Leadership & Management: Decisions in Nursing Using SMART Nursing Tool - Essay Sample

Introduction

Leadership and management are two aspects of the decision-making process, which are critical to the success in nursing practice. They are built upon objectives in the form of specific outcomes that the management focuses its effort to fulfil. Decision making in nursing is a critical aspect that often use the SMART nursing tool to define the scope of the success criteria to determine the specific outcomes from the decision-making process. The objectives that guide the critical decisions that nursing leaders and managers take must be precise in detail, focus, and definition (Valiga, 2019). For example, if the aim is to improve the nursing leadership of a medical institution, the specific goal could be the improvement of the institution's operational efficiency through the launch of medical services that have high efficiency and effectiveness in offering the best for the patients.

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Personal Leadership Style (Democratic Leadership)

This type of leadership is the hallmark of shared power and the decision-making process. Accordingly, a nursing leader readily delegates duties through consultation with medical staff members. Therefore, delegation and consultation encourage two-way communication through open debates and discussions. The democratic leadership style has the impact of creating highly motivated medical staff members who are satisfied with their current responsibilities in the medical facility (Xu, 2017).

Consequently, high job satisfaction positively impacts medical service delivery through the encouragement of efficiency and effectiveness among nursing staff. Additionally, the leaders encourage the professional and personal growth of team across their departments, or in the broader health care institutions setting (Panait & Bucinschi, 2018). Conversely, the negative impact of such a leadership style includes a prolonged decision-making process because of the involvement of many stakeholders, and the management makes decisions based on compromises from the stakeholders' input. Additionally, the leadership style has potential failures in communication and incomplete projects and tasks in a medical facility.

Leadership and Management Theories

Abraham Maslow Leadership Theory

According to the theory, nursing staff get motivated by satisfying needs which are hierarchically organized into physiological and biological, safety, love and belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization (Fast & Rankin, 2018).

Mayo's Human Relations Theory

The theory relies on the Hawthorne effect to explain the behaviour of nursing staff in a health care facility. According to the Hawthorne Effect, nursing staff manifest a reactivity effect in which certain aspects of their behaviour gets modified in response to a sense of being observed, someone (Fast & Rankin, 2018). Realizing this, managers can tailor-make the work context to enhance nursing staff behaviour modification.

Herzberg Two Factor Theory

The two-factor theory is one of the most compelling reflections of motivation in the workplace. Notably, the theory states that satisfaction or dissatisfaction by a given job is independent of each other. Importantly, motivator factors influence one's job satisfaction, as opposed to hygiene factors which influence job dissatisfaction (Fast & Rankin, 2018). Managers must understand and address each set of factors to increase the efficiency of the nurses.

Work Environment and Key Behaviors

A manager uses theories and models of motivation to ensure that their teams meet specific objectives by providing holistic and favourable working environments. Some of the key behaviours exhibited by a manager in a medical workplace include, they must guide and lead, direct the medical institution, plan and provide the team with necessary resources, inspire the team to surpass performance standards, and implement effective communication channels.

Conclusion

In conclusion, leadership and management in nursing practice represent the core aspects of health care operations useful to the decision-makers. The decisions made by nursing supervisors regarding staff, the level of efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery, and the amount and resource allocation affect a health care institution uniquely.

References

Fast, O., & Rankin, J. (2018). Rationing nurses: Realities, practicalities, and nursing leadership theories. Nursing Inquiry, 25(2), e12227. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nin.12227

Panait, C., & Bucinschi, V. (2018). Emotional Intelligence Influence in Leadership. Scientific Research and Education in the Air Force, 20, 493-498. http://www.afahc.ro/ro/afases/2018/67-CristianPANAIT,VasileBUCINSCHI.pdf

Valiga, T. M. (2019). Leaders, managers, and followers: Working in harmony. Nursing2019, 49(1), 45-48. https://journals.lww.com/nursing/Fulltext/2019/01000/Leaders,_managers,_and_followers__Working_in.13.aspx

Xu, J. H. (2017). Leadership theory in clinical practice. Chinese Nursing Research, 4(4), 155-157. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095771817300944