Clinical Leadership, Patient Safety, and Leadership Styles Analysis

This essay delves into the critical role of clinical leadership in promoting patient safety and high-quality nursing care. It examines the fundamental relationship between leadership and patient safety, highlighting how effective leadership contributes to improved healthcare outcomes. The study analyzes two prominent leadership styles—authentic and democratic—within the clinical context, assessing their impact on patient safety and the overall healthcare environment. The essay emphasizes that democratic leadership is particularly useful in ensuring safe medication administration by incorporating input from various healthcare professionals. The study concludes that clinical leadership, especially through the application of authentic and democratic styles, is crucial for fostering a culture of trust, collaboration, and continuous improvement within healthcare settings, leading to better patient outcomes and a safer environment for all.

Clinical Leadership and
Professional Relationships

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Clinical leadership helps in promoting excellent and quality nursing care by providing
high quality care to the patients. Nursing leadership is very crucial for implementing nursing
intervention, evidence based practice and promoting patient outcomes with ethical framework.
Clinical leadership helps in leading regular change in the healthcare system which in turn results
in advanced nursing practice.
Clinical leadership is very significant and is a current issue because it helps various
nurses and healthcare system to broaden the gap and effectively apply various health care
practice for smooth functioning of healthcare system.
Thesis statement: Leadership is a fundamental skill as it helps in contributing to the
patient safety. Nurse leaders focus on maintaining cultural safety and communicate well with the
patients. Effective leadership in healthcare results in strengthening quality care to the patients in
healthcare system.
This study will highlight, relationship between leadership and patient safety. It will also
examine and critically analyse two leadership styles in clinical practice. Furthermore, this study
will determine leadership styles in relation with patient safety.
MAIN BODY
Relationship between patient safety and leadership
Bender (2016) sought to establish the fact that, leadership is one of the most important
attribute of the person who works, inspires and motivates other individual to work towards
defines goals and objectives. Nursing leadership helps in implementing evidence based practice
by optimizing the value of healthcare system. Leadership is very crucial at various stages of
nursing practice. Clinical leadership helps in providing direction and support to the patients by
delivering patient care. Leaders play a critical role in retaining nurses by effectively maintaining
positive workforce. A clinical leadership is based on various attributes which includes effective
communication, clinical expertise, coordination, collaboration and interpersonal understanding.
Patient safety helps in prevention of errors by emphasizing on cultural safety, healthcare
professionals and patients. Regan, Laschinger & Wong (2016) said that, patient safety helps in
preventing adverse effects on health of the patients. Patient safety helps in improving care of
the patients in a healthcare system. Collegial relationship with skilled nurses, physicians with
high degree of leadership helps in providing quality care. Patient safety helps in improving the

quality of services with the help of effective team work, coordination and transparency within
healthcare.
Poorgholami, Ramezanli, Jahromi & Jahromi (2016) established the fact that, there is a
very strong relationship between patient safety and leadership in a healthcare organization.
Leadership helps in providing quality care to the patients because it helps in preventing error and
coordinating the partnership with families, healthcare practitioners and patients. Effective
clinical leadership is linked with various functions which in turn results in timely care delivery,
healthcare system integrity, etc. Effective leadership in nursing care helps in appropriate staffing
and maintenance of resources in order to attain specific care and quality patient outcomes (The
relationship between nursing leadership and patient outcomes: a systematic review update,
2013). Clinical leadership helps in collaborating the viewpoints of various health practitioners,
family and patients for strategic decision making for quality care and results. The relationship
between leadership and patient safety results in building trust and respect for long term
sustainable growth. Effective leadership helps in improving the healthcare outcomes by
providing patient safety. Leadership helps in motivating healthcare practitioners to improve
healthcare quality which in turn results in better patient safety and trust. This in turn results in
prevention of errors and patient harm by improving care and health care system. Barr &
Dowding (2019) states that, Motivating patients and keeping them involved results in better care
results and productivity. Effective leadership is useful in implementing evidence based practice
in order to improve patient safety. Nurse leaders have vision to improve the health care function
by integrating care. Frankel & PGCMS (2019) sought to analyse that, effective clinical
leadership helps in better work environment and cultural respect which in turn results in patient
safety. It also helps in effectively resolving various issues which may impose negative impact on
the healthcare system. Effective leadership practice and positive patient safety results in better
healthcare outcomes. Hence, leaders can promote positive work environment by effectively
implementing various safety practices for better care outcomes.
Leadership styles
Laschinger & Fida (2015) established that, Authentic leadership style helps in expressing
feelings and motivating others in order to develop a healthy work environment. Authentic
leadership style is classified into four foundational frameworks which incudes balanced
information processing, relational transparency, authentic behaviour and self- awareness.

