Transformational Leadership In Nursing

INTRODUCTION Leadership in nursing is crucial.Nurses are the largest group of healthcare professionals in most settings of service delivery and represent the largest human resource expenditure in most care settings(O’Neill et al.2008).Leadership is defined as the process of influencing people to accomplish goals.Trust is the emotional glue that binds leaders and employees together(Malloch 2002).Major professional and healthcare organisations are emphasising the importance of evidence based practice and so healthcare system is in need of change. Carney(1999) noted that transformational leadership style is suited to nursing as nurse managers are in a position to work in participative co operation and to empower staff.This style leadership and evidence based management are necessary components of our current health care system.As per the Francis inquiry report one nurse should be included on the executive boards of all health care organisations including commissioners.Commission on nursing 1998 also identifies the importance of competent and well prepared nursing leadership role models,nurse manager support,information and communication technologies, support for evidence based practice,and professional empowerment and development.

In this assignment,the writer who works at residential care home for the elderly would like to discuss two concepts of leadership are transformational leadership in nursing and decision making ability of the nurse manager which will support future of the organisation.Competencies are needed for the nurse managers not only to deliver service but also to lead the evolution of services in todays challenging environment.Buchan (2002,2004) states the lack of properly qualified staff for the provision of safe care.The database searched for this article were online resources mainly CINHAL,search information on google also included. TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP Nursing,being the largest professional group in health care faces inadequate leadership at many levels due to medical dominance,political game playing,resource deprivation and gender stereotyping(Freshwater et al 2002).Due to unreasonable workload very few staff nurses are expressing interest in moving into the management positions(Wong et al.2011). Leaders provide vision,energy and direction towards change,they influence people by acting as a role model,by encouragement and praise they develop excitement and enthusiasm.Transformational leadership is a process for engaging the commitment of staff to a shared vision and values. A transformational leader is defined as a leader,who motivates followers to perform to their full potential overtime by influencing a change in perceptions and by providing a sense of direction.These leaders use charisma,indivdualized consideration and intellectual stimulation to produce greater effort,effectiveness and satisfaction in followers(Bass & Avolio 1990).In nursing homes the most transformative style of top managers was found to be associated with better quality outcomes(Castle & Decker 2011).