There’s no overstating the importance of solid leadership in nursing. In fact, according to the American Nurses Association, “nurse leaders do more than balance costs, monitor productivity, and maintain patient staff satisfaction. They serve as role models and influence healthcare organizations at all levels.”
Of course, there’s more than one way to lead. Different nursing leadership styles, ranging from transformational and transactional to democratic and autocratic, can contribute to positive outcomes in healthcare settings — when they’re executed properly.
If you aspire to be an inspirational leader in your field, understanding the different types of leadership styles in nursing and their potential benefits and drawbacks is a must.
The Importance of Leadership in Nursing
Simply put, nurses need strong leaders to do their jobs well. Throughout the profession, effective nursing leaders can have a major impact on patient outcomes, teamwork, and overall organizational success. Likewise, effective leadership can create a more positive work environment that fosters collaboration while improving patient safety and satisfaction.
Impact on Patient Care
In many ways, strong nursing leadership can have a direct influence on the quality of care that patients receive. For example, effective nursing leaders can motivate and inspire their teams to provide more compassionate and evidence-based care. This can lead to improved patient outcomes and satisfaction. Without this level of strong leadership, nursing teams may lack the inspiration and example-setting they need to provide the quality care that all patients deserve.
Fostering Teamwork and Collaboration
The nursing field relies on strong and cohesive teams working together to provide excellent care to patients. Effective leaders have a responsibility to create work environments that support collaboration and the sharing of ideas. In doing so, all nursing professionals can feel empowered to contribute their own thoughts, solve problems creatively and provide mutual support to other nurses.
Creating a Positive Work Environment
Perhaps above all else, the most effective nursing leaders are those who cultivate positive workplace environments for all nursing professionals. These leaders can promote a culture of shared respect, open communication, and professional development that contributes to increased job satisfaction, improved morale, and even better retention rates among nurses. All of this is especially important when you consider that up to 73 percent of surveyed nurses post-COVID-19 reported that they were thinking about leaving the profession, with many citing the need for a better work environment as a contributing factor.
Diverse Leadership Styles in Nursing
Now that we’ve established the importance of solid leadership in nursing, it’s time to explore the various leadership styles most commonly observed in the field. As you explore these leadership styles, remember that different styles can be effective in different contexts The most effective leaders can adapt and leverage multiple styles based on unique and changing circumstances.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership is a common style meant to inspire and motivate team members to strive for and achieve a shared vision or goal. In nursing, the focus of transformational leadership is on empowering nurses and helping them develop professionally. Correspondingly, this type of leadership centers around helping nurses discover and pursue their sense of purpose while promoting innovation and change from within.
Transformational leadership relies on leaders who demonstrate integrity, build supportive work environments, and establish a shared sense of trust between themselves and team members.
Transactional Leadership
Transactional leadership, on the other hand, tends to be more focused on using rewards and punishments as a means of achieving goals. Nursing leaders who adopt this style tend to be more focused on achieving short-term goals with a focus on efficiency and performance. This style of leadership can be effective when it comes to reaching targeted goals and outcomes, but it’s not ideal in all contexts because its transactional nature can make building relationships and trust more challenging. Similarly, nursing professionals working under a transactional leader may be afraid to make mistakes and may thus avoid trying new things or reaching their full potential.
Servant Leadership
Under a servant leadership style, nursing leaders prioritize the needs of others above all else. These leaders tend to focus more on serving nursing teams and the organization/facility as a whole rather than working toward specific goals or metrics. Many nursing professionals respond well to servant leaders because this leadership style inherently builds trust and empowers others while fostering a supportive and collaborative work environment.
Democratic Leadership
With a democratic leadership style, nursing leaders strive to seek input and feedback from team members in an effort to create a more productive and positive work environment. Democratic nursing leaders “might excel in quality improvement roles but may not be effective in situations requiring independent decisions.” Alternatively, democratic leadership offers such potential benefits as fostering improved engagement, boosting creativity, and allowing for shared decision-making.
