DQ1
Re: Topic 1 DQ 1
As a registered nurse, it is important to develop both leadership and management skills. Despite similarities between the two roles, there are differences. The amount of power that a nurse manager has is designated by the specific organization. The managerial role of the registered nurse includes planning, organizing, staffing, evaluating, supervising, negotiating and representing. One with a managerial role is involved in making assignments and organizing tasks to be completed. They also need to encourage professional development. Offering feedback to staff is necessary. Unlike managers, nurse leaders have a wider variety of roles. They often lack authority when compared to the manager. A leader may have goals that do not reflect one’s organization. They must empower their staff and focus on interpersonal relationships (Whitney, 2018).
Despite differences in the roles of the nursing leader and the nursing manager, they have goals that overlap. Both the leader and manager think long-term. They think about the organization as a whole. They emphasize the organizations values, vision and motivation. They are politically knowledgeable. Both the nurse leader and manager are aware of change. Although aware of the current structure and procedure of the organization, they understand the need for change due to organizational growth (Whitney, 2018).
As mentioned above, one example of an overlap of the goals of a nurse manager and a nurse leader is the acceptance of the need for change in an organization. The nurse leader can facilitate change by taking advantage of this overlap, specifically when involved with staffing issues. When a leader identifies a short staffing issue, they can work together with a manager and find ways to improve costs by allowing more staff to be hired in their department. By working together, they can look at the unit’s budget and patient/staffing ratios to accomplish this change.
References
Whitney, S. (2018). Theories and concepts in leadership and management. In Grand Canyon University (Ed.), Nursing leadership & management: Leading and serving. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs451vn/nursing-leadership-and-management-leading-and-serving/v1.1/#/chapter/1
DQ2
Moses Etemesi
1 posts
Re: Topic 1 DQ 1
Nurse manager is a job title/position. They are selected for their responsibilities. This is not essentially true of nurse leaders. Nurse managers are charged with meeting goals and preserving policy, protocols, and standards of care for their floors, units, organization, as well as themselves. A nurse leader can have a following, although not necessarily given “formal power” still has influence. “often, others recognize a person’s leadership performance through guiding, offering opinions, and proposing courses of action. Leaders have a wider variety of responsibilities than managers, without a single definition” (Whitney, 2018)
As either a nurse manager or nurse leader, the goal should be the advancement of nursing as a whole. This can be done by advocating for improvement in patient care as well as care for each individual nurse, and the care team as a whole. Each piece of this puzzle is vital and must be handled elegantly. For example, a nurse that worked the floor with me a while ago, has decided to get into the education/quality department. After her transition, she pushed for the hospital to get state-of-the-art equipment. This is not to say that the equipment the hospital had was outdated: it would just allow for the staff to do their jobs more effectively with less hassle for the patient. It may seem a minor thing, but the initiative made way for others to pursue and research, and subsequently offer better solutions for floor care as well.
A nurse leader, one, can facilitate transformation by being the change that they desire to see. As a leader, something as simple as your presence can influence the workings of a floor/unit. Realization of a certain policy or practice can be easier, once it is seen in use by other colleagues, and the practice will propagate. Practicing what you preach is also the mark of a good leader, as “do as I say, not as I do” never gets very far in the real world.
Whitney, S. (2018). Nursing Leadership & Management: Leading and serving. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs451vn/nursing-leadership-andmanagement-leading-and-serving/v1.1/chapter/1
DQ3
Sarah Brilhart
2 posts
Re: Topic 1 DQ 1
Nursing requires leadership to help influence and inspire others to strive for the best. Leaders help to improve patient care. Leaders need certain key characteristics in order to inspire others and set the example. Some of these characteristics include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management (Whitney, 2020). Some differences between a leader and a manager is that managers focus on planning, organizing, and controlling. The use of strong leaders to help implement a plan and organize based on the direction of management helps to create change. Managers use their leaders to help influence changes, and updates.
Managers and leaders set goals that focus on the workplace, employees, and clients. These goals help to improve the workplace and quality of care. Because of the overlap in management and leaders, teamwork and knowing how to use strong leaders to create improvement is key. An example is Management utilizing its leadership on different shifts and spreading the knowledge at all times. Ensuring you have strong leaders to help guide and influence newer nurses helps to maintain staff and ensure safe a quality care is being done. This helps to relieve the stress off new nurses feeling overwhelmed.
