Comparison of Transformative and Autocratic Leadership Styles in Nursing

Running head: NURSING
NURSING
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

NURSING1
Introduction:
The healthcare sector in recent times has emerged to be one of most dynamic sectors
that is continuously encountering challenges with respect to provision of effective and safe
patient care delivery. It should be noted in this context that the recent times has enhanced the
trend of patient’s disease acuity, fostered technological innovation as well as increased the
associated cost of health care facilities (Knaak et al., 2016). Aligned to the current trend, it is
increasingly important to adapt measures so as to improve the quality of healthcare services
provided so as to improve the quality of cumulative patient outcome (Negandhi et al., 2015).
The concept of nursing leadership is integral within the context of nursing profession as it is
on the basis of the clinical leadership that premium quality of care services can be provided
which can help acquire positive patient outcome and at the same time also ensure increased
patient safety (Sanford, 2016). Having discussed the importance of clinical leadership in the
context of healthcare and patient care delivery, this paper intends to discuss two distinct style
of leadership and compare their outcome with regard to the quality of patient care delivery.
Defining the terms ‘leadership’ and ‘patient safety’:
Clinical leadership is extremely important in the field of nursing profession as it helps
in the process of monitoring and managing the team of care professionals that are associated
with the process of patient care. In addition to this, efficient clinical leadership ensures
improved communication and coordination between the team of multidisciplinary care
professionals (Orchard & Rykhoff, 2015). According to Forman et al. (2015), leadership in
nursing has been considered equivalent to the process of mentoring the subordinates, rather
than ordering the subordinates. Nursing leadership is more about instilling belief in the
followers and treating them with respect and dignity. An efficient nurse leader is one who
actively listens to the followers, is attentive, inspires the followers and is at the same time

NURSING2
adapts a rewarding work environment (MacMillan, 2016). In addition to this, a capable nurse
leader is able to integrate within the followers a common vision of promoting effective care
delivery and prioritizing patient safety (Sanford, 2016). Research studies mention in this
regard that nursing leadership must be patient- oriented such that it covers the holistic needs
of the patients (Ozer et al., 2017, Knaak et al., 2016). In other words, caring holistically for
the patient refers to adapting a patient-centred approach so as to focus on the care needs of
the patient across multiple life domains, rather than only focusing on the symptoms of illness
(Prosser, 2016). An efficient nurse leader is one that is able to mentor the followers and at the
same time contribute positively towards the professional development of the followers
(Prosser, 2016).
According to Bahadori et al. (2016), it has been mentioned that effective leadership
within healthcare organizations help to improve overall healthcare quality and at the same
time enhance the level of patient satisfaction. Research studies further mention that nurse
leaders can efficiently act as drivers of change within a healthcare environment so as to
render safe patient care delivery (Sarabi, 2015). A nurse leader typically assists the
subordinates with the process of critical decision making and integrates the use of evidence
based interventions in order to promote positive patient outcome and ensure increased patient
safety (Bayley et al., 2018).
Description of two types of leadership styles:
Transformative leadership can be defined as the leadership style where in leaders
encourage, inspire as well as motivate employees to induce innovation and integrate a change
within the organization so as to ensure quality improvement and overall development of the
organization. This style of leadership can be exhibited by inducing a sense of organizational
culture, ownership of responsibility as well as inculcating independence within the