Leadership and Professional Practice: Healthcare Setting Analysis

This report delves into the realm of leadership and professional practice within the healthcare sector. It begins by defining leadership and emphasizing the significance of effective leadership in achieving organizational goals, vision, and objectives. The report focuses on two pivotal leadership theories: transactional and transformational leadership, exploring their application in contemporary healthcare settings. It compares and contrasts these theories, highlighting their roles in enhancing patient care and safety. Furthermore, the report examines various leadership styles employed by nurse leaders, with a particular emphasis on transformational leadership. It also identifies the challenges that nurse leaders face and proposes strategies to overcome them. The report concludes by emphasizing the crucial role of effective leadership theories in establishing high-quality care and support within healthcare organizations.

Running head: LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
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1LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Introduction
Leadership is defined as the procedure of channelizing the power and energy of a
group or an individual persons in order to achieve a specific goal, vision and objective.
Hence, effective leadership is considered as the significant step towards success of a
complete team. There are various leadership theories that are used as a standard guide
towards achieving the goal or objective of the organization and in order to implement the
leadership theory, an effective leaders are assigned who are accountable for implementing the
leadership theories (Antonakis and Day 2017). This study will focus on two crucial
leadership theory namely transactional leadership theory and transformational leadership
theory that will aim the organization and the team members to achieve their goals in a
systematic manner and with ease. The quality of being an effective leader will also be
exhibited in the study and the advantages of following democratic leadership style will be
explained. The study will focus on the challenges or barriers that might hamper the trait of
being an effective leader associated with the strategies that can be adopted to overcome the
barriers and adapt the best leadership trait and theory (Grint et al. 2016).
Comparison and difference between the transactional leadership theory and
transformational leadership theory in the cotemporary healthcare setting
This study will explore the different leadership traits and theories that are applicable
and appropriate for enhancing the contemporary healthcare practice within the healthcare
industry and hospital. The leadership theory that can be utilised in the healthcare setting will
be based on the overall performance of the hospital and the kind of effort the leader will take
to guide the involved team members (Gopee and Galloway 2017). In the area of healthcare
setting, effective leadership is considered as the crucial step for enhancing the organization
performance and achieve the goal of enhanced patient safety and high quality of care. Hence,

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it is evident that an appropriate leadership theory is responsible for amplifying the
performance of the nurses and different healthcare providers in the healthcare organization.
Therefore, the most appropriate leadership theory that will motivate the healthcare
organization to achieve the goal of enhanced safety and high quality of care is
“transformational-transactional” theory of leadership (Kumar and Khiljee 2016).
Transactional leadership theory is defined as the leadership theory that is based on the
conventional exchange association using which the attitude, productivity, loyalty and efforts
of the team members are exchanged for estimated rewards. On the other hand, transformation
leader’s also known as extraordinary leaders aim to raise the awareness level of the team
members regarding the worth and status of the estimated result and the different strategies
that can be utilised and practiced to achieve those rewards (Smith 2015). Both
transformational and transactional leadership style aim to fulfil the expected rewards within
the healthcare setting as both the leadership style will enhance the patient care and safety
with high competence. According to Fischer (2016), transformational leadership is associated
with the skill of teachable proficiencies, which will help the leaders to guide the nurses and
other healthcare providers to form a high-performing team that will focus on delivering
improved patient care and patient safety. Hence, according to the researcher transformational
leadership style is beneficial and appropriate to be practiced within the healthcare setting and
achieving the desired and expected outcome.
Implementation of appropriate leadership style within the healthcare setting is
considered as the instrumental step to develop a friendly and supporting organizational
surrounding with positive staff behaviour in order to exercise and implement evidence-based
practice within the healthcare setting to improve and enhance the patient outcome and care
(Gifford et al. 2017). Therefore, implementation of transactional and transformational theory
of leadership in the healthcare setting will assist the nurses and the healthcare providers to

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emphasize on the importance and significance of leadership for guiding and planning the
acceptance of novel strategies such as evidence-based practice (EBP), which will help them
to upsurge their skills and capabilities. Hence, selection and implementation of the above
mentioned leadership theories is beneficial and useful for improving the healthcare strategies
within the contemporary healthcare setting (Patel et al. 2016).
Transactional leadership theory focus on highlighting the outcome of the goal and
determine what strategy can be used to gain the attention of the nurses and the healthcare
providers in releasing the significance of goal by adapting the reward system. In this method,
the leaders practice the rewards system where they reward the performers for achieving the
targets and exhibiting their best capability of work and also punishing the bad performers or
non-performers for their incapability (Cook and Leasca 2018). For example, if the hospital
administration set up a reward system like rewarding the nurses who work during night shifts
or who handle the critical cases or even work during their off or holidays will receive a
monetary reward will therefore motivate and boost the nurses to achieve the expected goal
with high quality of care and desired outcome.
On the other hand, transformational leadership theory focus on the leader who is
accountable for transforming the perception, expectation and behaviour of the nurses and
direct each one of them to achieve the expected goal. In this theory, the leader will use their
vision and guide the staff members and nurses accordingly. Thus, it is very crucial that the
leader bear an influential and charismatic personality. For example, the senior registered
nurses will be responsible for guiding and motivating the new nurses who had joined the
hospital to achieve the goal and work with efficiency (Thomas 2016). Therefore, it is evident
that the two theories are similar to each other in terms of their aim of achieving the goal and
enhancing the standard of patient care and safety but are also different in terms of their
method of execution.