One way that I feel I can facilitate change is to help rid the “eat your young” mentality. It is important for nurses to remember where they started, and help raise good nurses. Given the opportunity, I like to help and support nurses and nursing students. This creates a more comfortable work environment. One where new nurses feel comfortable asking questions and advocating for their patients.
Reference
Whitney, S. (2020, July 13). Theories and Concepts in Leadership and Management. Retrieved from Nursing Leadership & Management: Leading and Serving: https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs451vn/nursing-leadership-and-management-leading-and-serving/v1.1/#/chapter/1
DQ4
Francis Njinga Njinga
1 posts
Re: Topic 1 DQ 1
“Leader” and “manager” are sometimes used interchangeably. Those of us who have worked for, or with, someone who is one and not the other will see the error in viewing those terms as synonymous. An individual can be a great leader but not a manager. The nurse manager is involved in daily tasks and details related to patient care planning, quality improvement, goal setting and budgeting. Nurse managers also oversee staff schedules and assignments, performance, professional growth and the ongoing provision of educational and career enhancement opportunities. The manager is responsible for ensuring the staff carries out all assignments and is held accountable if they’re not.
Nurse leaders are less hands-on and more focused on setting standards, spearheading transformation and inspiring and influencing their teams. They are charged with fulfilling the organization’s mission, vision and strategic long-range plans. Their role involves policy setting and overseeing quality measures, dealing with regulatory compliance, certainly taking on fiscal responsibilities and more. They have responsibility and accountability for the overall quality of patient care delivery, patient and staff satisfaction, and organizational outcomes.
The “power” that the leader has acquired has come from others in the group. As a nurse leader, my focus would be empowering others, as well as motivating, inspiring, and influencing others. I would work on my communication and interpersonal skills. True leaders must be sincere and energetic. A leader may be a risk-taker, but not to the extent that others feel that they are reckless.
References
Williamson E. (2017). Nurse manager vs. nurse leader: What’s the difference? Retrieved from https://www.nurse.com/blog/2017/05/23/nurse-manager-vs-nurse-leader-whats-the-difference/
DQ5
Melissa Kennedy
3 posts
Re: Topic 1 DQ 1
Leadership and management are informally practiced by all nurses without specified roles, while both are equally important, managers are selected by the organization and placed in the position as seen fit to manipulate resources, manage staff, finances and time on the unit. Leaders often lack authority but obtain power through influence. They focus on empowering the managers to assist in empowering their staff.
The two can overlap as they accept the need for change and assist in facilitating that change in the organization. For instance they see the need for increased communication and can implement a board for suggestions for improvement in which staff can place their suggestions on a card, the manager can check the board daily or weekly and when meeting with the leader can bring up problems or suggestions and they can collaborate for change for not only one unit but possibly the entire organization.
As a nurse leader facilitating change can be difficult because people are set in their ways, however if you can research a specific change that has been implemented in other places and their results, you could motivate the staff with those facts and also understand that it does take time for people to change habits and be there to assist with questions or even concerns.
Whitney, S. 2019. Nursing Leadership and Management. Retrieved from https://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/grand-canyon-university/2018/nursing-leadership-and-management_leading-and-serving_1e.php
DQ6
Suzanne Krachie
1 posts
Re: Topic 1 DQ 2
James MacGregor Burns introduced a leadership theory known as the Transformational Leadership Theory, in 1978. This type of leader is one that empowers others. They inspire others. Oftentimes, they focus on long term success. This kind of leader is usually vision oriented. They take care of followers. It is common for them to identify similarities with followers(Whitney, 2018).Leaders that utilize the Transformational Leadership model create an environment where staff have a stronger commitment to their organization. Higher job satisfaction and work performance is often noted(Morales, 2020).This type of leadership theory has strengths and weaknesses in relation to nursing practice. One strength is that this type of leadership can help an organization meet their goals quickly. Unfortunately, a weakness is that it does not provide the stamina that is necessary to evolve a new culture for healthcare organizations(Morales, 2020).The Transformational Leadership Theory has pros and cons. Strengths include being great at discussing new ideas, being good at balancing both short-term and long-term goals and establishing a trusting relationship. Weaknesses consist of being ineffective initially and requiring an existing foundation in order for further development to occur. Therefore, this type of leadership is not a good fit for a new organization(Morales, 2020).
