Importance of Transformational Leadership in Nursing Practice

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28 Sep 2019
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Part A
Introduction
Leadership in the field of nursing tends to influence, motivate, and empowers the
professional team to achieve the objectives. In ideology here is to enhance the quality of care
through the “direct” involvement of clinical care (Fischer 2016). As suggested by Gopee and
Galloway (2017), the influence of a strong leadership encourages other nurses to work as a
team and develop strong interpersonal skills for overall organizational development. Nurses
working under a strong and effective leader are able to develop communication skills with
team members, doctors, patient and patient's family members. During the nursing studies and
clinical placements, the learners tends to encounter a wide range of leadership approaches
such as autocratic, laissez-faire, democratic, transformational, and servant, which shapes the
future course of clinical and care practices (Giddens 2018).
In this report, the importance of transformational leadership approach has been described
with respect to communication, quality of healthcare, professional relationship, and
teamwork.
Leadership approach
For the freshly registered nursing students, “transformational” style is one of the most
effective approaches to learn and understand leadership concept (Fischer 2017). It is one of
the most effective styles where the leader encourages and motivates the followers to become
creative and bring changes that will help in bringing future success for the organization. In
this style of management, the employees or followers are given more space for creativity,
considering the future and finalizing new solutions to the existing problems. The new nursing
professionals are further ought to employ transformational leadership among themselves
through effective training and mentorship. The concept of transformational leadership model
was introduced by James V. Downton in the year 1973 (Cummings, Hewko, and Wang
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2018). This model of leadership encourages leaders to illustrate their management skills
through authenticity and dignity, with a belief that employees will be inspired to follow the
same. In 1985, the concept of transformational leadership which is further expanded by
researcher Bernard M. Bass (Cope, and Murray 2017). According to Cope, this leadership
holds certain features that make it different and the eunuch from the other leadership styles
(Cope et al 2017).
 Inspirational motivation - This form of leadership is highly inspirational, motivated
and inspired. They inspire a sense of motivation for a definite purpose in their
followers. They articulate a clear vision for the future and are able to effectively
communicate the group's expectations. They provide a commitment to the
organizational goal (Cummings et al 2018). For fulfilling these aspects, they hold
effective communication skills through which they are able to convey their message
precisely with a sense of authority. They are highly optimistic and enthusiastic in
nature, which motivates followers to work hard.
 Creativity and intellectual stimulation - This form of leadership values creativity and
freedom for both leaders and followers. The leaders give full support to their
followers while making decisions and encourage them to be creative in their effort
while designing a solution. These leaders challenge assumptions and help followers in
viewing a wider image of the future and get success eventually (Zanchetta, Edwards,
and Salami 2016). They tend to create a climate where new ideas are highly
supportive and collaborative without any fear of being punishable or offensive.
 Idealized influence - The key way through which transformational leaders inspire
change is endangering trust and loyalty within the followers through positive and
charismatic behaviour. The leader having idealized influence over the workforce is
helpful in articulating a common vision and thereby explaining the ways to achieve
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the organizational goal. These leaders hold high ethical and moral values which are
reflective while dealing with followers. They are often perceived as role models and
their decisions and strategies are often respected by their followers (Porter-O'Grady
and Malloch 2015).
According to a recent study in the field of nursing practices, transformational leadership in
the field of nursing provides greater safety, higher motivation, job satisfaction, and improved
patient outcomes (de Bortoli Cassiani, de Fatima Fernandes, and Lecorps 2019). When the
nurse acts as a transformational leader, then the professional is believed to have potential of
managing daily activities and motivating other team members. Additionally, the skill also
expect the professionals to set achievable goals at the workplace which are aligned with the
mission of healthcare organization. For example, one of the primary objectives of a
healthcare organization is to maximize the satisfaction level of patients. In this context, a
transformational nurse leader would set goals for enhancing customer service and arrange
initiatives like patient surveys to evaluate the final outcome.
Impact of leadership approach
The impact of transformational leadership can be explained in key aspects that are requisite in
the routine responsibilities. In this section, the discussion is based on such aspects, where
leadership skills have immediate response on the outcomes.
Communication - Effective communication is highly important for a nurse in regards to co-
workers, doctors, patients, members of the healthcare team, and patient family members. The
transformational leadership approach in a nurse to improve their overall personality which is
reflective in their communication style. The transformational leaders become masters of
communication skills and are able to demonstrate exceptional interpersonal skills. With this
efficient communication style, the leaders are able to communicate the health care
organizational vision to the followers. Employing the transformational leadership approach,
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