In the healthcare field, nurses are recognized as authoritative figures regardless of the particular titles they hold. In other words, the role of nursing is that of leadership and any professional nurse possesses the role of leadership. Some nurses seek formal management roles to further exhibit their leadership abilities even though they are all leaders in their own respects. A leader is one who holds a dominant position, is able to exercise a high degree of influence on others and is responsible for compelling followers into achieving a common goal. Similarly, Nurse Leaders have responsibilities to influence as well as improve the healthcare practice environment, although in many cases they lack recognizable authority. Nurse Managers, on the other hand, hold assigned positions of which they hold the responsibility of taking management duties such as supervision, coordination and making decisions about their personnel. Although people may use these terms interchangeably, there is an instinctive understanding that their functions are different more than they are similar.
Nurses can demonstrate leadership skills at any stage of their practice regardless of their career positions (Marquis, 2017). For example, when a nurse works productively and expresses their enthusiasm towards their unit goals, they act as examples to their fellow nurses and at the same time exhibit leadership skills. The main difference between Nurse Managers and Nurse Leaders is that leaders set examples to be followed while managers have people work under them. Managers are seen as a point of reference for their staff and are expected to effectively address any issue of concern that may arise. Comparatively, leaders are seen as knowledgeable and experienced individuals and their role is to fulfill the healthcare environment’s mission, vision, and long term plan by promoting positive work environments for their fellow nurses, consequently ensuring that they uphold a standard that best suits the organization’s goals.
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Nurse leaders are responsible for general integration of patient care such as the development of treatment plans, managing patient medicals as well as collecting and evaluating treatment results. Nurse Managers, on the other hand, are responsible for making budgetary decisions for the organization, evaluating the performance of staff, interviewing and hiring nurses and maintaining an inventory of healthcare equipment. While these differences in roles define their titles, both Nurse Managers and Nurse Leaders complement each other. Their positions require them to be able to coordinate teams as well as have excellent decision-making skills and be able to delegate duties (Marquis, 2017). They both hold the general position of leaders and therefore, they must be committed to the healthcare organization and those they lead.
How leaders manage nurses affects their performance and patient outcomes as nurses play a vital role in healthcare organizations. Hence, a Nurse Manager is required to make reference to the various leadership styles that propel good leadership. Among these styles is the Democratic Leadership Style (Chua, 2018). With this leadership style, the nursing team is included in the decision-making process and are encouraged to air their views on prevailing issues. This open communication gives the staff a feeling that all their opinions matter and therefore, they are aware of the things that happen in the organization which gives them a responsibility to act upon them and in return influence solutions. This leadership style is substantially effective as it encourages team members to perform better as its aim is to improve the quality of an organization, rather than find fault in the staff. The staff gets feedback which influences an adjustment on their side if necessary.
It, therefore, may be said that leadership and management in nursing must go hand in hand. Although they are different from each other, they are instinctively linked and complementary. This discussion has therefore led to the understanding that not every manager can make a good leader, while those who demonstrate strong leadership are not necessarily managers.
References
Chua, J., Basti, A., & Hassan, Z. (2018). Leadership style and its impact on employee performance. International Journal of Accounting and Business Management , 6 (1), 80-94.
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2017). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and Application. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
