When you’re thinking about your career goals in nursing, they might include a more advanced position, such as nursing management or nursing leadership. Knowing more about leadership vs management in nursing can help you decide which path is right for you. Consider the following as you weigh your healthcare career options.
Differences Between a Leader and Manager in Nursing
What are the differences between a leader and a manager in nursing? Leadership and management roles in nursing are similar in some ways, but there are notable differences between them. Nursing managers are responsible for managing day-to-day operations in nursing departments and supervising department staff. Leaders typically supervise nursing teams and ensure the overall success of the unit or hospital as a whole.
Similarities Between Nursing Leaders and Managers
Nursing leaders and managers share some similarities, mainly in terms of the kinds of skills required for these jobs. Whether you work as a nursing leader or manager, you’ll need to develop solid leadership and management skills. To succeed in either of these positions, you’ll need to be able to communicate effectively with others. You’ll also need to work on your critical thinking and problem-solving skills so you can make informed decisions regarding patient care as a nurse leader or day-to-day operations as a nursing manager. Both roles can also involve delegating tasks to others on a regular basis.
Keep in mind that there are different leadership styles that nursing leaders and managers might use. These include servant leaders who focus on supporting team members individually and transformational leaders who focus on uniting nursing teams. Democratic leaders focus on making improvements to the system overall, while authoritarian leaders have a take-charge approach that usually doesn’t include feedback from team members. Laissez-faire leaders typically have a more laid-back, reactive leadership style.
Qualities for Effective Nursing Leadership and Management
Whether your career goals include becoming a nurse leader or nurse manager, it’s important to be aware of the qualities you’ll be expected to possess. These qualities are all part of being an effective leader in a healthcare setting. Healthcare facilities can be challenging environments to work in, so having the right leadership skills is essential to properly handle problems and difficulties. The following are some of the skills you’ll need if you want to have a successful career as a nurse leader.
Professionalism
Nurse leaders sometimes act as representatives for a hospital or other healthcare facility. These nurses might be the person that executive leaders and others turn to for information on the facility and its services. Nurse leaders need to have a professional attitude and handle these types of interactions skillfully. This skill can be developed during school, as well as on the job while interacting with others.
Communication Skills
Being able to communicate clearly and effectively is one of the most important qualities for nursing leadership and management. Nurse leaders need to be able to discuss medical issues in an informative yet caring way with patients and family members. They also need to communicate with other nurses and healthcare professionals, as well as hospital executives, on a regular basis. Those who want to be nurse leaders can develop good communication skills while still in school. As a nurse leader, they can continue improving this skill to ensure effective communication.
Dedication to Excellence
Nurses in general should strive to provide high-quality care, but nurse leaders need to go above and beyond. Nursing leadership involves being committed to excellence in all areas of the role, since nurse leaders have a direct impact on the overall quality of care a patient receives. A dedication to excellence requires the highest quality care for patients and the creation and maintenance of a healthcare environment that benefits patients and staff alike.
Emotional Intelligence
Nurse leaders need to be emotionally intelligent to handle the challenges faced in healthcare settings. This skill enables them to provide support during difficult times in order to prevent staff from becoming burned out or emotionally exhausted. Emotional intelligence is also a valuable skill when interacting with patients. Emotionally intelligent nurses can discuss medical conditions, treatment, and potential complications or risks with patients in a tactful and compassionate manner. This is a skill that nurses can develop over time, whether they’re still in school or on the job.
Motivation
Motivation is a crucial part of being an effective nurse leader. Staying motivated makes it possible for leaders to inspire staff, comfort patients, and ensure that healthcare departments or facilities are running as efficiently as possible. Nursing, in general, can be a highly stressful career. Nurse leaders need motivation to keep them thriving and avoid becoming overwhelmed. With the right amount of motivation, these leaders can focus on achieving goals and enjoying a challenging yet rewarding healthcare career.
Accountability
Nurse leaders and managers must be willing to take responsibility when problems occur. As leaders, they should hold themselves accountable and take steps to correct the issue or avoid it in the future. Nurse leaders should consider errors opportunities for improvement. Being accountable means a willingness to closely examine failures to find ways to prevent it from reoccurring. Rather than placing the blame elsewhere, nurse leaders demonstrate leadership through accountability.
