Nurse Leaders an Issue in the Health Care Sector
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. Consequently, the authors have demonstrated the essentiality of having digitalized nurse leaders since the existing ones are in their retirement age. Therefore, current nurse leaders are being encouraged to nurture and mentor upcoming caregivers into taking over their roles efficiently. However, within the nursing sector, the procedure of absorbing next managers and the strategic methods of growing future leaders still pose a malignant problem. Further, issues of unrealistic expectation, 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 shortage in this sector may lead to bigger challenges within the health care environment.
In essence, this article asserts that nurse leadership has been a significant issue within an already complex health care 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 will have already retired. Besides, if digitalized leaders take on the department, they will bring the required reforms and changes within this sector. However, only the 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 from being 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 health care sector, but a strategic plan is necessary for every hospital . As such, educating administrative nurses is crucial for every because the shortage of caregivers will result in crises within this field. Evidently, research shows that more digitalized nurses are seeking for 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, values, have a vast technological knowledge, and they affiliate to 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 they are quite poor at keeping jobs for up to a year. Therefore, due to the job inconsistency, these administrators do not acquire the required skills on how to respond to particular issues facing them 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 to any health care 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, including the 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 staffs, 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 the future administrators. Consequently, they explain that with proper exposure, guidance, education, and mentorship these opinions can be altered with upcoming nurse’s 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 in proper communication channels and a cohesive relationship will result in 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 the leadership roles. Furthermore, strong role models are also an essential ingredient in developing responsible leaders in the nursing department. On the other hand, existing administrators are given the core responsibility of providing adaptation skills towards prosperity for their successors.
Agreeably, this article has well expounded on the challenge pertained to nurse leaders in the health care 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 health care sector further adds to the existing limitations facing the nursing department. 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 the nurturing of 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.
Conclusively, the article highlights that nurse leadership is one among many other challenges in the healthcare sector. In particular, the health care 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 professional 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.