Well, it's International Nurses Week again. This is the week to honor all those nurses who serve by caring for us and our loved ones when we are ill. Thanks to all the dedicated nurses for the services they provide us. Now, anyone who has worked with nursing staff in a health care facility knows who really runs the unit and it is the nurses, particularly the Registered Nurse (RN) staff and Managers. I certainly have worked in such areas and know how important it is for RNs to recognize and embrace the managerial and leadership roles for their units and clinics to function as a cohesive and effective organization. This is no different from the leadership/management discussions pertaining to non-health care organizations. The principles remain the same.
Having said that, no matter what type of organization, effective leaders inspire others to do and be their best. They successfully create group consensus because others trust them, commit to their vision, and follow their lead. When conflicts arise, they deal with them directly.
If you are currently working as a registered staff nurse or manager, you will be looked upon as a leader – by newer RNs, LPNs, CNAs and by patients and their families. Whether you are the charge nurse of the day, a unit manager, or higher, you will make a stronger contribution to the profession by developing effective leadership skills.
If you’re interested in developing your leadership potential, you might start by focusing on the following four emotional skills. As I discussed in another post, Emotional Intelligence refers to the extent to which we identify and manage our emotions as well as respond to others.
1. Self-Awareness
To be an effective nurse leader, you must begin by taking a good look at yourself. Self-awareness means knowing how to read your own emotions and understand how those emotions can affect others. For example, when a family member expresses concern that their loved one patient may be missing a regular treatment or medication, you may feel emotions such as anger or disappointment. In such a situation, it would be helpful to take time to recognize those emotions and think about how expressing them would affect the situation.
As part of increasing your self-awareness, you might want to meditate or exercise to practice focusing on yourself, your feelings and emotions. Spending time walking, running or working out at a gym can be great for your body and your mind. It relieves stress and allows you time to think about your actions and reactions to various work situations.
2. Social Awareness
Social awareness is caring about what others outside of you are experiencing, to include their needs, and responding to them. To become a nurse leader means excelling in this area. Fortunately, nurses are encouraged to display compassion to patients and their families. Today’s nursing leaders know that it’s critical to develop good social awareness skills, such as active listening, identifying emotions, and recognizing what feelings are behind a person’s words.
Nurses are trained to tend to patients’ physical and emotional needs. As a leader, they recognize emotional needs of their peers and subordinates. As a nurse, when you empathize with patients or staff, you will gain trust, increase cohesion on your unit or in your clinic, and thus become a more effective leader.
3. Relationship Management
Nurse leaders use relationship management skills to inspire others, influence them, and develop their potential. This is done at the same time you are managing projects, emergencies and conflicts. Managing relationships can be more complicated than managing projects. I've spoken with many line staff who tell me they don't want to become supervisors or managers simply because they don't want to deal with managing relationship conflicts.
Nurse leaders use their social awareness skills to assess the needs and desires of others. Be aware of what people are feeling and what led to the feelings originally. Then you can decide how you will react to achieve an outcome that best meets your needs, those of the person, and those of the organization.
4. Patient Self-Care Advocacy and Empowerment
Nurse leaders see the bigger picture in health care. They know that it's not enough to treat illness solely in the clinic. They advocate for patients to take charge of their own health. They treat patients as partners in their health care. They encourage patients to take steps to improve their care whether it be by eating better, taking up exercise, or relieving stress. Nurse leaders know that health care professionals must be proactive and go where the patients live to reach them. This may be through health fairs or community clinics at the churches patients attend. These initial or ongoing contacts help to build trust, demonstrate empathy, provide knowledge and encouragement, and demonstrate awareness of what their patients are experiencing.
Nurses are the backbone of the health care system and always will be. It is a given that they will need to embrace management and leadership roles in addition to their clinical roles. While this is a very big challenge, it is my hope that the above principles will cause thought about what is needed from nurse leaders in the areas of self awareness, social awareness, relationship management, as well as patient self-care advocacy and empowerment. There is a lot more to this topic but we all have to start somewhere.
Again, to all nurses, Happy International Nurses Week and thanks for all you do.
Dr. Paul Longobardi
For information on these and related topics, please see my website at www.successandmindset.com