Nursing Leadership Report: Analysis of Nursing Leadership Interviews

This report delves into the multifaceted world of nursing leadership, presenting an analysis of interviews conducted with two experienced nurses, Jaana Seitovirta and Rene Steinhauer. The interviews explore their perspectives on effective leadership, highlighting key qualities such as respect for human dignity, fostering a supportive work environment, and the importance of continuous learning and adaptability. The report then connects these insights to established leadership theories, including the Great Man Theory, Trait Theory, and others, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the principles that underpin successful nursing leadership. The analysis examines how these theories manifest in practical scenarios, such as disaster management and everyday patient care, emphasizing the dynamic nature of nursing leadership and the need for nurses to develop diverse leadership strategies. The report underscores the significance of self-awareness, situational awareness, and the application of evidence-based practices in guiding new generations of nurses towards improved and safer patient outcomes. The report concludes by highlighting the critical role of leadership in nursing and its direct impact on the quality of care and the overall healthcare environment.

Running head: NURSING LEADERSHIP
Nursing Leadership
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1NURSING LEADERSHIP
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Nursing interview............................................................................................................................2
Leadership theories..........................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference.......................................................................................................................................10
Appendix........................................................................................................................................11

2NURSING LEADERSHIP
Introduction
Leadership in nursing is vital and important due to the credibility of the nursing practice
and also has the responsibility of achieving a proper client and patient care. Findings have
revealed that the nurse managers not only have the better retention rates and recruitment rates but
also at the same time improves the outcome of the patient care. For all the roles a nursing leader
undertakes, effective nursing leadership is necessary. This is irrespective of the nurses that are
working in the educational field, research field or in the administrative field (Wong, Cummings
and Ducharme 2013). The main motive is to provide guidance and support to the practitioners,
staffs regarding the patient positive health outcome. For the newer graduates in the field of
nursing, nursing leadership defines to effectively supervise and delegate others. While for the
experienced nurses, nursing leadership means performing the administrative duties, mentoring,
being in charge of the other professionals. There are five different types of the nursing practices
that are needed by a nurse for the proper transformation. They are building trust and relationship;
creation of an empowered work environment; creation of a working environment that will
promote the development of knowledge and knowledge integration; sustaining and leading
damage; balancing the priorities and the competing values (Pullen Jr 2016). This study is based
on the interview of the two nurses and then evaluation of the interview with respect to the
various nursing leadership theories.
Nursing interview
1st nurse: An interview was conducted by a nurse leader named Jaana Seitovirta (name
changed) for the purpose of the conduct of the study:

3NURSING LEADERSHIP
The interview with this nurse revealed certain information which is presented as follows-
According to her, nursing leadership is all about respecting and believing the human dignity. It
also signifies that upholding a rewarding culture, being attentive, encouraging, inspiring and
listening properly. Nursing leadership puts a constant focus on the quality and the comprehensive
management. The nurse that is great, whether they are managers, administrative directors or the
upper-level executives all consider the above-mentioned roles as complementary. The nurse at
the same time considers that instilling a feeling of common vision within the staffs in necessary
and vital in the high quality of care provided to the patient. Nursing leadership must be solely
based on the customer and this means that a nurse must consider a patient fully for the treatment
purpose rather than solely. Jaana says that nurse leader should be considered as role models and
the sole purpose is to respect and believe in human dignity, at the same time courage is equally
important and vital to nursing leadership. The nurse leaders must earn their status as role models
rather than considering the fact that their job title will provide them with perks. According to her,
it is important to note that modern leadership style must not be based on the leadership styles of
fear.
Jaana says that according to her the list of the all the desired nursing leadership is
although long, however it does not include perfection. The nursing leaders that are effective have
accepted the fact that nursing leaders are imperfect and through the profession, they need to grow
and develop and it is similar to the nurses that report to the nurse leaders do. It is also vital to
note that the values of human dignity along with the attitudes apply to both the directions- from
the staff nurses towards those that manage them and also from the nurse manager to the one that
they oversee. She says that her nursing career has been unusual. Her journey of nursing
leadership started in the year 1968 when she was just 5 years old child and it began in the retail

