Reflection: Application of Leadership Skills in Nursing
ANSWER
This report examines my leadership skills and how they have evolved due to implementing a postnatal group in my practice. I will examine how the team responds to my leadership and how I approach situations as I develop this group. As part of my continuing professional development, I will identify changes needed in my approach to future practice to provide a quality working environment and improve service provision development. According to Hall et al. (2009), governments are increasingly interested in community healthcare programs because, in collaboration with other agencies, they can reduce social exclusion and inequalities within and between local communities.
Support groups can alleviate feelings of isolation and loneliness; in one study of women with postnatal depression, support from others resulted in increased self-esteem and empowerment (Eastwood et al., 1995).
The Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (SCPHN) must adhere to performance standards when engaging in health-promoting activities (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2004, p12). According to these standards, I am responsible for using my leadership skills and managing projects to improve health and well-being. Promoting collaborative working and leading public health interventions through innovative and visionary approaches are critical components of my role as an SCPHN. Historically, much healthcare delivery has been service-led rather than needs-led, with services designed and developed for the convenience of providers rather than patients (Wilkinson & Murray, 1998). Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation (DoH, 1999) and Healthy Lives, Brighter Futures (DOH, 2009a) emphasize the importance of collaboration between services, children, and parents, which must be driven by strong leadership from SCPHNs. These improvements must be achieved through collaboration between health practitioners and services and parents, children, and youth.
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The goals of this report are to identify different leadership approaches and my approach and evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of these approaches to improve my leadership skills. Through leading the development of a postnatal group, the SCPHN’s role as a leader and the opportunities and obstacles that may impinge on effective leadership requirements in public health nursing will be explored. All SCPHN interventions should be delivered through a partnership and empowerment model, ensuring service acceptability by professionals and clients. Further goals will be to understand the principles of change management and conflict resolution to facilitate effective conflict resolution and promote a cohesive team environment.
My experience as an SCPHN has led me to believe I possess transformational leadership qualities such as communication, motivation, decision-making, and conflict resolution. My current skills are in communication and motivation, but areas for development include conflict resolution within teams and on an individual basis. Transactional leaders establish goals, give directions, and use rewards to reinforce employee behaviors associated with meeting or exceeding established goals. Transformational leaders can motivate performance above and beyond expectations by influencing attitudes (Mcguire & Kennerly, 2006, p.180). I attempted to follow Johnson’s (2005) research, which suggested that highly effective leaders require both vision and a specific plan to carry out their plan and achieve their goals. I demonstrated vision by developing this concept for a postnatal group. As a transformational leader, I will strive to share my vision with my followers, instilling a strong commitment (ChangingMinds, 2002-2006). I was a follower in previous professional roles, so I needed to develop leadership skills. As a practitioner, it is critical to be aware of and incorporate the qualities of both leadership styles in practice.
In my role as a leader, I must use interpersonal skills to persuade others to accomplish a specific goal – exerting influence through a flexible approach to personal behaviors, which is critical in forging links and connecting organizations in order to promote high levels of performance and quality care (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). I approached a fellow SCPHN on the team. I encouraged her to contribute to the group by leading a session on women’s health by recognizing her expertise and praising her knowledge. As a leader, I recognize Rafferty’s (1993) work by caring for the people I lead. I can see how encouraging and praising my team allows me to promote high-performance levels, which results in delivering high-quality care.
In my leadership experience, I have recognized the need to focus on the relationship between people and organizations, which Adair (1979) refers to as Action Centred Leadership (Appendix 1). Adair emphasized the importance of a leader’s ability to fulfill three functions: completing the required task, maintaining the team, and meeting the needs of individual team members. I recognize the complexities of successful leadership, which necessitates overlapping these three functions in varying proportions to achieve the desired result. I have identified that both my team members and I have individual strengths and weaknesses and that task completion necessitates a multidisciplinary team approach, considering the organizational skill mix and available resources. Team members must understand what is expected of them and how their contributions relate to the overall project. We held a team meeting while developing the idea for the postnatal group to share ideas and ensure that everyone was aware of the project’s goals. Considering team needs entailed taking into account training requirements, communication systems, and team development for my multi-professional team to function. A multidisciplinary team introduction meeting was held before the start of the postnatal group to ensure that each team member was familiar with their colleagues’ expertise and skills.
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As a leader, it is critical to recognize that team members have unique skills, needs, and problems and to recognize and reward everyone. Again, training and development are required to maintain the quality of care delivery outlined in the Essence of Care benchmarks (DoH, 2006). As a registered practitioner, I am legally responsible for determining the knowledge and skill level required to perform delegated tasks when delegating work to others. Like other public bodies, healthcare providers must answer to criminal and civil courts to ensure their activities are legal. As a registered practitioner, I am accountable to regulatory and professional bodies regarding practice standards and patient care (RCN, 2006).
If a focused and effective group is to emerge, it is critical to value all team members’ skills and contributions. As the team leader on this project, I made myself available for one-on-one staff support. I held regular update sessions to see how their role within the project was developing and to allow them to raise concerns or highlight areas for improvement.
As a Health Care leader, it is my responsibility to promote and develop partnerships between clients and other agencies and to empower and motivate individuals to develop services and service provision in communities. The Essence of Care (DoH, 2006) emphasized the importance of collaboration in 2006, stating that health promotion is done in collaboration with others, drawing on diverse expertise and experiences. Many areas of the health service need more funding. However, I am certain individuals in my community who can be motivated to take the lead on this project. In that case, they may be able to apply for additional funding (such as lottery grants) in order to achieve future goals and objectives.
Understanding your team and being aware of team relationships, including how you see yourself as a leader and how your team sees you, is an important aspect of leadership. Reflecting on your leadership style is critical for promoting flexibility and the ability to change methods to suit different teams and individuals. I rely on my manager to demonstrate active recognition, commitment, and vision to ensure that my skills, as well as those of other health professionals, are used to improve the health and well-being of communities, families, and individuals (McMurray & Cheater, 2004). I recognize that vision is a key characteristic of effective leadership; it reflects the ability to envision and articulate a realistic, credible, and appealing future for individuals and organizations that grows out of and improves on the present (Robbins, 2000). I agree with Barr and Dowding (2010) when they say that you do not have to be a manager to be a leader, but you have to be a good leader to be an effective manager.
Leadership styles adapted to the complexities of care delivery.
In my work in the Health Care sector, I have encountered many leadership styles. Many theorists have discussed leadership styles; for example, Lewin et al. (1939) identified three major leadership styles. Laissez-faire can manifest as disorganized team members who are unaware of what is expected of them, as well as feelings of panic and a lack of time. I previously worked with a laissez-faire leader, which resulted in stressful situations in which the leader would shout and fail to warn team members of future roles and responsibilities. This resulted in a disjointed team and a high level of absence due to stress-related conditions. Directive/Autocratic – this mode of operation generally focuses on task-specific allocation with a strong emphasis on precision delivered in a military-style manner. Because I consider my leadership style to be non-confrontational, there are better options than an autocratic leadership style.
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QUESTION
Reflection: Application of Leadership Skills in Nursing