Professional nurses are responsible for taking care of individuals, families, and are qualified for developing an optimal care plan with the assistance of other medical personnel, such as physicians. The primary goal of nurses is to provide patients with necessary health assistance to improve the quality of their lives (Fahlberg & Toomey, 2016). The notion of serving in nursing is mainly associated with helping individuals and communities achieve their health goals.
For instance, nurses are the most significant actors when it comes to comprehensive care – they support patients throughout their journey in a hospital setting, identifying their needs, and informing doctors of implications (Best, 2020). Nurses serve by providing patients with all-encompassing care; first, they conduct an assessment of patients’ wellbeing by considering their social, economic, physiological data (Fahlberg & Toomey, 2016). Then, they form a diagnosis by examining symptoms and other factors, develop a plan of recovery, implement that plan, and evaluate the efficacy of performed interventions.
Since nursing does not represent only a single function, the notion of serving is different based on various environments. For instance, in hospital settings, nurses help diagnose patients’ conditions, help develop a care plan and assist patients with navigating themselves through their healthcare venture (Fahlberg & Toomey, 2016). In managerial positions, nurses serve by providing other medical personnel with favorable working conditions (Best, 2020). The nature of service depends on the type of nurse, where they works, and what functions they perform.
Although nursing is tightly associated with serving others, it does not yet fully align with the notion of servant leadership. However, some actions of nurse leaders can be attributed to servant leadership. When a nurse leader is concerned with the quality of care, workplace safety, the professionalism of the personnel, and the accessibility to health services, and proposes relevant initiatives, they act as a servant leader (Fahlberg & Toomey, 2016).
The paradigm of servant leadership views a leader as someone more concerned with helping others achieve their goals. In the context of nursing, nurse mentors that aspire to assist new nurses or students in achieving professional excellence, and managers that listen to the needs of their team members and alleviate cultural and other differences to promote teamwork, can be considered servant leaders (Fahlberg & Toomey, 2016). To fully align with the servant leadership paradigm, nursing should represent not only patient care but also productive relationships, a community where everyone’s opinion is valuable, and a platform for helping others grow.
It is imperative for nurses to understand that continuous professional development is critical in providing patients with quality care. Therefore, healthcare leadership should also concentrate on creating productive learning environments and encourage staff to participate in personal education. Previously, it has been considered that the authentic leadership style is the most appropriate for achieving nursing goals (Best, 2020).
Authentic leaders are self-aware, know how to understand others, and welcome leadership transparency (Best, 2020). However, this paradigm is not sufficient to cause a change in organizational cultures – although nurses represent half of the global medical workforce, only a few nurses hold decision-making positions (Best, 2020). Servant leadership, on the other hand, can unite all nurses through encouraging ubiquitous collaboration and professional development.
Secularism is the idea of using other people to achieve organizational or personal goals. This concept contrasts with the servant leadership paradigm because the latter is more concerned with helping others achieve their aims and encouraging their development (Best, 2020). Most of the leaders in the business world can be considered secular leaders because they hire personnel and form teams to make them accomplish the leaders’ objectives.
References
Best, C. (2020). Is there a place for servant leadership in nursing? Practice Nursing, 31(3), 128-132.
Fahlberg, B., & Toomey, R. (2016). Servant leadership: A model for emerging nurse leaders. Nursing2020, 46(10), 49-52.