Authentic leader play good role model for improved quality results. This style of leadership is
very crucial in clinical practice as it helps in improving the quality of care among patients.
Authentic leadership helps in building trust and positive work environment by promoting patient
safety (Authentic Leaders Creating Healthy Work Environments for Nursing Practice, 2019).
Authentic leader emphasize on empowerment and vision which in turn helps in building trust
among patients and healthcare practitioners. According to Wong & Laschinger (2013) authentic
leadership helps in better higher motivation, patient safety and health outcomes. Authentic
leadership is useful in setting higher values, beliefs and ideas in a healthcare system by
effectively equipping nurses with specific skills and knowledge at the time of practice.
Application of appropriate leadership style results in optimal patient outcomes. Authentic leader
focus on creating an effective culture for all the stakeholders. Effective leadership style results in
shaping and directing the clinical practice in order to build healthier work environment and trust.
This style of leadership focuses on big visionary picture which results in improved patient care
and better healthcare systems.
Tingle, Griffiths, Hazlett & Flint (2018) indicates that, Democratic leadership is also
referred to as participative leadership style. This style of leadership helps staff members to
involve in decision making for better results. Healthcare practitioners focus on giving
accountability, responsibility and feedback regarding the performance of the individual.
Democratic style of leadership in clinical practice helps in enhancing and valuing the
participation of healthcare practitioners in decision making process for better care outcomes.
Kaiser, (2017) demonstrates that, democratic leadership style takes input from various nurse and
healthcare practitioners by encouraging open communication. This style is useful for improving
the overall healthcare function and system. The nurse leader have control over the decision
making. For example, In case changes has to be made in acute care department, the nurse leader
should take ideas from every individual and take decision accordingly. This results in avoiding
conflicts and maintaining positive workforce environment. This helps in motivating nurses to
participate in collaborative decision making with the help of open communication.
Critical analysis of two leadership styles
Nye & Clark (2018) establish the fact that, the selection of leadership style is based on
the particular nursing situation and the need of the patients. There are various leadership style
which are implemented according to the particular needs and belief of an individual. In order to

ensure safe administration of the medication then democratic leadership style is used because it
takes into consideration inputs and ideas of various healthcare practitioners in order to make
strategic decision. Democratic style of leadership helps in solving various complex problems by
building team based relationships. This style of leadership helps in resolving medication issue by
taking into consideration the viewpoints of various health care practitioners and patients. Patient
giving input on the particular medication is taken into consideration. This style of leadership take
into consideration bigger picture and take corrective measures for medication safety. Cook &
Leasca (2018) said that, Democratic leadership style helps in reduction of various problems. This
helps in effective decision making which leads to greater innovation and effective solution to the
problem. This leadership style helps in reducing medication errors.
Fallatah & Laschinger (2016) indicated that, authentic leadership helps in equipping
nurses with the adequate skills which they have to grow and inherent at the time of practice. This
leadership styles helps in creating positive environment which in turn results in patient safety. A
healthier work environment helps in retaining experienced and skilful nurses in order to attain
desired results and outcomes. This style of leadership helps in giving medication safety to the
individual. Authentic leadership helps in preventing harm by effectively preventing medication
errors in the healthcare system. Developing effective leadership styles helps in reducing
medication error like communication problem, human problems, technical failure, patient related
issues, inadequate policies, inadequate flow of information, etc. According to Shirey (2017),
Authentic leadership results in effective medication safety by building the knowledge of the
health care practitioners. Authentic leadership in nursing care helps in better understanding of
the self values and beliefs in order to make strategic decision.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been concluded that, clinical leadership helps in providing
direction and support to the patients by delivering quality patient care. It will also demonstrate
the relationship between clinical leadership and patient safety. This study has demonstrated
authentic and democratic style of leadership which is crucial for the effective outcomes of the
patient. Furthermore, this study has summarized that, to ensure safe administration of the
medication, democratic leadership style is used because it takes into consideration ideas of
various healthcare practitioners in order to make strategic decision.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Barr, J., & Dowding, L. (2019). Leadership in health care. Sage Publications Limited.
Bender, M. (2016). Conceptualizing clinical nurse leader practice: an interpretive
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Cook, L. L., & Leasca, J. B. (2018). Trends in Leadership. Essential Knowledge for CNL and
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professional practice environments on new graduate nurses’ job satisfaction. Journal of
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Frankel, A., & PGCMS, R. (2019). What leadership styles should senior nurses
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Kaiser, J. A. (2017). The relationship between leadership style and nurse‐to‐nurse incivility:
turning the lens inward. Journal of nursing management.25(2). 110-118.
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Nye, A., & Clark, J. (2018). Leadership: Enabling Leadership in the Teaching and Learning of
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Shirey, M. R. (2017). Leadership practices for healthy work environments. Nursing
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Tingle, J. K., Griffiths, R. J., Hazlett, D., & Flint, A. (2018). NIRSA Championship Series
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Wong, C. A., & Laschinger, H. K. (2013). Authentic leadership, performance, and job
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Online
Authentic Leaders Creating Healthy Work Environments for Nursing Practice. 2019. [Online].
Available through: <http://ajcc.aacnjournals.org/content/15/3/256.abstract>
The relationship between nursing leadership and patient outcomes: a systematic review update.
2013. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.verpleegkundigleiderschap.nu/wp-
content/uploads/2018/12/The_relationship_between_nursing_leadership-and-patient-
outcomes.pdf>
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