Developing Nurse Leaders in the Modern-Day HealthCare Sector: Article Review
Dyess, S. M., Sherman, R. O., Pratt, B. A., & Chiang-Hanisko, L. (2016). Growing nurse
leaders: Their perspectives on nursing leadership and today’s practice environment. Online journal of issues in nursing, 21(1).
In this article, the issue surrounding leadership in the nursing field has been tackled thoroughly. The authors have demonstrated the importance of having “digital” nurse leaders since the existing ones are about to retire. Therefore, current nurse leaders are encouraged to nurture and mentor upcoming caregivers to take over their roles efficiently. However, within the nursing sector, the procedure of absorbing the next managers and the strategic methods of growing future leaders still pose a malignant problem. Further, issues of unrealistic expectations, the fear of leading multiple departments, and the future of their careers are other contributing aspects of the already existing issues. Therefore, the rationale of this discussion is to identify an issue in nursing and provide insights to the health department, especially in the leadership section, because a shortage in this sector may lead to bigger challenges within the healthcare environment.
In essence, this article asserts that nurse leadership has been a significant issue within an already complex healthcare sector. Nonetheless, the department lacks the very crucial ways and means of developing future managers to take up administrative roles. However, if these issues are resolved, it is possible to evade the challenge of nursing leadership in the next 20 years when those in office retire. Besides, if digitalized leaders take on the department, they will bring the required reforms and changes within this sector. However, only interested and well-prepared nurses will gain from this venture (Dyess, 2016). Notably, while former nurse administrators have recognized their responsibilities without significant preparation, things have taken a health care facility different turn in today’s settings. In current times, before individuals can take on leadership roles, they have to undergo extensive training before acquiring such positions. In particular, health care has ceased to be flexible and consistent. Instead, the sector is becoming complicated and inconsistent. As a result, gaining the right skills and education before assuming administrative roles has become essential.
Further, nurse leadership is no longer considered as a requirement in the healthcare sector, but a strategic plan is necessary for every hospital. As such, educating administrative nurses is crucial because the shortage of caregivers will result in crises within this field. Evidently, research shows that more digitalized nurses are seeking leadership-related jobs in today’s job market (Dyess, 2016). Consequently, the authors of this article have established that health practitioners are the best partakers of leadership jobs because of their energy and the digitalized expertise instilled in them through education. Moreover, they are regarded as upholders of beliefs and values, have vast technological knowledge, and affiliate with organizational requirements, thus the essentiality of training them as nurse leaders (Dyess, 2016).
However, despite the positivity associated with nursing leaders, upcoming administrators do not fully embrace organizational accommodation as a virtue. In fact, some of the contributing factors to the identified drawbacks are a consistent criticism of practice and rejection of certain initiatives. Also, future nurse leaders exhibit professional attitudes but are quite poor at keeping jobs for up to a year. Therefore, due to job inconsistency, these administrators do not acquire the required skills to respond to particular issues in their professions. As a result, their leadership roles are often faced with hiccups, especially in their first year of administration, which is a negative attribute of any healthcare organization.
In addition, the authors of this article establish that future nurse leaders are limited in their roles due to different perspectives. Therefore, their concerns are categorized into three groups: personal expectations, the fear of leading an advanced department, and the future of their careers. As per individual expectations, digitalized nurse leaders anticipate their administrators to be flexible with expertise in all faculties and have excellent governing capabilities (Dyess, 2016). As such, they require them to be always available, recognize all their staff, have advanced knowledge, and act as ambassadors for their employees. On the other hand, leading complex environments are a concern for future nurse leaders because their responsibilities are to meet their objectives, ensure that all policies or procedures are well followed, and enhance teamwork.
Indeed, the third concern revolves around cautiousness and optimism because they are worried about future responsibilities, afraid of failing in their delivery, and quite confident with their roles. Nonetheless, the authors of this article assert that these personal concerns are quite limited According to the authors of the article, the actions of the present leaders directly impact on the perceptions of future administrators. Consequently, they explain that with proper exposure, guidance, education, and mentorship, these opinions can be altered with upcoming nurses appreciating and understanding the scope of administrative nursing.
It is worth mentioning that the conclusion of this article calls for the need to nurture future nurse leaders. However, the inadequacy of proper communication channels and a cohesive relationship will result in the continuous avoidance of administrative roles by digitalized nurses. In addition, the authors advocate for a change in the education curricula where succession plans can be drafted for trainees to understand the process of occupying leadership roles. Furthermore, strong role models are also essential in developing responsible leaders in the nursing department. On the other hand, existing administrators are responsible for providing adaptation skills toward prosperity for their successors.
Agreeably, this article has well expounded on the challenge pertaining to nurse leaders in the healthcare sector. As a matter of fact, those in leadership today will soon leave the office for younger administrators. Moreover, this publication establishes that traditional processes of becoming leaders are no longer applicable in today’s society. On the other hand, advancement in the healthcare sector further adds to the nursing department’s existing limitations. Therefore, the existing nurse leaders should ensure that they apply the knowledge demonstrated by the article. As a result, they can understand the roles they play in nurturing new administrators. On the other hand, Shearman (2010) also avers that if the issue of nurse leaders is resolved, patients will report better experiences and improved organizational performance due to satisfied staff members. Besides, growing nurse leaders remain a delicate journey that requires encouragement, role modeling, and proper education for any future aspirant.
The article highlights that nurse leadership is among many other challenges in the healthcare sector. In particular, the healthcare setting has changed significantly, thus losing its consistency and flexibility. Therefore, there is a need for digitalized nurses to take up leadership roles from their predecessors who have acquired their positions without the need for much education. On the other hand, the attainment requires strategizing on the best-digitalized approach. However, different ideological perspectives, expectations, criticism, fear, attitude, job inconsistency, and future concerns are barring younger professionals from effectively undertaking their responsibilities (Dyess, 2016). In essence, despite the various shortcomings in the healthcare sector, the article is critical for everyone within the nursing faculty. Moreover, this publication is insightful as it provides the different reasons why future nurses are shying away from their role despite being capable of service delivery.
References
Dyess, S. M., Sherman, R. O., Pratt, B. A., & Chiang-Hanisko, L. (2016). Growing nurse
leaders: Their perspectives on nursing leadership and today’s practice environment. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 21(1): 1-6.
Sherman, R., Pross, E. (2010) “Growing future nurse leaders to build and sustain healthy work
environments at the unit level.” The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 15 (1):1-4.