Leadership Styles in Nursing - Essay Example

Introduction Leadership is all about influencing other people in the organization to accomplish a task. It involves directing an organization in that it becomes more coherent and cohesive. Leadership style can therefore be defined as approach for providing direction. Leadership styles are also very essential in any healthcare facility. Nurses are normally required to take either follower or leadership roles in the healthcare organisation. This is regardless of their formal position therein. This paper is an exploration of the role of leaders and followers and their impact on patient care in a given clinical situation. (Ellen, 2004) Scenario This is a scenario where as a registered nurse; you are assigned to a busy emergency department. Patients are triaged on presentation which at times requires some of them to wait for quite long periods. A waiting patient’s relative alerts staff of a sudden change in the patient’s condition that requires immediate attention. There are various leadership styles that can be used to help deal with the situation illustrated above. These are authoritarian, democratic and leisez faire. Authoritarian The authoritarian is also called formal type of leadership. In this type of leadership, the leader simply tells employees or followers how he or she wants the work done and what he wants employees to do without getting their views. In autocratic leadership, there is high level of supervision. It follows polices very strictly and is characterized with very little motivation. The above situation can also be handled with the authoritarian style of leadership. As a registered nurse, authoritarian leadership can be used by ordering the other nurses to get the patient to the examination room. This has to be carried out very fast since the life of the patient may be at stake. (Janice, 2004) As a registered nurse it is very important to monitor the reaction of the other nurses who are followers per say. This is to ensure that they carry out instructions to the latter. The registered nurse has to order the other nurses to ensure that the patient does not have clothes that are so binding. (Janice, 2004) This is through telling them to unloosen any tight fitting areas of the garment. At the same time the registered nurse has to quickly alert the doctor on duty of the emergency situation while the other nurses help out the patient with any first aid that has to be administered. Followers’ role The followers’ role in this style of leadership is to follow instructions to the latter without question. Democratic The other type of leadership that can be used in the emergency scenario is the democratic or the participative style. Participative leadership involves other people on the decision making process. The leader in this case can include one of the followers when making decisions for the scenario or organisation. This involves making decisions concerning what should be done and how the tasks should be done in the organization. This does not mean that the followers make the final decision. It means that the leader considers the contributions of the followers but comes up with a final decision. Research shows that using this style doesn’t mean that the manager or leader is weak. It is rather a form of strength. (Kuhn, 2003) The democratic style of leadership can also be demonstrated in the emergency scenario. In this case the registered nurse on duty can identify a nurse whose work has been commendable. The registered nurse can then assign her the duty of dealing with the situation. This is through informing the nurse that she or he has to get to the patient and analyse her situation as quickly as possible. The nurse delegated the duty should then give the registered nurse feedback on what possible action can be taken. In case it is a very needy situation then the patient can be allowed to see the doctor before the rest. In case it is not very serious as the relative implies, then the patient can wait for the appointed time. If this is the case then the patient has to be closely monitored to see whether his or her condition will worsen or is a bit stable till the doctor’s examination. In this case, the registered nurse involves another nurse in making the decision concerning the patient. He or she does not make the decision alone. This is very practical and in most cases leads to the best results. Followers’ role In this leadership style, the followers’ role is to reason out the best way to handle the situation. They have the responsibility of making viable decisions on their own. They however have to be accountable to the leader that is the registered nurse in this case. Free reign This is also another leadership style that is always used by managers and leaders in organizations. This involves allowing followers to make the decisions at the work place. In most cases, the employees or followers have vast experience in handling the same situations in the organisation. The leader in this case has full confidence that whatever decision they make, it is the best. This leadership style is also referred to as Laissez fair leadership. This is French term that means leave it to be. This implies that a leader lets the employees or the team to work on their own. This is without supervision etc (Maundy, 2001) In the scenario where a patient’s relative alerts the registered nurse on the worsening state of the patient, the nurse can use the free reign type of leadership. First of all, he or she needs to identify two to three nurses that she knows that have the capability to handle the situation. The registered nurse can then let them deal with the situation as they so wish. In this case, the registered nurse is more than sure that the nurses will make the best decision to the benefit of the patient. It is very practical when the followers or employees are reliable. The group of nurses also have to be fully accountable to the registered nurse in charge of the emergency department. (Newstrom, 1997) In most of the instances where delegative or free reign leadership is used, the employees have gone through organizational learning and training and therefore they are fully equipped in handling most of the issues arising. Research shows that this method is very effective when the task is delegated to a specific group of people. This creates accountability than if it is so open to everyone. Followers’ role In the leisez faire style of leadership, the followers’ role is to do whatever they want to do. Accountability is not so high like in the democratic style of leadership. Multicratic This leadership style is actually a combination of both democratic and autocratic styles of leadership. In this case the leader allows others to participate if there is the need to do so. He also gives a structure on what needs to take place depending on the need too. Leader gives support to the followers too. The case study concerning a patient’s worsening health in emergency can be handled with this style of leadership. The registered nurse can give full instructions on what needs to be done but also allow followers to make their own further decisions where necessary. The nurse however gives them his or her full support. (Ellen, 2004) Followers’ role The followers’ role in the multicratic style of leadership is to follow instructions to the latter. They however have the freedom to give in their ideas on how they think the situation can be handled. They have to tell the leader the feedback on the progress as they continue to handle the situation. Conclusion Leadership is all about influencing others towards achievement of a common goal. There are various leadership styles that can be incorporated in the healthcare scenario. They include authoritarian, democratic, leisez faire and multicratic. There is no single style of leadership that is best; however all can be used appropriately depending on the situation at hand. The emergency situation of a patient’s health worsening while in the waiting lounge can be handled using any of the above mentioned styles of leadership. Followers in all the named styles of leadership have roles that they have to accomplish in order to enhance attainment of goals. Read More