Reflective Journal: Nursing Leadership and Healthcare Strategies

This reflective journal entry explores the crucial role of transformational leadership in the healthcare industry, particularly within nursing. It highlights the importance of retaining skilled nurses through intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, contrasting transformational leadership with autocratic styles. The journal emphasizes how transformational leaders motivate followers by appealing to moral values and fostering a supportive environment. It discusses key strategies employed by transformational nurse leaders, such as creating an inspiring vision, leading by example, and challenging creativity to enhance employee empowerment, job satisfaction, and loyalty. The entry underscores the positive impact of transformational leadership on the quality of care provided to patients and the development of an effective nursing workplace, referencing studies by Boamah et al. (2018), Fischer (2016), Choi et al. (2016), and Masood and Afsar (2017) to support its arguments.

Running head: NURSING
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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Reflective Journal entry
With the emergence of high competition in the global healthcare industry, it has highly
crucial for the management of the healthcare organizations to retain skilled and efficient nurses
by providing them with both intrinsic as well as extrinsic motivation. Considering the fact that
autocratic or transitional leadership, in several cases have found to have failed to retain as well as
motivate efficient healthcare service users, a good number of healthcare organizations are
implementing transformational leadership. According to Boamah et al. (2018), transformational
leadership possesses the potential to motivate the followers by appealing to moral values as well
as higher ideas. Nurse leaders who follow the transformational leadership style are found to
possess a deep set of internal values and ideas. This in turn lead the followers to act for
sustaining greater good instead of their own interests along with providing supporting
environments where the responsibilities are shared. Considering the fact that unlike other
leadership style, the chief aim of the transformational leadership style is keep the followers
motivated and serve as a role model so that hob satisfaction of the nurses can be ensured.
Effective job satisfaction automatically motivates the followers to stay loyal to the organization
and this eventually enhances the quality of healthcare that is provided to the health care service
users.
Fischer (2016) stated that in order to become an efficient transformational leader, nurse
leaders need to develop effective strategies for motivating the followers. One of the most
effective strategies used by transformational leaders in the healthcare industry is to create an
inspiring vision of the future. Along with this, instead of instructing the followers, a nurse
leaders who aspires to a transformational leader, opt for leading as well as working with the team
in order to understand the team members’ difficulties. Another major strategy that is

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implemented by the transformational leader in nursing is to challenge the followers’ creativity.
Transformational leaders provide the nurses with the scope to present their own opinion and
creative ways to enhance the quality of the care provided to the healthcare service users.
Considering the strategies proposed by the followers while making decision for the patients
enhances the feeling of empowerment within the employees (Masood and Afsar 2017). Thus
transformational leadership helps the employees feel valued and also enhances their sense of
responsibilities. Enhancement of these factors eventually enhances the loyalty of the nurses
towards the organization. Retention of skilled nurses within the organization automatically
improves the quality of care provided by the healthcare organizations to the patients.
Thus it is highly crucial for nurse leaders to engage their heart and mind as well as their
same of the followers with the help of demonstrating passion and ideology. Transformational
leadership will enable the nurse leaders for implementing change effectively and is considered to
be an essential medium for developing an effective nursing workplace. In organizations hat have
implemented transformational leadership, nurses of all levers within the organization belies that
their voices are heard and their performance are valued and practices are being supported.

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Reference List
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.
Choi, S.L., Goh, C.F., Adam, M.B.H. and Tan, O.K., 2016. Transformational leadership,
empowerment, and job satisfaction: the mediating role of employee empowerment. Human
resources for health, 14(1), p.73.
Fischer, S.A., 2016. Transformational leadership in nursing: a concept analysis. Journal of
advanced nursing, 72(11), pp.2644-2653.
Masood, M. and Afsar, B., 2017. Transformational leadership and innovative work behavior
among nursing staff. Nursing inquiry, 24(4), p.e12188.