Delegation
Leadership and management in nursing involves feeling comfortable delegating tasks and responsibilities to others. Nurse leaders must delegate to ensure that the department and facility runs smoothly. Instead of seeing delegation as a weakness, they should consider it a strength. It is a wise, and often necessary, move that helps healthcare facilities provide high-quality care. Being able to effectively delegate involves getting to know the skills and experience that each team member offers.
Empower Others
Nurse leaders have the opportunity to empower others through their leadership. They should take this opportunity to encourage and support other nurses and healthcare professionals. Empowering others provides an array of benefits for healthcare facilities, perhaps most importantly, improved outcomes for patients due to higher quality care. This empowerment also leads to improved job satisfaction among nurses and other healthcare professionals, which helps reduce turnover and boosts morale. Nurse leaders can empower others by ensuring they have a chance to voice concerns and helping them handle change in healthcare environments.
Self-Aware
Nurse leaders need a well-developed self-awareness to succeed in this role. Being self-aware can help these leaders focus on personal and professional growth, making them more effective leaders. Through self-awareness, nurse leaders can recognize their strengths and weaknesses and devise plans for improvement. These leaders can work on becoming more self-aware while they’re still in nursing school and continue developing this skill on the job.
Support Your Staff
Being a nurse leader means giving staff the support they need to provide high-quality care. The way nurse leaders support staff might change from one situation to the next, depending on the challenges staff members are facing. For example, nurse leaders might provide emotional support to nurses who are feeling overwhelmed or burned out. They might provide practical and professional support when it comes to handling conflict.
Adapt to Change
Change is a given in healthcare environments, so it’s important for nurse leaders to be able to adapt accordingly. Adaptability is critical for a nurse to accommodate the frequent changes that occur in hospitals and other healthcare settings. This involves being able to evaluate situations and determine what changes that need to be made. Nurse leaders and managers can expect to have plenty of practice with developing this skill on the job.
Importance of Leadership and Management in Nursing
Nursing leaders and nursing managers both have a significant impact on healthcare quality. Nurse leaders and managers are responsible for overseeing medical teams and ensuring effective communication among team members. They also ensure that patients and their families receive guidance and education on health conditions and have their questions and concerns addressed by medical staff. These kind of leadership roles help healthcare facilities run as smoothly as possible, which benefits patients, their families and staff members. Keep in mind that nurses need to work on building and improving leadership and management skills in order to be effective leaders.
Role of Nurse Manager
A nurse manager primarily focuses on keeping daily operations in the department running as efficiently as possible. These managers usually don’t handle patient care in a direct way. Instead, they supervise nurses and other staff members and provide training as needed. Nurse managers might also be responsible for creating a budget for their department, hiring staff members, ensuring electronic records are up-to-date, and interacting with stakeholders. When you work as a nurse manager, you might also need to work with other managers in the facility and step in when difficult situations occur between healthcare professionals and their patients. Your responsibilities might also include overseeing healthcare insurance issues.
Role of Nurse Leader
A nurse leader focuses on making sure individual patients receive quality care. As a nursing leader, your responsibilities may include overseeing a nursing team and working on improving patient care, as needed. Nursing leaders are often expected to make patient care more efficient to help reduce hospitals stays, lower the risk of readmissions, and reduce healthcare costs. Other responsibilities you might have in this position include lowering turnover rates among nurses at your facility, reducing any conflict between nurses, providing patients with education to help them manage medical conditions better, and helping them understand their treatment plans to improve outcomes. Nursing leaders might also provide healthcare services directly in addition to educating patients. You’ll also need to continue learning to remain up to date on healthcare research that’s relevant to your area of nursing.
How to Become a Nurse Leader
Becoming a nurse leader first involves registering for nursing school and becoming a registered nurse. In order to do this, you’ll need to earn your undergraduate nursing degree and pass the required NCLEX exam. Passing this exam means you’ll be licensed to work as a registered nurse.
Your next step may include earning a graduate degree from an accredited program. While working on your graduate degree, you can expect to gain clinical experience that help you turn classroom learning into the practical skills you’ll need on the job.
From there, you’ll need to become certified if you plan to work as a nurse leader. You can do this through a certification program, such as the Clinical Nurse Leader Certification Program offered by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. After completing these steps, you’ll be able to begin working as a nursing leader.
If you’re leaning toward becoming a nurse leader, we can help. American Sentinel College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Post University offers a Master of Science in Nursing with a Nursing Management and Organizational Leadership Specialization. This online MSN management and leadership specialization provides you the opportunity to build the skills required for a nurse leadership position. Please contact us today for more information about this program.
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