Effective Nursing Leadership and Management

Effective Nursing Leadership and Management
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Abstract
The field of nursing is challenged by many issues which require the nursing leaders and managers to respond appropriately in order to come up with viable solution. In this paper, different approaches of nursing leaders and managers have been discussed in view of how they could respond to the issue of continuous quality improvement and patient satisfaction. With new technologies emerging each day, nursing leaders and managers must apply the appropriate leadership and management principles and skills in order to improve the quality of services provided and also to ensure satisfaction of patients.
Leadership and management in addressing continuous quality improvement and patient satisfaction
Proper management is necessary in nursing because the leaders in nursing are faced with myriad challenges which include the need to ensure continuous quality improvement and also to ensure that the patients are satisfied. Nurse Managers work in an environment which is full of challenges and therefore proper leadership and management skills must be employed. The fact that the patients are of different backgrounds with different personalities and needs only complicates the matter and brings more need for nursing managers and leaders to employ proper approaches in leadership and management. Zydziunaite & Suominen (2014) note that it is of no doubt that nurse leaders and managers work under very challenging conditions and at most times they are under pressure to meet the demands of rapid changes. Makaroff, Storch, Pauly et al (2014) assert that to be effective in addressing continuous quality improvement and patient satisfaction, the nursing leaders and managers must have the knowledge concerning leadership. They must also be able to apply this knowledge effectively.
They must understand the meaning of a good leader and his/ her qualities. E.g. they need to understand that a good leader should have good communication skills. This will enable nursing leaders and managers to communicate properly to the nurses so that they can improve the quality of the services they offer to the patients and in turn realize patient satisfaction. Nursing leaders and managers should also embrace investigative skills so that they diligently understand when there is real continuous quality improvement and patient satisfaction. Makaroff, Storch, Pauly et al (2014) confirm that; in order to ascertain the perception of the patient on the quality of service offered and the experiences of the health care provider, the leaders and managers should be able to investigate the relationship of the two.
Styles of leadership
In addressing the issue of continuous quality improvement and patient satisfaction, the leaders and managers in nursing must be able to embrace appropriate leadership styles. The style of leadership to be applied will depend on the circumstances on ground and therefore the best style to be used will vary from time to time and from one environment to another. In other words, the style of leadership cannot be selected exclusively because many factors will determine the most appropriate style of leadership. For example democratic style of leader...