In the process of nursing care, a significant role is played by the leaders of junior medical personnel who can be an example for their colleagues and coordinate their activities according to specific goals. The task of such staff is to evaluate current workflow indicators, as well as use appropriate strategies that can help monitor work and control the number of resources. The use of these techniques by nursing leaders is an indication of their professionalism and interest in achieving high-quality care.
Nurse Leaders’ Tasks and Challenges
Data for decision making and change processes can be used quite efficiently. Nurse leaders can take advantage of this information and ensure that patients receive the most qualified assistance from hospital staff and clinics. Having necessary knowledge, for example, what method of intervention is the most optimal, it is possible to make sure that patients can count on comprehensive care.
In the course of any changes that occur at the stage of medical care, nurse leaders should identify all the supporters or opponents of particular decisions. The authoritarian way of managing a team is not the most successful method, especially when it comes to medicine (Ferguson, 2015). According to the views of colleagues, nurse leaders can make a relatively complete picture of the benefits or harms of various changes and the conditions for their implementation.
The transformational nurse leader sometimes faces severe problems, and many of them are connected with the introduction of particular changes in the work process. For example, the disagreement of some employees concerning specific innovations may become an obstacle to the implementation of a new program. Also, as Ross, Fitzpatrick, Click, Krouse, and Clavelle (2014) note, planned changes do not always lead to expected results, and nurse leaders are forced to immediately change their strategy. Thus, problems can arise, and it is essential to solve them timely.
Nurse Leaders’ Strategies and Techniques
One of the strategies by which a nurse leader can successfully monitor the results and structure of changes is consultations with the most experienced members of the team. As a rule, highly skilled workers can predict the outcomes of some innovations due to their experience. Another strategy that can be useful is to encourage the activities of subordinates for the benefit of implementing new techniques and changes (Ross et al., 2014). The higher the motivation is, the more successful the result will be.
In case some changes do not go as planned, nurse leaders are responsible for any consequences. If there is any unforeseen situation that adversely affects the work process, senior staff should consider immediately how to correct the situation. Otherwise, accusations for the wrong implementation of new ideas and techniques will be imposed on nurse leaders.
Within the past six months, several evident changes have occurred in my healthcare organization. In particular, it is about changing the schedule of work of junior medical personnel, which was adjusted in accordance with the staff’s requests. Also, the procedure for worker insurance has been improved. The role of nurse leaders in these changes is quite significant since it is these people who helped the subordinates to work more conveniently and at the same time perform their immediate duties even better.
To ensure that all the staff is sufficiently motivated to facilitate relevant changes even in conditions of limited human and financial resources, several strategies can be used. For example, according to Denker, Sherman, Hutton-Woodland, Brunell, and Medina (2015), work planning can take the form of individual interviews with competent staff. Also, another strategy is to monitor the interest of personnel by checking available resources and assessing the effectiveness of their use. Both techniques are quite useful and justified.
Conclusion
The role of nurse leaders in medical care is rather significant, and the use of specific techniques and strategies by them is an indication of their professionalism. The impact of these people on the staff is sufficiently useful and successful if some successes are achieved due to the decisions and changes made. The ability to competently assess potential performance results is the quality of professional nurse leaders.
References
Denker, A. L., Sherman, R. O., Hutton-Woodland, M., Brunell, M. L., & Medina, P. (2015). Florida nurse leader survey findings: Key leadership competencies, barriers to leadership, and succession planning needs. Journal of Nursing Administration, 45(7/8), 404-410.
Ferguson, S. L. (2015). Transformational nurse leaders key to strengthening health systems worldwide. Journal of Nursing Administration, 45(7/8), 351-353.
Ross, E. J., Fitzpatrick, J. J., Click, E. R., Krouse, H. J., & Clavelle, J. T. (2014). Transformational leadership practices of nurse leaders in professional nursing associations. Journal of Nursing Administration, 44(4), 201-206.