Examining Leadership Styles: Impact on Patient Safety in Nursing

This essay delves into the crucial relationship between leadership styles and patient safety within the nursing profession. It examines two key leadership approaches: transformational and transactional leadership. Transformational leadership is portrayed as a method that can improve the performance of an organization and motivate nurses and healthcare providers in hospitals. Transactional leadership focuses on organizational performance and effectiveness, where leaders promote compliance through rewards and punishments. The essay argues that both styles are applicable in healthcare settings, helping to improve patient safety, particularly in medication safety. The essay further discusses the advantages and limitations of each style, concluding that effective leadership is vital for reducing patient health issues. The work also provides an overview of the importance of leadership styles in the context of medication safety and patient safety, which can help the other nurses and readers for understanding the key ideas behind the leadership styles and patient safety.

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Leadership styles in nursing

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Relationship between leadership style and patient safety
A leadership style is a kind of method that provides direction for implementing
plans and motivating employees in the workplace. Leadership style plays a major role in
health care where effective leadership style can help the patients for controlling and
managing their health-related issues (Boamah, Laschinger, Wong, & Clarke, 2018). The aim
of this essay is to examine the key aspects behind leadership style and evaluate the
relationship between leadership and patient safety. This research essay will cover major
two points including the description of two leadership styles and critical analysis of the
selected leadership styles in terms of patient safety.
The term leadership is the capability of an individual to influence and guide other
members in the organization and it involves decisions for motivating employees in the
workplace. An effective leader can control and monitor the overall performance of an
organization and in health care systems leadership style can help nurses and other
members to manage the health-related issues faced by the patients (Carragher & Gormley,
2017). It is identified that leadership is a kind of activity which is used for leading a group
of employees and also help management for managing more complex situations in the
workplace (Connolly, Jacobs, & Scott, 2018).
The term patient safety has defined discipline and responsibility which emphasizes
safety and wellbeing in health care by using prevention techniques and analyzing the
health issues faced by the individuals (Connolly, Jacobs, & Scott, 2018). It is very important
for nurses to focus on patient safety in the hospitals and health care systems and
leadership style can help for developing and implementing effective decisions in the
hospitals. This research essay mainly focuses on the main two points including leadership
style their significance in patient safety (Davidson, & Sindhu, 2017).
There are major two leadership styles which can be used for controlling and
handling the health-related issues faced by the patients. These leadership styles involve
transformational and transactional leaderships which are described below:

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Transformational type of leadership style is able to transform and improve the
performance of a community or organization effectively. it is observed that employees
might have a basic set of assignments and goals which they complete every week in which
leaders help them for effectively improving their performance towards their goals and
objectives. While using this type of leadership in the workplace the management can
enhance the performance of workers and reduce barriers that impact on the productivity of
an organization (Frasier, 2019). It is observed that the transformation leadership style is a
highly encouraged form of leadership that has the potential to motivate nurses and health
care providers in the hospitals and also monitor capability of the workers (Connolly,
Jacobs, & Scott, 2018).
Transactional leadership is more effective and appropriate that has the potential to
improve the performance of the employees. Mainly such kind of leadership style focuses on
organizational performance and effectiveness. In the case of transaction style leaders
promotes compliance by followers through punishments and rewards. With the help of this
leadership style, the management can control and manage more complex situations and
also lead international projects which need rules and regulations (Connolly, Jacobs, & Scott,
2018). It is most often and reliable process rather than other styles due to which it can be
used in patient safety and medication safety. It is observed that the transactional
leadership style mainly depends on self-motived consumers who work efficiently and well
in the directed environment. It has the ability to focus on the key issue and problems faced
by the employees in the workplace and also help for maintaining routine by managing
employee’s presentation.
Figure: Transactional leadership style

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(Source: Heckmann, Schools, & Halfents, 2014)
A recent study identified that transactional leadership is completely based on the
relationship between leaders and followers in order to analyze every condition based on
the performance readiness (McFadden, Stock, & Gowen III, 2015).
Both selected styles transformational and transactional can be applied in the health
care systems and hospitals for monitoring the situation of the patients in an effective way.
It is argued that the selected leadership styles have the potential to promote patient safety
and help nurses for improving their ability towards the safety of the patients (Connolly,
Jacobs, & Scott, 2018). However, leadership style plays a crucial role in driving and
maintaining change in patient safety in which it can help nurses for identifying the risk
factors that impact on patient safety. In which the emphasis on controlling and handling the
performance of the consumers and identifying the better approaches to overcome
challenges faced by the consumers.
From the recent investigation, it is identified that transformational leaders are
convinced and proactive followers for improving the health of the patients and these
leaders are able to motivate, evaluate and provide a way where nurses can provide reliable
services in terms of patient safety (Wilcox, 2018). For example, in the case of medication
safety, both transformational and transactional styles may help hospitals and health care
systems for improving the performance of nurses in order to provide better outcomes to
the patients. Merrill, (2015) argued that transformational leadership had an effective

