Introduction
Ann Stanley is a nurse leader who is currently employed as a nurse manager in the Obstetrics Department of North Shore Medical Center in Miami, Florida. Mrs. Stanley has received a Master’s degree at Northcentral University (Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Management and Organizational Leadership). Prior to that, Mrs. Stanley completed the RN to BSN program at the University of Illinois and received a Bachelor’s degree. As it is noted by Mrs. Stanley, when she decided to become a nurse, she did not limit herself geographically when choosing nursing schools where to study and healthcare facilities where to work. As a result, she used an opportunity to work in various environments in different states of the US, receiving necessary licenses. Mrs. Stanley has the experience of working as a registered nurse, a clinical nurse, a nurse administrator, and a nurse manager. The purpose of this paper is to present the information regarding Mrs. Stanley’s leadership style and experience, as well as challenges she faced in her 12-year practice.
Leadership Style
Mrs. Stanley believes that her current leadership style can be defined as transformational leadership because now she works on creating a certain vision for nurses and inspiring them to achieve higher results and meet strategic goals. Much attention is paid to teamwork and supporting nurse employees in their activities (Foon, 2016). Furthermore, Mrs. Stanley provides opportunities for nurses’ independent decision-making and problem-solving. Being a nurse manager, Mrs. Stanley focuses not on leading and guiding nurses, but on helping them to implement a positive change in an organization. However, the development of this nurse’s personal leadership style was rather prolonged.
At the beginning of her career as a nurse who performed administrative functions, Mrs. Stanley followed the principles of transactional leadership. She performed her responsibilities effectively, but working with team members, she was oriented toward completing tasks rather than focusing on the vision and strategy. Mrs. Stanley paid much attention to providing instructions for nurses and controlling their activities in order to achieve higher results. Thus, the focus was on concrete actions and feedback rather than on the overall change and goals (Balsanelli et al., 2018). The development of the leadership style was a long process associated with the development of Mrs. Stanley’s career. When she was working as an administrator with a limited scope of duties, she was oriented toward following a transactional leadership style. However, working as a manager and being responsible for realizing strategic goals for the department, Mrs. Stanley changed her approach to leading people.
Mrs. Stanley’s professional experience and changes in job positions and responsibilities helped her to develop an appropriate leadership style. Currently, the nurse can express ideas and decisions associated with a transactional leadership style when it is suitable. However, in most cases, Mrs. Stanley acts as a transformational leader who empowers nurses in the department and contributes to increasing their commitment and job satisfaction (Manning, 2016). This nurse manager believes that it is possible to combine the most effective features of the two leadership styles to achieve specific goals.
Future Planning
Mrs. Stanley is focused on developing professional and leadership qualities in other nurses who work in the Obstetrics Department of North Shore Medical Center. Her goal is to guarantee that each nurse has an opportunity to develop into a nurse leader when receiving the required education and training. This approach allows for following the principle of sustainability as, in the future, the department will depend on the resources and potential of those nurses who are now led by Mrs. Stanley (Huston, 2019). Therefore, much attention is paid to communicating with nurses, empowering, and supporting them on their paths to becoming a leader.
It is important to note that Mrs. Stanley belongs to such professional organizations as the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nursing, Florida Association of Nurse Practitioners, Florida Nurses Association, and National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health. She states that the listed nursing professional organizations, as well as other national and state organizations, are highly impactful in developing strong and effective nursing leaders. The reason is that participation in such organizations opens access to forums, seminars, and conferences for nurse leaders (Huston, 2019). Additionally, training is provided for nurse professionals to develop their leadership skills. When communicating in a nursing community with strong leaders, young nurses receive an opportunity to develop their potential.
Current Issues and Trends
Among the most urgent challenges in the sphere of nursing with reference to the example of North Shore Medical Center in Miami, Mrs. Stanley has identified the nurse shortage, the decreased productivity, the affected quality of care, and the lack of funding. These challenges are determined by the current spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they can be discussed as influencing health care and nursing in all the states of the US. During the past two or five years, the shortage of nurses was also a crucial issue, but it did not affect health care so significantly. Funding, the lack of resources, and ethics were also regarded as challenges to be addressed.
The nurse shortage influences not only the practice setting associated with North Shore Medical Center at the local level but also all healthcare facilities at national and global levels. In the United States and Florida in particular, the problem is that the nursing profession is not attractive to young individuals. There is a constant need for qualified nurses in healthcare settings because the productivity of working nurses decreases due to fatigue, and the quality of patient care becomes affected (Huston, 2019). The related challenges include the necessity to work with the multi-generational workforce in spite of the fact that the percentage of young nurses is still comparably low. At North Shore Medical Center, nurse managers faced the necessity of reconsidering schedules and working plans for nurses significantly in order to address the needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of nursing staff.
Conclusion
The communication with an experienced nurse leader during an interview has allowed for discussing the most urgent challenges and trends in nursing and healthcare. It was important to learn the nurse’s opinion regarding the experienced challenges. Furthermore, it was also interesting to learn her future plans to support the idea of sustainability in nursing. In addition, the information learned about the development of a personal leadership style is helpful to determine the path for becoming an effective transformational leader. Therefore, the current focus is on designing a plan for developing as a leader in order to overcome the stage of being a transactional leader and become a transformation leader within a short period of time.
References
Balsanelli, A. P., David, D. R., & Ferrari, T. G. (2018). Nursing leadership and its relationship with the hospital work environment. Acta Paulista de Enfermagem, 31(2), 187-193. Web.
Foon, M. S. (2016). A conceptual framework of transformational and transactional leadership on nurse educators job satisfaction. IJSSHRes, 4(1), 596-605.
Huston, C. J. (2019). Professional issues in nursing: Challenges and opportunities (5th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
Manning, J. (2016). The influence of nurse manager leadership style on staff nurse work engagement. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 46(9), 438-443. Web.