Leadership Project: Part One



Management Styles that have Gone Wrong

Melody Shaw & Ashley Sherman

NRSA 439

Nursing Leadership & Management

Nicole Heimgartner

May 24, 2013

Abstract

In the profession of nursing, there are three types of leadership styles. The three types of leadership styles are outlined as followed: autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. The investigation of these three leadership styles will be completed from a nurse’s perspective. A nursing manager that favors an autocratic leadership style needs to be attentive in a way they do not leave their staff feeling powerless. This type of leadership can lead the nursing staff feeling psychologically strained. When a democratic leadership style is not used appropriately, the staff can be left feeling confused and frustrated. A frustrated nursing staff that does not trust their manager’s leadership style will burn out on their workload faster than a staff member who is satisfied with their leadership. A nurse manager that favors a laissez-faire leadership style can be perceived as passive, lazy, and leaving the staff feeling emotionally exhausted. Studies have been completed throughout the world on leadership techniques and the nursing consensus seems to be the same across the board. Nursing Supervisors have the option on how they will lead their staff. If they choose the wrong way, the nursing staff will not be a cohesive unit. Great leadership is based off of the perception of those who work under the leader. A nursing manager’s job is to represent and advocate for the nurses. If the nurse manager is not following the proper mixture of leadership styles, they will lose the trust of their nursing staff.

Management Styles that have Gone Wrong

Nursing leadership can either make or break the nursing staff. With a bad leader, the nursing staff will feel unappreciated and unheard. Each nurse manager must choose the way they lead their staff members. “Leadership styles impact employees job satisfaction, professional development and retention, which is reflected in the quality of nursing care” (Vesterinen, Isola, & Paasivaara, 2009). Different leadership techniques allow the nurse manager to manipulate through situations that may come up on a daily basis. “One essential area of a nurse manager’s management skills is the use of different leadership styles” (Vesterinen, Suhonen, Isola & Paasivaara, 2012). If nurse managers choose the proper technique, a bad situation is resolved quickly. If the manager chooses the wrong way to handle the situation, it will continue to grow and fester until it affects everyone on the team.

A nurse manager who uses laissez-faire leadership technique is hands off and puts the work into the hands of the nurses. This leadership style is most known for causing burnout among nurses “Passive leadership behaviors of the nurse manager, such as laissez-faire leadership, are exposing factors for burnout, particularly emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, among nursing personnel.” (Kanste, 2008). “This leadership style can also cause “decreased the feelings of personal accomplishment among respondents in a supervisory position” (Kanste, Kyngas, & Nikkila, 2007). Without a leader, the nursing staff will not be as cohesive because they are all working alone. “Laissez-faire leadership is the negation of leadership. It is shown when a leader avoids taking a stand on issues, clarifying expectations and addressing conflicts” (Kanste, Kaariainen, & Kyngas, 2009). Without a proper leader, there is an increased chance of the staff members feeling physically and emotionally exhausted.

Experienced nurses who have worked together as a team for years may be able to work with a leader who utilizes laissez-faire leadership techniques. With a confident team, the leader does not have to make many decisions. “The laissez-faire leader observes followers working from a distance and does not tend to intercede unless necessitated. Caution that if this style of leadership is used inappropriately, it can precipitate apathy and disinterest in staff and a frenetic department” (Murphy, 2005). Even with great teamwork, and years of experience there could be conflict, chaos and a high risk of burnout.

Another option for the nurse manager’s leadership technique would be a democratic leadership style. This style includes the nursing staff and allows them to make decisions together. Some nurses have said that with democratic leader “…she is working a lot with us and she has difficulties performing her own duties as a nurse manager” (Vesterinen, Suhonen, Isola and Paasivaara, 2012). Democratic leaders must also ensure the entire staff understands that even though they are included in the discussion of the plan, the leader is the one who makes the final decision. The democratic leader must be strong enough to make an educated decision even when it could make a staff member angry.

Democratic leadership is a time consuming process with discussion of a plan for patient care. People who are usually quick to come up with a plan can get frustrated. Yet with the frustration also comes a decrease in happiness in the workplace. “Democratic leadership is supportive of group interaction and decision-making. Staffs are motivated by economic or ego awards and supported by direction and guidance” (Murphy, 2005). Burnout occurs less in a facility where the leadership uses democratic leadership.

