What leadership styles should senior nurses develop?

Senior nurses are likely to engage in a range of leadership activities in their daily routine. Some will naturally adopt an effective leadership style, while others may find the concept of leadership or seeing themselves as leaders difficult to understand. Effective leadership is critical in delivering high-quality care, ensuring patient safety and facilitating positive staff development.

Frankel, A. (2008) What leadership styles should senior nurses develop? This is an extended version of the article published in Nursing Times; 104: 35, 23-24.

Author
Andrew Frankel, MSc, BA, PGCMS, RNM, DipN, is hospital director, Churchill Gisburn Clinic, Lancashire.

Introduction

This article outlines the characteristics of an effective leader, the political context and various leadership activities for senior nurses. It also discusses mentorship, different leadership models and the process of professional socialisation.

For the purposes of this article, senior nurses are defined as practitioners with additional post-qualification education, skills and experience who work within the nursing team providing a day-to-day, hands-on, visible presence.

Leadership can be defined as a multifaceted process of identifying a goal or target, motivating other people to act, and providing support and motivation to achieve mutually negotiated goals (Porter-O’Grady, 2003). In the daily life of a senior nurse, this could refer to coordinating the day/night shift and the team of nurses and support staff on duty under the direction of that nurse. The successful operation of the shift, staff morale and managing difficult or challenging situations depends largely on the senior nurse’s leadership skills.....

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