4NURSING LEADERSHIP
instead of healthcare. Jaana says that due to working in the retail industry the values of the
customer service prepared her for the career as a nurse. The modern-day healthcare industry has
so much service and customer oriented that the approaches that are used in the healthcare are all
the way similar to the other service sectors. These sectors demand competitive advantage and
productivity as the vital points. Her career in nursing began all the way back to 2008 when she
graduated as a public health nurse and as a registered nurse. She initially worked in the elder care
services and later as a deputy nurse manager. Later on, she went for a master in the health
science degree and after completion of the program started working as a researcher. She
emphasized that as a nurse she will always prefer to and stay committed to the ethical nursing
practices. Her research was on the based on the rewards in the healthcare, which exclusively
includes the perception of the usage of the rewards and the experiences of the registered nurses.
Janna says that in her nursing career, she has seen the working environments to change and the
reason behind such changes is the emphasis on the customer orientation, multi-professional
teamwork, advances in medicine, social media and internet. It is, however, important to note that
the importance of the good leadership has always remained the same. She says that both in the
business and healthcare industry she has worked and interacted with different leaders, directors
and managers. A majority of the leaders that she has met possess the quality of the good
leadership skills, however not every one of the leaders was able to live up to the ideals. She
considers herself belonging to the generation Y because she started her career late. The persons
that belong from the generation Y are known for their different perspectives towards the
motivational needs and work in comparison to the earlier generations. She suggests that she
emphasizes on the individuality rather than focussing on the different generations. She says that

5NURSING LEADERSHIP
one of the biggest challenges is that leaders that supervise the Generation Y workers are the
people that seek constant meaning towards the attention, good treatment and meaning in work.
She says that one must open one’s eyes and listen. To one of the question “should all the
nurse manager and the nurse leaders have the strong background in the nursing care?”. She
replies that it is necessary for the nurse managers and the nurse leaders to understand the
healthcare and she does not think that it is necessary for each and every one to be an expert in
healthcare. She suggests that the nurse leaders that manage and supervise must have their eyes
open and have the attentive ears and must also take time to listen to the employees (Kark and
Shamir 2013).
The style of the leadership must be more visible and there is a need to ask the nurses frequently
about how things are actually going on and the conversation must be done face to face. This
practice is also applicable for the nurse leaders at the executive level and the nurse leaders must
be interested in listening to the everyday issues when facing the entire staffs. Jaana says that
recent survey has revealed that the supervision which the subordinates receive from the
supervisors are inadequate, especially when it comes to listening, equity, fairness, opportunities
to participate. This is also in accordance with her experiences and she confirms that it is also
vital to listen to the staff members, and acknowledging the hard work that the staffs are doing are
all vital for the nursing leadership. She also states that the nurse leader must give a caring
approach towards the leadership. In the healthcare and nursing, the nurse leaders and the
managers often talk about transformational management and the lean thinking and it involves the
inspirational style of leadership, coaching, motivation (Kark and Shamir 2013). She opines that it
is equally important to take care of the issues that are related to the environment at work and it
includes the clear vision of the future; equality; justice; adequate human resources; safe patient

6NURSING LEADERSHIP
care; evidence-based practice; provision of high quality. She considers that nursing leadership is
a powerful locomotive that consists of the staff members, patients, customers as the passengers
on a train. Without the locomotive, no one will be able to go anywhere. The locomotive can
function properly only when the locomotive is kept in good condition and the upgrade it
whenever necessary. Self-management at the same time is necessary for the effective
management of the staff nurses, nurse managers, nurse administrators. With the help of self-
management, leaders can effectively counter the growing importance of remote work and
teamwork.
2nd Nurse: The second interview is conducted with a nurse named Rene Steinhauer (name
changed).
According to Renner, nursing leadership is unique and is similar to the standard business
model, and it is also true that the leadership is derived from the business. When he was working
as a disaster manager in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, he was able to measure the results of
leadership. At that moment of crisis, the injured used to die within a short period of time but with
the development of a more organized team, the fatalities reduced to a great extent. He said that at
that moment the priority was not profit, whereas the injured people. Over the years he has learnt
that the several dynamic environments in which a nurse works and this requires a dynamic form
of the nurse leadership. According to Renner, the nurses that are the most successful master the
different leadership strategies. As nurse leaders Renner says, one must continue to develop one’s
abilities and engage in lifelong learning. Nurse's role is as complex as the leadership in which he
or she works. Each and every nurse finds themselves in the roles of a leader or a follower. When
a nurse is a follower, he or she will listen to the orders of a doctor and will also receive direction
from the charge nurses. Whereas, when a nurse is a charge nurse, the nurse will receive direction

7NURSING LEADERSHIP
from the chief nursing officer. Renner says that, as a role of a leader, it is the duty of the leader to
spread the entry level of nursing. As a floor nurse or as a student nurse, the most basic duty is to
display the qualities of leadership in the daily activities. When educating and encouraging the
patients through the medication therapy, it is necessary to uphold the sworn duty and serve the
same as advocates. There comes a time when a nurse must encourage a physician to consider an
ethical perspective of the patients that are culturally sensitive. Renner says that, as a nurse leader
progresses in their own career, the nurse leaders guide the new generations towards the better
and safer patient care which is evidence-based (Lam, Huang and Chan 2015). Renner also says
that as a nurse leader, he practices both the self-awareness as well as situational awareness. He
considers nursing as a core competency of nursing. Renner even drew an analogy with a film
“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” and like the three characters in the film accomplished their
tasks, so do the leadership styles in the field of nursing.
Leadership theories
There are different types of the leadership theories in the field of nursing like the Great
Man Theory; Trait Theory; Behavioural theories; Participative leadership theory; situational
leadership theory; contingency leadership theory; transactional leadership theory (Giltinane
2013).
Theories like great man theory, states that leaders are not made, they are by bit leaders.
This theory also says that leaders will arise when there is a great need for a leader. The trait
theory states that the leaders are born with the characteristics and traits of a leader, some of the
traits are actually suited for a person to become a leader (Wong 2015). The people that will be
leaders will possess the right combination of the traits. The behavioural theory states that leaders
are born, however, they can also be made. The successful leadership is based on the learnable

