Leadership and the Graduate Nurse Role
- Hello world! - October 21, 2020
Every nurse deals with various challenges during her professional life, which require strong leadership potential and the ability to respond to crises. Nursing leaders need to be able to apply their leadership skills for achieving the best level of performance in the workplace, and in that case, democratic leadership may be the most appropriate type. This style characterizes me, and I effectively implement it in my everyday life, as well as find ways to use it professionally. Democratic leadership is the most efficient when it comes to nursing practice, enabling a person to lead in the workplace and improving the working environment and the performance of colleagues, and that is the reason why it fits with the graduate nurse’s routine to the best advantage.
Completing the test on leadership styles gave me an opportunity to determine what kind of leader I was. After answering the questions, I got to know that my leadership style was democratic. It means that I respect others and truly value the input made by my co-workers and colleagues. I encourage others to communicate and present their ideas about ways to solve different issues, as well as motivate people to have an effective dialogue and exchange ideas. Besides, I also make sure that everybody is heard and respected and try to make others participate in different discussions and feel involved and valued. Nevertheless, democratic leaders are still the ones who have the highest authority and impact on others, as well as make final decisions. The difference of this leadership style from other types is that decision-making occurs after careful consideration and communication with others. Thus, choices of democratic leaders are linked to general ideas and solutions proposed by followers (Rahman, 2016). In other words, they make sure that all people are involved and have an impact on decision-making because they can influence the leader to make the best choice possible. It is the reason why such leadership leads to better performance among employees and enables colleagues to work more effectively (Rahman, 2016). Motivation is the key part of this leadership style, and democratic leaders rely on communication greatly, even seeking advice because they admit that they are not experts in everything and need professional support (Boykins, Campbell, Moore, & Nayyar, 2013). It is the type of the leadership approach I use, trying to improve my skills daily.
Democratic leadership fits perfectly into my beliefs about my leadership style and the role of a graduate nurse in the workplace. I believe the latter has to be a leader thanks to one’s professional skills and capacities, experience, and empathy. These features are essential to be able to make important decisions and to have authority over people. At the same time, a graduate nurse still needs to communicate with others and to look for a mutual solution to different problems because it is impossible to act without cooperating with others. Therefore, this leadership style enables the nursing leader to act in the most professional way possible; he or she encourages communication and cooperation to find the best solutions. Moreover, thanks to the ability to unite, encourage, and motivate, the nurse is capable of leading people and having the final say when determining the choice of a solution for an issue. In this case, the one has to test her professional capacities and communication skills because they are both essential for successful leadership.
I believe that graduate level nurses need empathy as one of the most important leadership attributes. It enables an individual to feel with others and understand their emotions. It is essential when working with people because this feature helps a person to find the right approach when dealing with different patients and colleagues, as well as helps to be the most effective when communicating messages to diverse audiences (Boykins et al., 2013). Furthermore, empathy helps the nursing leader to relate to other people and vice versa. This attribute is just as important as good communication skills because the nurse needs to deliver one’s messages effectively, but he or she should also be able to listen and pay attention to ideas and proposals presented by different people. The graduate level nurse also has to have sufficient professional qualities and demonstrate them in practice for others to see one’s professionalism and expertise, as well as the ability to communicate (Boykins et al., 2013).
As for me, I believe that I am empathic enough, and it is an important quality to help me perform the graduate nursing role. I relate to people easily and show them that I care for things that they consider significant. In other words, I am capable of showing a genuine interest in their problems. Moreover, I am a good public speaker. I enjoy communicating with people and present my opinion. I am never shy or scared to deliver new ideas. Besides, I love participating in debates and discussions, as well as strongly encourage people to take part and feel involved. Another personal leadership attribute that may help me succeed in my graduate nursing role is that I motivate individuals to open up and pay extra attention to the environment I am working in, making sure everybody feels comfortable, valued, and respected. These qualities are valuable for a graduate nurse. Still, there are other qualities I need to work on. Although I love to communicate, I have to improve my listening skills because I tend to talk more than to listen. It is the reason why I do not always reach out to all people I need because I have no patience to listen to everybody. Therefore, I need to become more patient and to work harder in order to improve my listening skills. It is a valuable asset for my future role as a graduate nurse. Also, I need to become more organized as an individual in order to be able to structure different opinions and suggestions and to make the best conclusions out of them.
Being a leader is crucial for a graduate nurse because it does not only improve the working environment, but also benefits patients greatly. According to the recent study, “The current evidence suggests a clear relationship between relational leadership styles and lower patient mortality and reduced medication errors, restraint use, and hospital-acquired infections” (Wong, Cummings, & Ducharme, 2013). In other words, effective nursing leaders provide better professional care for patients, and more people are healthier. It is the reason why it is essential to encourage and develop leadership qualities among nurses. It is possible with the democratic leadership style, where a leader enables others to develop similar attributes and leads by example.
In conclusion, a graduate nurse requires leadership skills to succeed in the workplace; and among different leadership styles, the democratic one is the most effective since it is about encouraging people to act in order to achieve the best professional results. It also helps improving patients’ heath because with improved performance, nurses provide better care for patients. The given paper has analysed important qualities of a democratic leader, such as the necessity to be empathic and communicate effectively with people. It has also showed how democratic leadership can be implemented in the working place and can bring positive changes in this environment.
References
Boykins, C., Campbell, S., Moore, M., & Nayyar, S. (2013). An empirical study of leadership styles. Journal of Economic Development, Management, IT, Finance and Marketing, 5(2), 1-31.
Rahman, A. (2016). Effect of democratic leadership style on the performance of employees at the Office BP3K Landono District of South Konawe. Agribusiness Journal, 1(2), 42-46.
Wong, C. A., Cummings, G. G., & Ducharme, L. (2013). The relationship between nursing leadership and patient outcomes: A systematic review update. Journal of Nursing Management, 21(5), 709–724.