A Reflective Analysis of Nursing Leadership and Mentorship Styles

This essay presents a student's reflection on a nursing leadership experience during a clinical placement in a medical-surgical ward. The reflection focuses on a senior nurse's autocratic leadership style and its negative impact on student nurses' morale, skill development, and patient care. The student expresses feelings of demotivation and discomfort due to the senior nurse's unsupportive behavior. The essay analyzes the drawbacks of autocratic leadership, contrasting it with the benefits of transformational leadership, which promotes two-way communication, feedback sharing, and employee empowerment. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of developing transformational leadership skills to foster a positive work environment, improve patient outcomes, and prevent burnout. The student outlines an action plan to cultivate transformational leadership qualities through workshops, interviews with healthcare leaders, and research.

Running head: REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP
REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP
Description:
During the time of placement in the medical-surgical ward, my clinical preceptor was a
senior nurse who had ten years of working experience in the healthcare industry. The new
student nurses were working under her as a team. The senior nurse was introvert and was not
approachable at all. She did not communicate openly with all of the embers and only interacted
when she had to instruct something. She did not accept any suggestions from the members and
appeared too strict. She cleanly denied accepting a suggestion from one of the student nurse
stating that she should be within her limits and should not think of talking over her. The member
was quite shocked as she had only provided her with an innovative suggestion and had not tried
to demean her. Moreover, on one occasion, I was feeling low, as I was not able to keep up with
the work burden. Instead of discussing my issues, she shouted at me stating that I was sitting
idle. She also had a habit of cutting people midway that offended the speakers. She also did not
exchange in feedback sharing. Many of the members were not able to fill the patient admission
documents, electronic health records and in handling the different healthcare equipment
properly. They wanted her to help her. However, she stated that they should have done these
practices in the universities and that she would not help them. She asked them to learn from the
manuals, as they must have been inattentive in classes. These made the student nurses upset.
Many of the members approached the higher authority and reported these incidents. Accordingly,
she was summoned by the higher power to show cause for her behaviors and attitudes.
Feelings:

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REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP
From all the incidents, I was quite upset, as I was not able to learn essential things in the
healthcare sector that are necessary for nurses to work in the medical-surgical wards. The senior
nurse was judgmental and this behavior of her prevented me from asking any queries to hear.
Therefore, I was not able to develop skills and knowledge, which was the primary motive of the
clinical placement. Moreover, such behavior of the senior nurse made me feel uncomfortable to
work with her. I felt claustrophobic under her leadership, as I was not able to provide my
feedback to her about what I was thinking and about the various problems that I was facing while
caring for the patients. I was highly de-motivated and was not feeling like working in the
stressful situation. This factor was affecting my enthusiasm as well.
Evaluation:
The poor leadership of the senior nurse was affecting the morale of the student nurses
who were working as a team. They were not encouraged and were severely criticized about their
work by the senior nurse. The nursing professionals were not about to develop their skills and
motivated. The main bad part of the incident was that it was affecting the care of the patient.
Firstly, they de-motivated and stressed student nurses were not able to develop their skills and
knowledge. This aspect increased the risk of poor service towards patients. Secondly, they were
not being able to treat the patients on the wards properly as the senior nurse was not supportive
and were not resolving their queries. Therefore, there were high chances of errors in the
department and the patient safety was compromised (Arunima et al. 2014). Third, they were
feeling very stressed and were burned out. This aspect affected their physical and mental health,
which increased the chances of the poor quality of life.
Analysis:

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REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP
The leadership of the senior nurse failed because she had adopted the autocratic leadership style.
Researchers are of the opinion that autocratic leaders retain all the power, authority and even
reserve the right to make all the decisions. Such leaders are seen not to trust the ability of their
subordinates and try to control the people who work under them. The senior nurse was also
showing authority and was not accepting any suggestions (Donnelly 2017). Instead, she was
trying to control all the student nurses. Such leaders do not delegate or empower their
subordinates and ensure one-way communication. Such leaders do not consult with their
subordinates and do not give them chances to provide their opinions. Similar such attributes were
also displayed by the senior nurses (Penny 2017). Researchers are of the idea that autocratic
leadership affects the morale of the subordinates. They feel that their suggestions are not
respected and that they are not a part of the organization. They feel discouraged and de-
motivated. They get the minimal scope for career growth (Sarabi 2015). All these aspects
increase turnover, reduction of productivity and increased workers dissatisfaction. Therefore, the
senior nurse should have adopted the transformational leadership style. This leadership style
promotes two-way communication and promotes feedback sharing. This aspect makes
employees feel accepted and respected in the organization. The senior nurse should have ensured
idealized influence (Boamah et al. 2018). It is essential for leaders to act as role models and this
will help the employees to learn and work in ways, which aligns with organizational, goals,
vision and ethics. The second one is inspirational motivation. The leaders should motivate and
inspire the workers to work beyond their potential. Had the senior nurse helped me in solving my
problem and managing my work burden, I would not have felt de-motivated. Intellectual
stimulation and individualized consideration by such leaders ensure assisting subordinates to
develop innovative strategies and solve their concerns so that goals can be met successfully.

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REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP
Conclusion:
From the above discussion, I have learnt that researchers criticize traits of autocratic leadership.
They affect productivity, morale of workers and motivation of the employees. These also result
in poor patient care in the healthcare organizations and burning out of the workers (Fisher 2016).
Therefore, when I become a leader in the future, I will not develop the traits of autocratic
leadership. Rather, I will develop transformational leadership skills. These would help me to
motivate the employees and helping them to improve their skills and knowledge and make them
stalwarts in the future.
Action plan:
I need to develop a transformational leadership style. Therefore, my first goal would be to create
two-way communication skills. I would be joining the workshop to develop such skills. The
mentor would be guiding me and taking important tests to measure my development. I would
also take interviews of some of the stalwart healthcare leader who flow transformational
leadership style. These would help me develop ideas and knowledge about how such skills are
practices in different situations and how these skills bring out essential outcomes.
Moreover, I will also go through evidence-based articles and books by accessing the digit library.
The recommendation of researchers in such articles regarding effective leadership in healthcare
would also boost my confidence and enhance my knowledge (Biransav 2015). These initiatives
would help me to develop as a successful leader for the future.
References:

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REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP
Arunima, S., Ajeya, J., Sengupta, A.K., Mariamma, P. and Tripathi, K.K., 2014. Comparison of
transformational leadership and its different attributes of leadership with emotional intelligence
in Indian healthcare: An empirical aspect. Advances in Management, 7(10), p.37
Birasnav, M., 2014. Knowledge management and organizational performance in the service
industry: The role of transformational leadership beyond the effects of transactional
leadership. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), pp.1622-1629.
Boamah, S.A., Laschinger, H.K.S., Wong, C. and Clarke, S., 2018. Effect of transformational
leadership on job satisfaction and patient safety outcomes. Nursing Outlook, 66(2), pp.180-189.
Donnelly, T., 2017. Leadership: briefing and debriefing in the operating room. Journal of
perioperative practice, 27(7-8), pp.154-158.
Fischer, S.A., 2016. Transformational leadership in nursing: a concept analysis. Journal of
advanced nursing, 72(11), pp.2644-2653.
Penny, S.M., 2017. Serving, Following, and Leading in Health Care. Radiologic
technology, 88(6), pp.603-617.
Sarabi, A., 2015. Active leadership can promote leadership effectiveness in healthcare
organizations. International Journal of Hospital Research, 4(1), pp.21-26.