Strategic Leadership in Nursing

Leadership in nursing refers to positions for by professionals who are in senior positions that other registered nurses to oversee staff performance and patient satisfaction. Strategic leadership in nursing is all about using most effective strategies by nursing leaders to tackle challenges in performance by employees and patient care to create a health care environment that is more positive.

Nursing leadership professionals in modern multi-faceted healthcare create systems to enhance the harmonious working of various departments, facilities, and workforce. These conditions allow optimal patient care in all medical settings whether it is clinic, hospital or a large medical center. Nursing leadership is a broad term encompassing professionals with advanced knowledge in the specialty, but their supervisory or executive titles can fit into one of these roles:

A good nursing leader should be someone who can do the following:

Improve quality of patient care

Nursing leadership is suitable for someone with a mission to identify the best ways of improving the quality of patient care and impart the relevant skills to other nurses to improve their performance in healthcare system even in the future. Quality care starts at the bedside. Nursing leadership may go beyond administration or management, but a nurse leader should always have patient care as the core goal. It is more of an action than an office administrative position that requires a consistent evolution of patient outcome, assessing risk and making decisions when it is necessary to change care plans.

Inspire Staff

A nurse leader should encourage the staff they lead and inspire them to achieve highest performance standards. One of the effective ways is to use a transformational leadership style that creates an environment for leaders and juniors to help each other in advancing their targets to higher performance. Motivating staff increases staff productivity, improves their morale and increase job satisfaction. Nurse leaders should be good role models in exhibiting compassion to humanize the workplace and prompt other nurses to extend the same behavior to patients.

Solve Problems

It is necessary that nurse leaders be assertive to resolve issues by using methods that might be uncomfortable but need quick attention. There is a need to pull a nurse aside to solve a problem that is affecting their service delivery without drawing the attention of other people. It is a respectful way of addressing an issue without embarrassing the nurse or intruding into the privacy.

Develop Efficient Methods Communication

Nursing leadership succeeds when there is a high level of awareness about the on goings in various departments within a health care facility. It is essential to create ways of ways of interacting with the members of staff and fast exchange of information. For example, if you prefer using emails or office telephone, make sure that you will be spending adequate time at your desk.

Encouraging transparency by arranging meeting and methods in which members from various departments will interact to know roles of each person is also essential. Harmony in the teams encourages transparency, trust, and respect.

Reward Performers

Rewarding employees who perform well makes them understand that someone values them. It boosts the morale of employees translating to improved workplace performance as they regard it to be a communication that the leader recognizes their efforts.

To know the best performers, nurse leaders need to spend some time knowing the staff better by having regular discussions in a relaxed environment. It is an essential step in evaluating the strengths, aspirations, and weaknesses of each. When a nurse leader knows the skills for each nurse, it is possible to maximize their input. For instance, a nurse with good communications will be an asset when serving first-time patients or train new colleagues.

Strategic leadership in nursing requires balancing the needs of patients, nurses and management to build trust, respect, and satisfaction for everyone.