Leadership And Empowerment In The Nursing Profession

Leadership and empowerment in the nursing profession

Introduction

Employee empowerment is one of the most vital necessities in ensuring optimum performance in any organization. With the rise of economies and establishment of numerous organizations, the level of competition has increased and these calls for the implementation of procedures that would give an organization a competitive edge over its competitors. Nursing as a profession is sector that need a lot of empowerment on the employers mainly cause for the facts that it’s a profession which is concerned with the well being of individuals in the society. This profession is one of the oldest in the world and in making it have a better impact for the society at large; there is need for the process of motivation and empowerment.

Empowerment in my organization

Empowerment of nurses in my institution is at a moderate level. This is due to the fact that a number of empowerment tools have been used constantly in the organization while leaving out some important aspects of empowerment.

The most effective method that has been used is the use of seminars and conference. The hospital management has over the past four years ensured that all the nurses receive training at least on a quarterly basis. These seminars and conferences have been very effective in enhancing the productivity of these nurses. Another method that has been utilized is the implementation of a powerful communication channel which ahs enabled the nurses to share information and also give opinions on important issues in their profession. The hospital’s policy has also worked for the good of the nurses by providing proper guidelines over the ways of

Leadership and Empowerment in the Nursing Profession

operating within the institution. This has been effective in promoting time management and goal accomplishment among the nurses.

The aspects which have been left out in the process of empowering these nurses include motivation in terms of compensation. The nurses under this level have not had their salaries increased for a long time period despite having evidently improved in the way they perform their duties. In changing this situation, the leadership in my organization should be at the forefront of making vital change with regard to the process compensating the staff. With proper financial management and invention of other sources of income, the hospital will be able to improve that wages of these nurses and this will surely affect their performance in a positive manner.

I think c hanging this situation is possible because of

I think my input in the empowerment process an also count. First, I would empower myself by going through a number of leadership training that would enable me acquire the skills of influencing other people. Networking and seeking mentorship besides reading widely on important subjects will also be effective in helping me get empowered. Achieving these leadership and mentorship skills will be effective in enchanting my ability to help empower other nurses within this institution

Leadership and Empowerment in the Nursing Profession

Benefits of nurses’ empowerment

Empowerment is a leadership tool that has been used in a wide range of circumstances for improving the level of productivity in business enterprises. Nurses are also empowered for a variety of reasons and these include:

To increase productivity – empowerment is effective in enhancing the performance of nurses within institution, powerless nurses are poor performers and hence not effective in their day to day operations

Job satisfaction- giving nurse appropriate powers to decide on various issues within the profession makes them more comfortable with their daily tasks hence job satisfaction. This in turn translates to improved performance and hence enhanced levels of productivity.

Influence on patients and colleagues- empowerment of nurses may not only be helpful in enhancing performance of the nurses but can also give them the power to empower other colleagues and also influence the patients under their care. Empowered individuals are like to live by example and may end up changing other people’s attitude even without knowing

Conclusion

Empowerment in many professions nursing included is a thing that leadership and management had ignored in the past. This resulted in the realization of substandard services and also the lack of improvement in the lives of employees within the organizations. The attitude toward employee empowerment has however changed in the recent years with many organizations seeking to enhance the productivity of all the employees. This has yielded much success and

Leadership and Empowerment in the Nursing Profession

hence positive growth of the over all economy of the world. In my organization, the empowerment of nurses took root five years ago and the program has been implemented on regular basis in ensuring that the process of empowering the nurses in the situation is continuous. Despite the fact that he process has not been perfect, various improvements have been witnessed among the nurses in the institution. Many changes are yet to be done in improving the process I and this we believe will take t be effective in a achieving a competitive advantage for the institution.

References

Manojlovich, M (2007). Power and Empowerment in Nursing: Looking Backward to Inform the

Future                                                       . OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing.

Barbara, Laschinger, S, and Heather K (1999) Staff Nurse Perception of Job Empowerment and Organizational Commitment:

A Test of Ranter’s Theory of Structural Power in Organizations

, Journal of Nursing Administration: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Greco, P and Wong, C (2006), Leader Empowering Behaviors, Staff Nurse Empowerment and

Work Engagement/Burnout , Nursing Leadership: Longwood publishers