8NURSING LEADERSHIP
and definable behaviour. This theory of leadership does not lay emphasis on the inborn
capabilities and traits, rather it focusses on what leaders actually do. These kinds of leadership
theory are not applicable in the field of nursing and especially the nursing leadership (Stanley
2016).
Theories like participative and transformational theories are more inclined with the
nursing leadership scenarios. The participative theory says that a participative leader seeks to
involve all the other people in the healthcare scenario, like the subordinates, clinical staffs,
nurses and the other stakeholders. It depends on the whim of the managers to deny or delegate
the control to their subordinates, most of the participative activity exists within the immediate
team (Lam, Huang and Chan 2015). It is a more democratic form of leadership and the team
members are effectively included in the decision-making process. This makes the team members
become more engaged in the management process, more motivated towards the goal and more
committed towards the goals. The leader in this leadership theory make critical changes through
the incorporation of the suggestions and prevents the reoccurrence of the same mistakes again
(Xu 2017).
Transformational leadership theory- This theory is a relationship between the follower and a
leader and in this sort of leadership, both the leader and the follower motivate each other to high
levels. This results in congruence between the leader and the followers. The transformational
leaders possess the traits of a charismatic personality and strong vision. The leaders motivate
their followers to adjust the inspirations, opinions, expectations and to work together for the
common goals (Kark and Shamir 2013). This leadership theory also includes four components:
personal consideration, intellectual stimulation, strong motivation, ideal impact.
Transformational leadership is based on the bringing change and the leaders that practice such a

9NURSING LEADERSHIP
leadership style motivate his followers to achieve the goal, empower the goals and share the
visions. This leadership style focusses on building trust with the followers and the connection is
established through the honest, fair, open connection with the staffs through the independent
decision making. The leader effectively uses the effective communication in order to guide the
staff and help in achieving the goals (Sadeghi and Pihie 2012).
Conclusion
Thus, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that nursing leadership is essential for the
effective delivery of healthcare in a clinical setting. The nursing leadership is essential in order to
guide, supervise, manage the clinical staff, nurses and the other workers so that the complex
cases of health complications are effectively delivered. The effectiveness depends a lot on the
leadership style followed and the underlying principle of leadership. This study includes the
interview of the two nurse leaders and at the same time evaluation of the principles and the type
of leadership followed by the same.

10NURSING LEADERSHIP
Reference
Giltinane, C.L., 2013. Leadership styles and theories. Nursing Standard (through 2013), 27(41),
p.35.
Kark, R. and Shamir, B., 2013. The dual effect of transformational leadership: Priming relational
and collective selves and further effects on followers. In Transformational and Charismatic
Leadership: The Road Ahead 10th Anniversary Edition (pp. 77-101). Emerald Group Publishing
Limited.
Lam, C.K., Huang, X. and Chan, S.C., 2015. The threshold effect of participative leadership and
the role of leader information sharing. Academy of Management Journal, 58(3), pp.836-855.
Pullen Jr, R.L., 2016. Leadership in nursing practice. Nursing made Incredibly Easy, 14(3),
pp.26-31.
Sadeghi, A. and Pihie, Z.A.L., 2012. Transformational leadership and its predictive effects on
leadership effectiveness. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(7).
Stanley, D., 2016. Leadership Theories and Styles. Clinical Leadership in Nursing and
Healthcare: Values into Action, pp.25-46.
Wong, C.A., 2015. Connecting nursing leadership and patient outcomes: state of the science.
Journal of nursing management, 23(3), pp.275-278.
Wong, C.A., Cummings, G.G. and Ducharme, L., 2013. The relationship between nursing
leadership and patient outcomes: a systematic review update. Journal of nursing management,
21(5), pp.709-724.

11NURSING LEADERSHIP
Xu, J.H., 2017. Leadership theory in clinical practice. Chinese Nursing Research. 4(4), pp.155-
15.
Appendix
The question asked during the interview are as follows:
1. What were your experiences regarding the nursing leadership?
2. What is the effective strategy to manage a team and deliver the nursing leadership?
3. What are the issues encountered during the management, coordination and
communication as a nurse leader?
4. Why do you think nursing leadership is not easy to perform?
5. The events encountered during the whole nursing career and as a nurse leader.