Nursing Leadership Philosophy: Transformational, Situational, and EI

This report presents a personal nursing leadership philosophy tailored for advanced practice nursing (APN) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) fields. It integrates transformational and situational leadership theories, emphasizing emotional intelligence. The philosophy outlines key characteristics, including setting examples, maintaining commitment, increasing consciousness, and practicing continuation. It also details the qualities and skills essential for effective leadership, such as self-awareness, empathy, direction, coaching, intellectual stimulation, and inspirational motivation. Influencing factors like the 'Path of Ideals' by Bondas (2006) and the desire to improve community health are also explored. The report further explains the application of this leadership philosophy to advanced nursing practice and aligns it with the DNP Essentials II and VIII, highlighting its relevance in promoting patient safety, healthcare quality, and policy development.

Running head: NURSING LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY
NURSING LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: TRANSFORMATIONAL AND SITUATIONAL
NURSING LEADERSHIP FOR CONTINUED PRACTICE IMPROVEMENT AND
ENHANCED EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Introduction
Implementation of appropriate nursing leadership skills refines a nurse’s ability to work
efficiently during emergencies, drive organizational change, engage in personal and professional
practice and in the process, prevent medical errors and improve patient care. The following paper
will hence discuss on the key components of underlying personal nursing leadership philosophy
and its application on advanced practice nursing (ANP) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
fields (Démeh & Rosengren, 2015). The personal leadership philosophy theory has been titled
as: Transformational and Situational Nursing Leadership for Continued Practice Improvement
and Enhanced Emotional Intelligence.
Discussion
Foundational Leadership Theory
Based on the title, one of the first and most essential leadership theories underlying my
personal nursing leadership philosophy is the transformational leadership theory. A
transformational leadership style comprises of leaders working in collaboration with his or her
team of followers for the purpose of identification of factors requiring change followed by
creation of a vision which he or she uses to inspire others for implementing this identified change
and motivating them for the purpose of instilling harmony and a culture of holistic improvement
within teams (Fischer, 2016). Thus, not only will my personal leadership philosophy theory
focus on ensuring my own professional and personal nursing skill improvement, but will also
include inspiring my team members to feel motivated towards instilling change in their own
work cultures as well within the healthcare organization.

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The next leadership theory which will form the foundation for my nursing leadership
philosophy is a situational leadership theory. In a situational leadership theory, a leader delegates
roles and responsibilities based on the situation and the capabilities of his or her followers to
combat that situation (Lynch et al., 2018). Thus, I will lead and delegate to my followers based
on their own skills and capabilities so as to motivate them for change as well as ensure balanced
organizational functioning and motivation for future skill improvement.
As per the title, the next foundational theory which defines my nursing leadership
philosophy is emotional intelligence. An emotional intelligent leader not only recognizes his or
her own emotions but also demonstrates equal awareness towards the emotions of others and
thus, utilize this knowledge to maintain professional as well as personal relationships and
organizational goal achievement (Crowne et al., 2017). Thus, as per my personal leadership
philosophy, not only will I be more mindful towards my own emotions and attitudes but will also
be more empathetic towards the opinions and preferences of my team as well as fellow patients.
Philosophy Characteristics
In addition to the above theoretical perspectives, the philosophical characteristics of my
personal nursing leadership theory, will be largely be based upon the four pillars of leadership
postulated by Drinon (2014):
Character Display: One of the first philosophies which I will follow as a part of my
personal leadership theory is to set an example in front of my team members by being
accountable and responsible for my actions, as well as by engaging in clinical skills which are
credible. Indeed, as per Drinon (2014), a leader is always under the scrutiny of their team, which
is why he or she must firstly engage in developing personal leadership standards of credibility
and trust followed by performing in alignment of the same, as a demonstration of integrity.

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Maintenance of Commitment: As a leader and as a part of my personal leadership
theory, I must not only be committed to the objectives and policies of my organization and
professional nursing responsibilities, I must also be committed to the needs and expectations of
my team members as well as the patients and their associated families. In order to prevent feeling
overwhelmed by the countless responsibilities and commitments a leader has to adhere to, it is
advisable to channelize and prioritize the same, in order to prevent compassion fatigue,
occupational fatigue and burnout (Drinon, 2014).
Increment in Consciousness: As a leader, not only will I be aware and conscious of my
own needs and scope of improvement, but I will also demonstrate an awareness of the skills,
abilities, growth and development of others, that is, my team members. As evidenced by Drinon
(2014), a philosophy of expanding and shifting one’s consciousness from personal to
surrounding followers, industry and the world, will induce maturity and holistic improvement
within a leader.
Practicing Continuation: Following the pillars postulated by Drinon (2014), a part of
my personal leadership philosophy will comprise of actively encouraging team members to share
their ideas and as a result, identify novel and potentially talented staff whom I can support, coach
and pave the way for continuous healthcare organization and community health improvement.
Qualities and Skills
Thus, considering the above foundational theories underlying my personal nursing
philosophy, the qualities and skills of my personal theoretical perspectives are thus based upon
the foundational components of transformational, situational and emotional intelligence
leadership theories. These have been mentioned below:

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Self-Awareness, Empathy and Self-Regulation: The skills of self-awareness and self-
regulation comprises of the leader being aware or demonstrating mindfulness of his or her own
emotional strengths and weakness and learning to appropriately engage in implementation of the
same during critical situations (White, 2019). For example, after recognizing or deciphering that
I may demonstrate anxiety during clinical emergencies, I will work upon regulating or
researching strategies on controlling the same so as to improve future functioning in such
situations. Likewise, empathy is the name given to a quality in which one is able to put himself
or herself in other’s shoes and as a result, demonstrate an understanding of the emotions of
others (Parnell & Onge, 2015). For example: As a leader, if I observe one of my team members’
performance being affected due to any personal traumas, I will actively engage in interpersonal
communication and try to understand and assist him or her in coping with the same.
Direction, coaching, support and delegation: The skill of direction, as a part of my
personal nursing philosophy, will comprise of actively teaching, instructing and giving more
time to novice, newly enrolled employees so as to instill motivation and experience in them.
Likewise, the skills of coaching and supporting will comprise of assisting employees who are
beginning to gain competence, skill and experience by actively participating with them in their
duties as well as assigning them roles which will be compliant to their developing skill sets
(Ghorbani et al., 2016). Lastly, the skill of delegation, as a part of my personal nursing
leadership philosophy will include, specifying appropriate clinical roles and responsibilities to
employees who are fully skilled, so as to keep them motivated and encourage towards
continuous personal and professional development (Démeh & Rosengren, 2015).
Intellectual Stimulation and Inspirational Motivation: As a part of my personal
nursing philosophy, the leadership skill of intellectual stimulation will comprise of actively

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allowing and encouraging team members to take part in clinical decision making and provide
them the opportunity to provide their feedback, ideas and opinions in clinical change and
improvement. Likewise, the skill of inspirational motivation will comprise of actively and
continuously motivating and inspiring my team members to strive for excellence, improvement
and challenge their current potential, skill set and performance by collaborating participating in
the same by myself (Poghosyan & Bernhardt, 2018).
Important Influences
The key influencing factors which have contributed to my motivation and eagerness
towards adhering to my personal leadership nursing theory, is the ‘Path of Ideals’ evidenced by
Bondas (2006). As per Bondas (2006), the path of ideals, which comprise of education, patient
commitment and leader examples, strongly influence nurses to lead and drive clinical practice
improvement since these factors ignite a sense of idealism in nurses. Indeed, my intrinsic need to
continuously gain knowledge and engage in personal and professional nursing improvement are
key influencers behind my personal leadership philosophy development. Further, my wish to
ensure that my community is free from adverse health outcomes is another important influencer
behind my nursing leadership philosophy.
Application to Advanced Nursing Practice
In addition to promotion of patient safety, patient health improvement and healthcare
quality enhancement, advanced practice nurses (APN), have the responsibility of interpreting and
diagnosing patients as well as work actively with healthcare providing organizations in bringing
about healthcare policy change or development. Development of healthcare policies require
considerable communication skills in working with delegates as well as a leadership skill of
instilling a sense of organizational change within healthcare environment and healthcare team

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(Hahn, 2019). These APN requirements are clearly found to be applied in my philosophy in the
form of emotionally intelligent interpersonal communication and transformational intellectual
stimulation qualities and skills (Wang et al., 2018).
DNP Essentials
The DNP Essential II requires nurses to be accountable for their services, engage in
intercommunication skills and demonstrate understanding of cultural diversity in order to ensure
quality improvement, patient safety and adequate management of ethical complications
(American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2006). These are found to be applied extensively
in my personal nursing philosophy, in the form of emotionally intelligent skills of empathy and
interpersonal communication as well as my adherence to leadership pillars of displaying
character and maintenance of commitment (Drinon, 2014; Ghasabeh, Soosay & Reaiche, 2015).
Some of the key principles of DNP Essential VIII is to deliver healthcare education to
patients, provide guidance to other nurses for excellence and demonstrate accountability in the
deliverance of evidence based nursing practice complications (American Association of Colleges
of Nursing, 2006). These are found to be applied extensively in my personal nursing philosophy,
in the form of the philosophy to display character as well as in transformational and situational
qualities and skills like intellectual stimulation, direction, coaching, delegation and support
(Drinon, 2014; Ghasabeh, Soosay & Reaiche, 2015).
Conclusion
This paper, thus provided a succinct yet detailed discussion on the key theoretical
perspectives, skills and qualities underlying my personal nursing leadership philosophy. The key
leadership theories from which my philosophy has been based upon are: transformational

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leadership theory, situational leadership theory and emotional intelligence. The leadership pillars
by Drinon (2014) and path of ideals by Bondas (2006) formed the key philosophies and
influencers of my leadership theory.

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References
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