Leadership and Decision-Making in Nursing Practice- Addressing Sentinel Events and Ensuring Accountability
To: New Nurse Managers
From: Student’s Name
Date: Saturday, October 9, 2021
Subject: Attributes of Leadership
Dear Nurse Managers,
Firstly, on behalf of the organization, I want to welcome you to the New Amsterdam Hospital. As an organization, we are excited to add other individuals to our growing team. At New Amsterdam, we are committed to delivering the highest quality and safest care possible for every individual patient. To ensure that this overarching goal is realized, the organization emphasizes the need for nurses in leadership positions to possess leadership attributes that promote a culture of safety throughout the organization. Subsequently, some of the leadership qualities that you must demonstrate as you assume your new roles include:
Decisiveness: You will all constantly encounter scenarios that require you to use your decision-making skills. Our nursing staff, alongside patients, will always look up to you leaders for day-to-day decision-making and advice. It is prudent that you demonstrate efficient, clear, and effective decision-making skills that would ensure a more organized alongside the direction-driven provision of care (Murray, 2017).
Conflict resolution: A conflict is an unavoidable event in any work setting. You are required as leaders to have the capacity to resolve the issues and enhance teamwork, productivity, and patient satisfaction. It is worth noting that conflict resolution is a fundamental aspect when formulating nursing care plans for patients and when the members of the health care team have differing opinions (Murray, 2017).
Guidance: As leaders, you are required to use interpersonal and motivational strategies to lead the clinical staff. By guiding and mentoring the staff on key quality and safety issues, such as patient abuse, it is expected that you will cultivate an environment in which both patients and providers feel safe (Murray, 2017).
Effective Communication: It is essential that you are all equipped with quality communication skills to maximize success throughout the board. Effective communication will foster collaboration among team members on all the different levels alongside positions in the facility.
Adaptability: You are expected to have the ability to adapt and evolve to the constant changes taking place within the healthcare industry. You will likely face a lot of uncertainties in your day-to-day alongside the rapidly altering landscape of medicine. Adaptability will play an integral role in encouraging the staff to adopt healthcare information technology solutions that would ultimately ensure that patients get quality, timely, and safe care (The Chicago School, 2021)).
I must also bring to all your attention that there is an ongoing internal investigation following the recent death of one of our patients. It is alleged that one of the members of the nursing staff physically abused the patient, and as such, the nurse is under investigation for negligence and harm. By virtue of your positions, you are all members of the Internal Investigation Committee and are all expected to gather information regarding the incidents from the various units that you have been assigned. To achieve this, you may consider focus group discussions (FDG) with the staff you lead in your respective units.
Ultimately, I once again congratulate you all! As you all commence your journeys in a leadership position, I would encourage you all to be relationally oriented leaders by adopting the transformational leadership model. The transformational leadership model would, without a doubt, assist all of you in promoting a positive practice setting by ensuring the support and encouragement of the staff, constructive and positive feedback, and open and transparent communication that would go a long way in helping you to gather facts on the patient abuse.
Kind Regards
Student’s Name
References
Murray, M. (2017). The nexus of nursing leadership and a culture of safer patient care. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 27(5-6), 1287–1293. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.13980
The Chicago School. (2021, February 23). 5 important leadership skills for nurses. Insight Digital Magazine. https://www.thechicagoschool.edu/insight/health-care/5-important-leadership-skills-for-nurses/