Nursing Leadership: Questions and Answers
Question 1
The underlying issue, in this case, is that the staff nurse’s husband is against the idea of her being posted to treat or handle patients in Iron Ridge, which is considered the community’s crime-prone area. As such, the execution of the staff nurse’s responsibilities is jeopardized highlighting how the needs of family’s conflict with people’s work responsibilities. The leader displays multiple conflict resolution skills in the scenario; he is aware of and respectful of the eminent ideological differences, he recognizes and responds to important matters brought up by the staff nurse, and he comes up with a resolution that supports the interests and needs of both parties. In fact, on a scale of 1-10, the leader’s conflict resolution skills can be rated at 9. Evidently, collaboration with a security provider seems to be the perfect solution to the conflict, and this means that earlier collaboration would have prevented delay or procrastination of the execution of nursing responsibilities in Iron Ridge. Although some organizations utilize non-Registered Nurses in the Case Manager role, having a BSN-prepared RN would bring additional skills and knowledge in this scenario such as prioritizing the needs and interests of patients and ensuring that the welfare of RNs is taken into consideration.
Question 2
Section I “Communication and Relationship-Building” highlights nurse executive competencies, one being effective communication. The chief nurse executive in my organization demonstrates effective communication by ensuring that oral presentations are made to diverse audiences on nursing, health care, and organizational issues. The other nurse executive competency highlighted in the section is relationship management, which is the Nurse Executive in my organization enhances by building trusting and collaborative relationships with stakeholders.
A nurse leader must have an understanding of the differences between transformational and transactional leadership styles. A transactional nursing leader leverages on routine transactions such as punishments and rewards to get tasks accomplished and this is based on the belief that workers are motivated by discipline and rewards (Aarons, 2006). On the other hand, a transformational nursing leader focuses on motivation, team-building, and collaboration with other organizational members to ensure that change is achieved. In this type of leadership, staff members are encouraged to do their best to influence the optimistic personality of the nurse leader (Aarons, 2006). The perfect definition for the Nurse Executive in my organization is that he is a transformational nursing leader. The Nurse Executive often ‘leads the charge’ for transformational leadership through his optimism that transforms and encourages the staff.
Reference
Aarons, G. A. (2006). Transformational and transactional leadership: Association with attitudes toward evidence-based practice. Psychiatric services, 57(8), 1162-1169.