Understanding the principles and attributes of leadership in nursing practice is essential for future work in healthcare. This topic is comprehensively described in the article by Kroning, Carey, and Crawford-Rosso (2020). While focusing on the impact of good leadership on a healthcare team, their study provides an easy-to-remember approach to assembling the necessary qualities. This paper will interpret the contents of the «Showing the way with gracious leadership» article and their possible application in my future practice as a nurse.
The most significant point of the article is a mnemonic list of qualities required for establishing gracious leadership. Kroning et al. (2020) display a portrait of an ideal leader: one should be giving, respectful, appreciative, caring, insightful, optimistic, understanding, and supportive. These traits make an acronym «gracious», which can also be summarized in one sentence: these people «create a team environment in which nurses find joy in working toward and achieving their goals» (Kroning et al.,2020, p. 48). In other words, good leaders need to be genuinely altruistic since they prioritize employees’ needs and relationships in their units while simultaneously ensuring both the patients and the organization receive an optimal outcome (Kroning et al., 2020). The article also mentions a vital ability to handle stress and pressure. The operation of a healthcare organization can become chaotic, so a leader is needed to develop strong bonds with the staff and achieve maximum satisfaction ratings (Kroning et al., 2020). Additionally, taking a leading position means combining the job of a mentor for the team with the duties of a manager who generates effective strategies and conflict solutions. Overall, the role of a nurse leader demands strong, self-confident, and well-prepared individuals, one of which I am willing to become.
Indeed, it needs a lot of expertise to qualify as a leader in a nursing team, and this article obtains helpful advice on how to gain vital experience from the start that I found actually practical. When I start working as a nurse, I will be able to understand the relationships between my colleagues. Using the guidelines from this article, I can already learn how to sustain a friendly working environment – by listening, respecting, and appreciating my co-workers. Also, if I happen to be a member of a specific team of nurses that would have a leader, I could identify if they act accordingly to the «gracious» principles or not. If my supervisor will probably interact with colleagues in a somewhat inappropriate manner, I would try to earn their trust and help implement some changes in their attitude. I believe that gaining empathetic qualities from the start of my career path will make me a valuable employee and help me get noticed and promoted.
To summarize, I believe this article on nursing leadership provides extensive and useful guidelines for healthcare teammates that can be implied regardless of their status and experience. Since the purpose of a good leader is to establish a supportive, motivated, productive, and overall pleasant working environment, his major characteristics combine empathy and generosity with intelligence and resilience. Medical organizations and our society, in general, will benefit from having professionals like that in their institutions. After reading the article, I am determined to become a productive employee of any healthcare organization and a valuable member of my team and unit.
Reference
Kroning, M., Carey, A., & Crawford-Rosso, S. (2020). Showing the way with gracious leadership. Nursing, 50(4), 47–49. Web.