Another leadership theory is the Servant Leadership Theory. This theory, founded by Robert Greenleaf, expects leaders to act in a Christian like manner. One should listen to others and not pass judgment. This type of leader must think before reacting by using foresight and intuition. It is important for one that practices Servant Leadership to choose their words wisely (Whitney, 2018). The main idea of Servant Leadership is that they are here to serve the organization. The organization comes first. The higher you climb the clinical latter, the harder you’ll have to work and give of yourself (Hales, 2018). Servant Leadership has its strengths and weaknesses in relation to nursing practice. The pros are that decisions are made in the best interest of the organization and not in the best interest of just one or two individuals. Managers and leaders can look at what is best for the business and can say no when it is not. Servant Leadership style help their staff grow and succeed, including helping the staff grow as leaders. There is also a downside to Servant Leadership. These cons include that it takes longer to make decisions in the organization, leaders must act upon whatever their staff requests of them and the leader may be thought of as weak. In addition, it can often take too long to teach a leader to be a servant leader (Hales, 2018)
References
Hales, J. (2018, June 28). The pros and cons of servant leadership [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://blog.zingtrain.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-servant-leadership
Morales, M. (2020, January 24). Characteristics and examples of transformational leadership in nursing [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.relias.com/blog/transformational-leadership-in-nursing
Whitney, S. (2018). Theories and concepts in leadership and management. In Grand Canyon University (Ed.), Nursing leadership & management: Leading and serving. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs451vn/nursing-leadership-and-management-leading-and-serving/v1.1/#/chapter/1
DQ7
Moses Etemesi
1 posts
Re: Topic 1 DQ 2
The two leadership theories that are being compared are Great Man Theory and Situational Leadership Theory. Great Man Theory cites that great leaders are born with qualities that assist them to lead others, and great leaders rise when required (Whitney, 2018). On the other and the situation theory states as followers mature, the leadership approach needed becomes less task-oriented and more relationship-oriented. Some skilled leaders or managers were in a position of power but didn’t have exceptional leadership skills, no matter how much training they have got: they were not good leaders. Then some people are not qualified to be a manger, but individuals follow them because they know how to handle the multitude by inspiration or applying order to the group. There are strengths and weaknesses in both forms of theories.
The strength of the Great Man Theory are they have natural-born leadership qualities and are naturally acquired of this individual. Weakness is of this theory: it could be the need to be adored because leaders need to have supporters and not being loved or revered would make them lose followers (Whitney, 2018). Situational leadership theory strengths are you become familiarized with your followers or employees like CNAs, and it goes from provided directions to developing relationships with your crew, and they already know their responsibilities and direction. The weakness of this theory is someone’s CNAs get too comfortable, and now that rapport has been established they don’t do their task satisfactorily because they feel like the leader or manager is their friend now.
Reference
Whitney, S., (2018) Grand Canyon University (Ed). Nursing leadership & management: Leading and serving. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs451vn/nursing-leadership-and-management-leading-and-serving/v1.1/#/chapter/1
DQ8
Suzanne Krachie
1 posts
Re: Topic 1 DQ 3
Mandated reporters are those that are required by law to report suspected child abuse. In the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, there are many groups of people that are considered mandated reporters. They are school employees, any licensed or certified member in the health field, a medical examiner/corner/funeral director, an employee of a child care service, religious leaders, an employee of a social services agency, any law enforcement official, any emergency medical service provider, an employee of a public library, an independent contractor, attorneys, foster parents, and an adult family member. Despite this long list, anyone can and should report child abuse, even if only suspected (Pa Family Support Alliance: Protecting Children from Abuse, 2020).
As a mandated reporter in Pennsylvania, one is required to report actual known or suspected abuse. This may have occurred during different scenarios. Perhaps they’ve had contact with the child during work. Maybe someone specifically told them about the occurrence or occurrences. Also, someone may have confessed to them that they have committed child abuse. The mandated reporter should not investigate the scenario, but should make the report. There are two options to report child abuse in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. One can called ChildLine at 1-800-932-0313 or submit a report electronically via the Child Welfare information Solution Portal (Pa Family Support Alliance: Protecting Children from Abuse, 2020).
References
Pa Family Support Alliance: Protecting Children from Abuse. (2020). Who are mandated reporters? Pa Family Support Alliance: Protecting Children from Abuse. Retrieved from https://www.pa-fsa.org/Mandated-Reporters/Understanding-Mandated-Reporting/Who-are-Mandated-Reporters
Scenario:
You are a Perry operative nurse assigned to preop for the day. Mandy is your patient. She has a five-year-old girls schedule to have a bilateral Marion got me with two placement. Upon assessment, you notice red circular markings on her abdomen. As her nurse, what should you do?