Executive Nurse Leadership: A Path to Quality Improvement in Care - Essay Sample

Introduction

A leader is a person that others follow willingly and voluntarily. Leadership can thus be defined as the art of influencing others to strive voluntarily and enthusiastically towards the achievement of a pre-determined set of goals. In nursing, leadership entails showing your followers how things are done, guiding their course of actions, as well as, influencing others to improve the quality of care, along with the direct participation in clinical care (Al-Dossary, 2017). Executive nurse leaders are integral to the smooth functioning of a healthcare organization. They collaborate with interdisciplinary health professionals, develop networks of quality care and wellness, and advocate for staff and patients. They, therefore, handle the administrative side of healthcare and are instrumental in helping their organizations follow their mission of delivering excellent healthcare services by ensuring all teams and facilities are operating smoothly.

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The nurse leader selected, Kimberly Jones, was a Chief Nursing Officer in a hospital in San Diego, California. Her role included overseeing a nursing staff of over 300 nurses alongside their development, designing and managing patient care at the hospital, creating and managing the nursing budget, as well as recruitment and retention of hospital staff. She was expected to identify bottlenecks in patient care and develop new procedures, liaise with other medical staff and their committees, and strive to continually improve the health of her organization's patients, families, and community. Above all else, she upheld professional and ethical principles and ensured financial accountability in her capacity as the organization's Chief Nursing Officer.

The CNO’s Strengths and Weaknesses per AONE Domains

Communication and Relationship Building

Effective Communication

Kimberly was an effective communicator, articulated by her eloquence in putting across nursing affairs in the two management committee meetings she participated in every month. She made accurate presentations to the hospital board, whether in terms of budget allocation or community involvement. On top of that, she had strong interpersonal skills, based on her ability to engage anyone of her colleagues and staff in constructive dialogue.

Relationship Management

Kimberly always engaged her nursing staff in making decisions that affected their ability to perform day to day activities. She resolved internal conflicts amicably and had strong relationships with other hospital departments and medical staff, including the hospital board.

Diversity

With the hospital being located in a predominantly Hispanic community, Latin-speaking nurses were of paramount importance. However, the CNO ensured equality in the hiring process. Her nursing staff included all races and did not discriminate based on gender or religion either. She believed in the cultural competency of her staff but also created an environment that was conducive to receive and act upon their voices, opinions, and ideas.

Knowledge of the Healthcare Environment

Clinical Practice Knowledge

Kimberly's first job in nursing was pediatric nursing and then went on to become a geriatric nurse working in a home-care facility. In this role, she became interested in administration and later became the vice-president of nursing in a hospital in Austin, Texas. As the hospital grew, she became the chief nursing executive of the hospital and later relocated to California, where the took up the job as a Chief Nursing Officer. She was vastly experienced in clinical practice and clearly understood the roles and functions of patient care.

Outcome Measurement and Research

She understood the concept of evidence-based practice and frequently reviewed and established standards, practices, and patient care models based on the efficacy evidence and data made accessible to her.

Leadership

Foundational Thinking Skills

She promoted nursing leadership by being assertive with not only members of her staff but also other senior managers in the hospital. Her vision for the hospital at a time when its ownership was changing ensured long term success and was among the key figures at the organization that geared the hospital towards profitability after a period of loss-making.

Succession Planning

Kimberly was, however, poor at bringing up future nurse leaders. She never initiated any mentorship programs for her staff such that by the time she left the organization, an outside figure took up her role instead of one from within.

Professionalism

Ethics and Professional Accountability

Kimberly held herself accountable for every action and decision she made and expected her staff to follow her in taking responsibility for personal actions. This way, she strongly avoided liabilities for the organization, especially in clinical negligence. Her stance on ethics was lauded all across the organization. During her time, the hospital was sued just once compared to several instances before her arrival, in the same period.

Advocacy

The CNO involved other nurses and staff in making decisions that affected their practice. She further amplified their voices in board and committee meetings and ensured that their affairs were well looked after. She, however, failed in coaching others towards advancing their careers.

Business Skills

Financial Management

Kimberly was excellent at managing the financial resources of her organization. She helped develop an annual operating budget and a long-term capital expenditure plan after the organization was placed under new ownership shortly after the took the job as the hospital's CNO.

Strategic Management

She realistically and objectively assessed the organization's marketing strategy and conducted an external and internal analysis to ascertain the direction that the organization was supposed to take. The SWOT and Gap analysis she initiated set the business towards identifying new marketing opportunities and improved the organization's image in the eyes of the community it served.

Nursing executives are tasked with accomplishing a lot of organizational goals and thus have to juggle between clinical objectives, financial concerns, patient needs, and complex payer dynamics. To achieve success at their role, they thus, need to possess a variety of skills and competences, especially the five major ones stated above.

References

AONE, AONL. (2015). AONL Nurse Executive Competencies. Chicago, IL: AONE, AONL.

Al-Dossary, R., M. (2017). Leadership in Nursing. Contemporary Leadership Strategies.

Retrieved on June 13, 2020, from https://www.intechopen.com/books/contemporary-leadership-challenges/leadership-in-nursing

Yoder-Wise, P., N. (2019). Leading and Managing in Nursing. Evolve. 7th Edition.