Power In Nursing

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a power dynamics in the clinical practices, discuss the significance of power, its use, and responsibility of power in nursing work. This paper will also discuss theories of power and the impacts of legitimate and illegitimate use of power at all levels of healthcare. The rapid changes in the healthcare environments have drastically called for nurses to exercise power in order to have a strong voice in shaping these changes (Premji, & Hatfield, 2016). In today’s work force, nurses have to apply their power and flex their political muscle to be able to serve as healthcare advocates for their patient and to the public (Wolf, Finlayson, Hayden, Hoolahan, & Mazzoccoli, 2014). In the past, the media, physicians, politicians, and healthcare executives have conventionally seen nursing and nurses as powerless (King-Jones, 2011). However, as nurses become more vocal in the political movements in the local, state and national level, it became obvious that nursing profession and the nurses gained new respect in the

In the past, nurses have viewed power as dissolute, humiliating and opposing to the caring nature of nursing. However, the influence of power in the nursing practices demonstrates the crucial nature of power to nursing profession. When nurses provide nursing care to their patient, they validate the essential nature of power in nursing (Ibrahim, El-Magd, & Sayed, 2014). When nurses provide health teaching to patients and their family members, their ultimate objective is to deliver desirable information and to change behavior to promote optimum health (McDonald, Jayasuriya, & Harris, 2012). In addition, through mentoring, motivating, instructing or coaching fellow nurses of new procedure or policy that is implemented in the work to improve performance for all nursing staff exhibit power (Smith,