In emergency situations, autocratic or authoritative leadership may be used. This is when there is no input from the staff members and the leaders make each decision on their own. In emergencies, it is good to have a person in charge and directing exactly what everyone does, and where they go. This “style can motivate people during stressful or critical periods” (Zydziunaite, Lepaite, & Suominen, 2013). Florence Nightingale, a historical nursing figure, was known for being an autocratic leader. “Her leadership and management style permeated nursing management for decades, and continued to dominate health care settings established and managed by the religious orders” (Murphy 2005). In Nightingale’s times nurses needed autocratic leadership. Today it should only be used during a crisis.

If Authoritative leadership is used in non-emergency situation, the staff members will begin feeling powerless. Job satisfaction would go down, and burnout would increase. Nurses say “Authoritarian leadership do not enhance the importance of nurse management such as listening, empowering, conflict management, championing nurses, teamwork, communication and leadership or being an agent of change” (Makobo, 2012). With only one way communication for directions of care, the nursing staff’s resentment will continue to grow. This resentment will not only affect the staff members, but the patients they care for also.

The best way to resolve these leadership issues is to be proactive and have a plan of action. Having a workshop that educates nurse managers about their current leadership styles will be a great way to resolve leadership issues. “It is important that nurse managers have skills to reflect on their own leadership style and receive feedback about it. That gives them tools to use different leadership styles in different situations” (Vesterinen, Suhonen, Isola, & Paasivaara, 2012). By educating and giving nurse managers the tools to be successful in their leadership roles can be very valuable. The training can show the managers about current effective leadership styles and at the same time give them an opportunity to reflect on their own leadership style.

Literature shows that nurse managers that have gone through workshops state this gave them an opportunity “to examine their leadership style from another perspective” (Vesterinen, Isola, & Paasivaara, 2009). With that in mind, it is also important that nurse managers are “taught about contemporary leadership styles such as transformational leadership and visionary leadership and also about supervision, role modeling and caring” (Maboko, 2012). By incorporating this aspect into the workshop, this gives the nurse manager an opportunity to ingrain different leadership strategies into their own style of leadership. By having a workshop for nurse managers this would allow them to have time to reflect on their own leadership style. This workshop would give the nurse manager time for “training, education and professional development in key leadership competencies” (Murphy, 2005). This workshop plan is the key in resolving many leadership issues among nurse managers.

Implementing the mandatory workshop for nurse managers could be difficult if approached at the wrong angle. The nurse managers need to know that this workshop is required and essential in making their leadership styles more effective. This workshop will approximately take two days and will be held annually for all nurse managers. Certified instructors that are proficient in different leadership styles will teach the workshop. This annual workshop will focus on different leadership techniques that are appropriate and will be the most effective for certain situations. This class will be hands on and also have lecture sections. Having mock scenarios will also give the nurse managers the opportunity to demonstrate and practice what they have learned. This will be a great opportunity for the certified instructors to provide the nurse managers with feedback. By doing this, it allows the nurse manager to become comfortable and familiar with effective leadership style in certain situations.

Evaluating the nurse manager’s leadership strategies can be rather simple. Biannual surveys will help predict how effective the nurse manager’s leadership style is. The biannual surveys will be incorporated when each employee has a job performance evaluation done. This survey will be for all the nursing staff, and the survey will ask them question pertaining to the effectiveness of their nurse manager’s leadership styles. Biannual surveys will also be given to the nurse managers at this time. However, their survey questions will look a little different. They will be asked question that will be incorporated into the next’s year annual nurse manager’s leadership workshop. Surveys from both the nursing staff and the managers will be a useful tool in evaluating the success of the leadership styles among the nurse manager’s. With this evaluation method in place this plan will work. This evaluating tool will be able to gage what needs to be focused on for the next year’s workshop.

This workshop is designed to correct the management styles that have gone wrong. The purpose of this workshop is to teach the nurse managers effective leadership styles. By doing this we are recognizing and showing the nurse managers great way to resolve the leadership issues they were having with their staff. The intent of a leader is not make their nursing staff will feel unappreciated and unheard. The intention of a leader is to guide the staff, make them feel appreciated and heard. A leader is not developed overnight. Leaders must realize, it is crucial to choose an effective way to lead their staff members and this is what the annual workshop will achieve.

A good leader will create great team cohesiveness and will decrease the amount of staff members unhappy with their jobs. By learning how to utilize the different leadership techniques they will be able to overcome any scenario that occurs on a daily basis. Not only will great leadership improve the well-being of the staff members, it will also improve the wellbeing of the patients that the staff is caring for.

Reference

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