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Leadership styles employed by effective nurse leaders
Nurses have a significant role within the healthcare organization as they deliver best
patient care and outcome, hence, it is very crucial that the nurses are managed and guided by
the effective nurse leaders who will aim to influence the performance and capabilities of each
involved nurses in order to yield best patient outcome. There are various kinds of leadership
style that can be practiced and implemented by the nurse leaders to maintain their individual
departments in an organized manner with high level of competency and enhanced practical
skills (Cummings et al. 2018). The nurse leaders will accomplish a leadership style and
implement that style in their specialized strategies and they can more easily organize the
health programs or procedures that will further assist the junior nurses to achieve the desired
outcome. There are various leadership style that can be acquired and used by the nurse
leaders to guide the junior nurses and achieve the best patient outcome and care.
Transactional leadership, transformational leadership, democratic leadership, authoritarian
leadership and laissez-faire leadership are the various leadership style that can be use and
practiced by the nurse leaders to guide and motivate the junior nurses or staff members to
achieve the goal and exhibit the desired patient outcome (Saleh et al. 2018).
It is crucial that the nurse leaders adopted a single leadership style based on their daily
activity and routine and also according to their respective department that would be best
suited to achieve the expected outcome. The healthcare environment is constantly changing
and modifying, therefore, it is very crucial that the nurse leaders to effectively understand
which leadership style should be followed or practiced by them among the different
leadership style that will be most appropriate and applicable in their reactive departments.
According to Alloubani et al. (2015), transformational leadership style is the most useful and
frequent leadership style that is employed by the nurse leaders. The positive correlation was
seen between the transformational leadership style and job satisfaction among the nurses that

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had resulted in enhanced organizational outcome. The leader effectiveness, employee
enthusiasm and job satisfaction was seen positive during transformational leadership style.
This leadership style is most followed and adopted by the nurse leaders as this style comprise
of team engagement and motivation. The transformational leadership style induces the nurse
leaders to educate their staffs on the strategies of becoming leaders within their workstation
by contributing to the improvement of accurate solutions towards any logistical problems
within their individual departments (Ghasabeh, Soosay and Reaiche 2015).
Challenges towards attaining effective leadership
In any healthcare organization, it is the role and responsibility of the nurse leaders to
effectively guide and motivate the junior nurse and sever as the model to achieve the
expected outcomes. Currently evidence-based practice in medicine and nursing is considered
as the most recognized tool for achieving best patient outcome with high quality of care and
productivity. Hence, to guide the junior nurses with this skills an efficient nurse leaders are
required in every healthcare organization. There are various challenges that will inhibit the
nurse leader to effectively fulfil their responsibility and maintain their leadership position
(Martin et al. 2015). The most serious challenge is lack of appropriate support from the
organization that will assist the nurse leaders in accomplishing their roles and responsibility
of the nurse. At the executive level, the organization does not support the existence of a nurse
leader position that indirectly affects the responsibility of the nurse leader. The mismatch the
takes place due to lack of organization support therefore lead to confusion among the nurse
leaders between their authority and their perceived authority (Acn.edu.au, 2019). The other
important challenge is excess administrative burden that drifts the concentration of the nurse
leader from clinical leadership, communication and mentoring from their respective teams
that thereby decreases the leadership traits and distract the complete department from their
goal and mission. The lack of appreciation and recognition of the nurse leader also acts as the

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challenge towards achieving the expected outcome as the nurse leaders are themselves
demotivated due to no appreciation and therefore fail to provide any strategic plan for
achieving the expected outcome (Grossman and Valiga 2016).
Strategies to overcome the challenges
There are various challenges that inhibit the nurse leaders to effectively fulfil their
responsibility and motivate the junior nurses to achieve the expected outcome. Hence,
different strategies are adopted or implemented within the healthcare organization to
overcome such challenges or barriers and exhibit the desired outcome. Firstly, the nurse
leaders should be recognized by the organization as the efficient decision makers and income
generators, as the nurse leaders are the only people who understand the strategies to enhance
the patient outcome that will in turn increase the reputation of the organization and therefore,
helping the organization in making huge amount of money (World Health Organization
2015). The nurse leader should be efficient in distributing the work evenly among the junior
nurses that will help them to reduce their work burden and work pressure. The organization
should establish a health policy that incorporate the long-term vision of the nurse leader and
they are recognized even in the executive and administrative area of the organization. The
nurse leader should take up the initiative and write the set of local standards, procedure and
guidelines that will help them to communicate and maintain their status by effectively
guiding the junior nurses and attaining the desired outcome (Barr and Dowding 2019).
Conclusion
Effective leadership theories play a crucial role in establishing and attaining the high
quality of care and support within the healthcare organization. Two different leadership
theories were highlighted in this study namely transformation and transactional leadership
theory that aimed to increase and enhance the standard of patient care and safety. The

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similarity and difference between the two theories were discussed in detail. The leadership
style that should be followed by the nurse leader was also highlighted that majorly focused on
the transformational leadership style as this leadership style is directly related to enhanced
level of job satisfaction and patient outcome. The different challenges or barriers that result in
reduced leadership quality was explained associated with the strategies that can be used or
adapted to overcome those barriers and help the nurse leaders to effectively fulfil their role
and responsibilities of guiding and motivating the junior nurse and thereby serve as the role
model to achieve the expected outcomes.

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