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influence on workplace environment in the hospitals where leaders can transform and
improve the workability of nurses and provide a platform where they can help in the case
of medication safety.
Figure: Transformation leadership
(Source: Merrill, 2015)
A recent survey observed that medication safety can be obtained in hospitals with
the help of transformational and transactional leadership. Medication safety is a kind of
freedom from preventable harm with the medication use which may impact on health
outcomes Merrill, (2015). In order to reduce such kinds of issues both transformational
and transactional styles can be used that have the ability to improve the decision-making
process more effective and monitor patient safety. It is observed that there are major five
sections involved in the transformational leadership, for example, modelling the way,
encouraging the heart, challenging the process, inspiring a shared vision and enabling

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others to act which can be applied in the hospitals and health care communities for
medication safety (Connolly, Jacobs, & Scott, 2018).
However, transformational leadership can help management for modelling an
effective way where nurses can motivate patients and help to promote patient safety.
Moreover, such kind of approach enables management and nurses in the workplace to act
in an effective manner where the patients can analyze and resolve health-related issues.
Figure: Transformational leadership in patient safety
(Source: Moss, Mitchell, & Casey, (2017)
Moss, Mitchell, & Casey, (2017) proposed a research on the selected topic and
identified that transformational leadership focus on the major three points including
patient safety culture, patient safety outcomes and patient safety initiatives that can
provide a platform to the nurses for improving patient safety and handle problems and
risks associated with the nurses. It is identified that in the health care systems and
hospitals transactional leadership may be applied because of their ability to motivate the
nurses and health care providers effectively. Moreover, leaders can provide a way where
the nurses can work in a group and monitor the health of the patients and also handle
medication safety. Wilcox, (2018) observed that in the health care and patient safety such

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kind of leadership style may be used because of their capability to reduces health
disorders.
With the help of this leadership style management in health care can develop and
implement more effective decisions which can monitor medication safety appropriately.
Weiss, Tappen, M., & Grimley, (2019) stated that the transactional leadership model shows
a unique approach to assess medical leadership and promotes medication or patient safety
in an appropriate way. After reviewing previous literature it is observed that there are
several limitations of transformational leadership which may not promote patient safety in
several cases (Connolly, Jacobs, & Scott, 2018). These limitations involve some times it
provides wrong decisions, employee burns out, assumption of motivation, risky process
and so on.
McFadden, Stock, & Gowen III, (2015) identified that there are numerous
advantages of the transactional leadership that can promote patient safety and medication
safety in an effective way. These benefits include employee motivation, achievable goals
and aims, clear structure, more reliable, reduce risks factors, improve productivity and
efficiency of nurses in health care systems and so on. However, it is identified that there are
several limitations of this style which may impact on the patient safety including,
unyielding leadership, does not encourage creativity, insensitivity and so on. Therefore, it is
stated that with the help of both transformational and transactional leadership styles the
safety of the patients can be monitored effectively and also improve performance of the
nurses in the health care environment.
From the above identification and analysis, it is concluded that leadership style has
the potential to monitor patient safety effectively and it plays a major role in the reduction
of health issues faced by the patients. This research essay examined the key aspects of
leadership style and also evaluated the relationship between leadership styles and patient
safety. There are major two styles selected for example transformational and transactional
both are capable of controlling and handling the performance of nurses in the workplace
and also evaluate medication safety. Moreover, the importance of transformational and
transactional leadership in the context of medication safety and patient safety are

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described which can help the other nurses and readers for understanding the key ideas
behind the leadership styles and patient safety.

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References
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Carragher, J., & Gormley, K. (2017). Leadership and emotional intelligence in nursing and
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psychological empowerment of registered nurses working in an emergency
department. Journal of nursing management, 26(7), 881-887.
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Weiss, S. A., Tappen, R. M., & Grimley, K. (2019). Essentials of Nursing Leadership &
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