leader correspond to the expectations and needs of the followers in a given situation.
The studies of leadership behavior theory on specific conduct of leaders and distinguish their leadership style in three various distinguishable types. These include the laissez-faire style, the autocratic leadership style, and the democratic leadership. The spectrum of various safety and quality of care circumstances requires diverse leadership styles (Stanley, 2017). The health care industry needs leaders to use whatever approach necessary to enhance the safety and quality of care healthcare facilities to avoid the rising number of deaths and injuries among people and healthcare workers during this COVID-19 pandemic.
The Best Leadership Style for Northwell Health Care
The healthcare industry structure is similar to that of the military. During a health emergency circumstance, a direct order demands an immediate need to comprehend and conduct the given leadership instructions. The leader has the decisive responsibility of ensuring that everybody is safe, whereas reducing loss may only be performed under the autocratic leadership style (Stanley, 2017). In the healthcare industry, there is no space and time for pausing and discussing ideas and opinions the nurses and doctors as soldiers in the army should respond to the immediate emergency circumstance that requires urgent measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic spread and save lives. Hence, to adhere to this, doctors and nurses in the line of duty only follow the command of their leader and guidance.
Further, because of the risky environment of healthcare workers, an authoritarian leadership style offers clear needs and expectations for what should be achieved, when the leader wants this to be achieved, and how. However, the main aim to attain sustainable success in the containment and control of COVID-19 pandemic Northwell Health care should establish safer approaches and lower the safety associated healthcare providers being infected with the virus that influences the long-term operational capacity (Wadali & Khosla, 2021). The health industry’s operational unit culture is most efficient and effective in reacts to an autocratic regulations implementation. The utilization of other styles of leadership may be afforded in non-life safety circumstances of the nurses and physicians (healthcare workers).
Incorporation into the Mission and Vision of Northwell Health Care
Currently, the delivery of safe and high-quality medical care is the basis of Northwell Health Care’s vision and mission. The health care industry needs to have safety and quality of care approaches to continue to serve and protect society by responding to medical issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic in society. The core values of dedication, integrity, loyalty, accountability, caring, and service cannot be attained with a lack of safety measures such as the use of PPTs (personal protection tools) for nurses and doctors to continue with their work. The development and data of new safety laws and regulations are originally given to the leadership of the national health sector. The reinforced safety plans are then incorporated from the top down to the lower rank member in the healthcare service by integrating the following actions (Stanley, 2017):
- Setting clear expectations and needs
- Setting an example
- Promoting a safe culture
- Executing wellness and safety programs
- Offering and mandating proper training for nurses and doctors during this COVID-19 pandemic
- Empowering all the members of the Health care sector
- Holding healthcare providers accountable for their safety measures
- Ensuring healthcare providers stay positive and remain realistic to their mandate
- Enhancing value for stakeholders in the health care industry
Health care unit stakeholders are categorized into two classes: external and internal stakeholders. External stakeholders are patients, insurance firms, special interest groups, and pharmaceutical companies. Internal stakeholders comprise healthcare workers. The authoritarian style of leadership will guarantee the deliverance and need for all Northwell Health Care workers to abide by the improved safety practices to control the spread of coronavirus (Wadali & Khosla, 2021).
Conclusion
The statistics and organizational culture inside the health sector safety approach have remained unaltered for many years. The reinforcement and development of new safety protocols should be executed to minimize the number of safety-associated deaths and infections of healthcare employees in the line of duty. Using an authoritarian leadership style practice is the most effective and current approach to leadership that may best infuse required measures that may enhance Northwell Health Care employees’ safety in the future.
References
Shaukat, N., Ali, D. M., & Razzak, J. (2020). Physical and mental health impacts of COVID-19 on healthcare workers: A scoping review. International Journal of Emergency Medicine, 13(1).
Small, A., Gist, D., Souza, D., Dalton, J., Magny-Normilus, C., & David, D. (2016). Using Kotter’s change model for implementing bedside handoff. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 31(4), 304-309.
Stanley, D. (2017). Leadership theories and styles. Clinical Leadership in Nursing and Healthcare, 25-46.
Wadali, J. S., & Khosla, P. K. (2021). Healthcare 4.0 in future capacity building for pandemic control. Algorithms for Intelligent Systems, 87-107.