Nursing Leadership Theory

In order for patients to receive the most effective health care from their nursing staff in hospitals and other health care facilities, nurses must learn from men and women who have taken leadership training courses and can teach their own students the leadership skills and abilities that they acquired. As health care becomes more complex, it will take such strong leadership criteria for nurses in all fields to continue to improve their own standards and the qualifications of others in the field.

Leadership Definition

• Leadership can be defined in many different ways. When it comes to nursing, it's recognized that nurses who have leadership capabilities can improve motivational levels of others in the work environment. This helps nurses have a positive attitude about their work, run their daily tasks and responsibilities more effectively, treat other patients and other staff members with respect, and be able to reach personal goals and objectives.

Different Leadership Theories

• As nursing education and training has become more important, a number of different individuals have suggested learning theories. These theories, however, involve general nursing education, rather than leadership of others. In addition, a number of nursing management theories have been suggested, but management and leadership are different from each other. Nursing leadership theories have begun to be discussed onlt recently. Three of these leadership programs that have been found to be most beneficial for new nurses are quantum leadership, transformational leadership and dynamic leader follower relationship.

Quantum Leadership

• According to Dr. Tom Porter-O'Grady, quantum leadership helps nurses make better decisions, such as when is the most appropriate time to call in a physician. The training helps the nurses weigh the pros and cons of different plans and interventions of care. This leadership theory places an emphasis on self-direction rather than on being given direction by others.

Transformational Leadership

• Scholars such as Eleanor Sullivan and Phillip Decker support transformational leadership that combines the strengths of leaders and followers. This form of leadership motivates people to establish their own leadership criteria. It creates changes in the health care system by encouraging nurses to offer improved feedback to one another. With its emphasis on change, new nurses are given the opportunity to evaluate new and old policies and procedures and take an active role in implementing new programming.

Dynamic Leader-Follower

• The dynamic leader-follower relationship is modeled after Ida J. Orlando's nursing model. It places a focus on identifying the patient's immediate health care requirements. Therefore, the nurse has the ability to attain specific objectives via interpersonal points of view. The foundation of Orlando's theory is the dynamic quality of the leader-follower exchanges that motivate and encourage nurses to make worthwhile commitments. In this theory, both the leader and the follower are critical to the success of the nursing unit. In many cases, it's up to the nurse to determine which leadership theory is most productive for her own learning ability. It's important to follow through on the theory and put it into practice in order to enhance nursing and leadership growth and development.