Medical practice is associated with multiple challenges occurring in a working environment. Over the past decade, nursing managers have developed several strategies to address and resolve the issues that fall under their jurisdiction. No matter what kind of approach a leader takes, the goal of any intervention is to ensure that a nurse works in favorable conditions. The researchers admit that successfully applied leadership styles usually have a positive impact on nurses’ performance and their devotion to work (Lin, MacLennan, Hunt, & Cox, 2015).
It is currently known that the problem of nurse turn-over is one of the most acute in the sphere of medicine. The purpose of the present study is to discover how managers address this issue and which approaches best fit to combat the problem.
The Problem of Nurse Turn-Over and Nurse Shortage
Recent studies have identified the presence of a turn-over problem in the sphere of nursing. The researchers emphasize that at the moment the USA experiences a severe shortage of Registered Nurses (Osuji, Aladi, & El-Hussein, 2014). The given fact negatively influences the overall healthcare system since patients receive less care than they should and clinics’ performance becomes profoundly undermined. As the authors admit, an extremely competitive healthcare environment and increasing incidence of illnesses arrive as the dominant forces to stimulate turn-over and shortage among medical workers (Osuji et al., 2014).
Many nurses opt for working in the private sector, for they are convinced that the compensation there is higher compared to the governmental facilities. Also, one should not neglect the issue of intense relationships between nurses and managers, which could also nudge one to change a working environment.
Comparing Theories, Skills, and Roles that Nursing Leaders and Managers Utilize
As referred to in clinical settings, managers’ roles are narrowed down to providing nurses with suitable working conditions and monitoring their achievements. To fulfill all of the issued tasks properly, leaders need to make use of various principles, theories, and skills to help them to optimize the performance of nurse practitioners. One of the theories states that through developing communicational skills, managers improve their chances to successfully resolve problematic situations (Salem, Baddar, & AL-Mugatti, 2016).
When establishing a close contact, one finds himself/herself in a better position to unveil the roots of the emerging issue. Salem et al. (2016) admit that “satisfied nurses tend to be more loyal to their organization” and show higher devotion to working duties (p. 49). However, the level of their satisfaction depends on a manager’s ability to communicate with his/her subordinates.
In contrast to personal contact, a survey theory defends the principles of impersonal communication. By conducting a survey, nurse managers acquire an opportunity to take a complex approach to the issue investigation and consider various points of view (Lin et al., 2015). With extensive data at hand, leaders can develop effective strategies to eliminate misconceptions and neutralize possible conflicts. Therefore, it is expected that managers refer to a surveying method each time the need for an in-depth study of the occurrence arises.
The Approach that Best Fits My Leadership Style
With regards to the fact that communicational skills arrive as the most essential for a manager to successfully lead the staff, I choose a communication-centered approach as a predominant one in my leadership practice. To arrange productive nurses’ work and motivate their total involvement, a leader must first establish a proper dialogue and foster two-way cooperation (Lin et al., 2015). The clinical staff should be allowed to discuss their concerns openly and state which factors affect or refrain from their performance. When a nurse manager is aware of all issues occurring in a clinic, he/she may consider a more significant number of aspects and thus, plan issue-prevention activities more effectively.
Funding Sources to Address
When searching for reliable sources of financing, nurse managers need to address various state and local organizations allocating funds to support medical units. One might find it peculiar that the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has already granted $94 million to train the new generation of healthcare providers (Salem et al., 2016). Joining this initiative would provide clinics with formidable assistance in fighting a nurse turn-over issue. It is also recommended that clinicians work side by side with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) to drag governmental officials to the identified problem and make other public organizations involved in the process too.
Conclusion
The issue of nurse turnover and nurse shortage has proven to negatively impact the U.S. healthcare system. Currently, nursing managers search for effective strategic approaches to address the problem and stimulate nurses to stay within a chosen clinic. The research findings show that the proper implementation of communicational patterns helps leaders to raise nurses’ work efficiency and improve the performance of an entire clinic. However, to stimulate workers’ further devotion, managers need to look for reliable sources of funding and gain more state and public organizations on their side.
References
Lin, P. Y., MacLennan, S., Hunt, N., & Cox, T. (2015). The influences of nursing transformational leadership style on the quality of nurses’ working lives in Taiwan: A cross-sectional quantitative study. BMC Nursing, 14(1), 1-9.
Osuji, J., Aladi, F., & El-Hussein, M. (2014). Understanding the factors that determine registered nurses’ turnover intentions. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice, 28(2), 140-161.
Salem, O. A., Baddar, F., & AL-Mugatti, H. M. (2016). Relationship between nurses job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Journal of Nursing and Health Science, 5(1), 49-55.