The Characteristics Of Leadership And Management In Nursing

Leadership and Management in Nursing Leadership is based on one’s ability to create a vision and inspire others and many times it is based on one’s personality and life experience. Management can be a leadership position in the workplace that focuses on setting target goals, organizing, budgeting, planning and coming up with solutions for specific problems (Yoder- Wise, 2011). The purpose of the paper is to discuss the leadership and management qualities that the nurse manager needs in order to overcome a task of reducing incremental overtime on the cardiac unit at North Austin Hospital. The manager must use her leadership and management competencies in order to come up with attainable goals and overcome the issue.

Leadership Functions Some

In the leadership position, the nurse manager must be concerned with reducing incremental overtime for the common good in order for the unit to stay as it is and to prevent drastic changed that will make the nurses on the unit unhappy. The nurses are assigned hours based on availability and as a leader the nurse must realize that the overtime adds up and will eventually lead to decreased availability in hours and possible layoffs from the unit; therefore it is essential to complete tasks such as assessments, administering medications, documenting and providing basic care within the allotted time. When positive leaders create an encouraging and positive environment, then the nurses are more likely to comply. The nurses on the unit want to be motivated and inspired and that is where a leader can come in and give them encouragement and emphasize that they all want to achieve the same goal of providing excellent care in an appropriate amount of time, the end result is that there will be more hours available and rewards for those who are following the lead. The nursing manager cannot accomplish the task alone and as a leader, she must believe in the nursing team and each of the nurses on the unit to work towards the decreasing the incremental overtime. By believing in other people she can encourage the staff nurses and offer assistance by asking how they can work together to achieve this goal. Another important characteristic of a leader is being synergistic and bringing the team together to work towards the same goal. The nurse manager can bring the nurses together by reinforcing that it is a team effort and asking the nurses to step up and offer assistance when someone