Autocratic Leadership
In the nursing field, autocratic leadership is a directive style where the leader makes independent decisions while expecting inherent compliance from team members. This style of leadership certainly has its place in the realm of nursing, especially during times of crisis where quick decisions are needed. That said, autocratic leadership by its very nature can be detrimental to nurse morale and engagement because it usually fails to consider employee feedback or input.
Laissez-faire Leadership
Some nursing leaders may choose to adopt a more hands-off approach, also known as laissez-faire leadership. With this type of nurse management style, leaders provide minimal input and guidance, deferring instead to team members to exercise their own autonomy and make their own decisions.
This type of leadership style can be beneficial when it comes to fostering creativity and allowing room for self-direction among nursing professionals. However, the overall lack of structure and accountability provided by this leadership style can lead to negative consequences in a healthcare setting. Some studies have even found a correlation between this leadership style and job satisfaction among nurses.
Choosing the Right Leadership Style
There’s a lot to keep in mind when it comes to selecting the leadership style that best suits you. In the same manner, the most effective nursing leaders are those who can adapt and adjust their leadership styles based on the situation, the team members involved, and organizational goals.
Situational Leadership
Situational leadership is a critical skill to possess as a nursing leader. In situational leadership, nurse leaders adjust their style based on their team members’ maturity and readiness, along with patient needs and organizational goals.
Applying situational leadership can be beneficial in nursing because it is context-dependent and involves taking numerous factors into consideration. In the same vein, a situational leadership style can help build stronger and more collaborative teams while fostering a greater sense of job satisfaction among nurses. With this in mind, a situational approach to leadership can maximize team development and individual performance.
Adapting to Different Personalities and Needs
At the end of the day, it is the job of a nursing leader to recognize and understand the diverse personalities and needs of team members. The most effective leaders are those who can consider team members’ individual strengths and weaknesses, adapting their communication and leadership styles to each team member to better connect with and motivate them.
Developing Effective Leadership Skills
As you can probably imagine, becoming a strong and capable nursing leader isn’t something that happens overnight. Instead, it requires a great deal of refinement, improvement, and experimentation to discover what works best.
Still, there are some practical tips and strategies that nursing leaders (and aspiring nursing leaders) can keep in mind in developing and enhancing their own leadership abilities. This, in addition to a commitment to continuous learning and self-reflection, can empower nursing leaders to become their best selves.
Seek Out Mentorship and Role Models
One of the best ways for aspiring nursing leaders to grow and build upon their own skills is to learn from others. Even if you’re not currently in a leadership position, seeking guidance and inspiration from experienced leaders in your field can be a great way to learn and grow professionally. You might even consider seeking out mentorship or job shadowing opportunities within your own facility or elsewhere. This can give you the unique chance to see other nursing leaders in-action while developing your own knowledge and skills.
Pursue Continuing Education and Leadership Training
Another way to grow your own leadership skills in the nursing field is to take advantage of continuing education, leadership training, and other professional development opportunities that come your way. These opportunities can be an excellent way to build your leadership skills, learn more about different leadership styles, and enhance your own leadership competencies.
Depending on where your interests lie, there are even specialized nursing certifications in leadership or management that you can pursue through the American Nurses Association and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership. Some options to consider here include the Certified Nurse Manager and Leader® (CNML®) and Certified Nurse Executive (NE-BC®).
These nursing leadership certifications have their own specific requirements in place that you’ll need to meet, so be sure to explore your options and understand all requirements before you pursue any certification. Generally, these certifications do require a certain level of education/degree, as well as the passing of a standardized examination.
Even if you don’t pursue any formal nursing leadership certifications, the right coursework in nursing leadership can help you build the skills you need to effectively lead, motivate, and inspire teams.
Embrace Self-Reflection and Feedback
If you think back to some of the best leaders you’ve had in your own career, there’s a good chance they’ll share a similar trait. Often, the best leaders are those who don’t think they’re always right just because they’re in a leadership or management position. Instead, they’re always open to feedback and practice regular self-reflection to continuously improve and better serve their team members.
If you want to be the most effective nursing leader, then embracing self-reflection and feedback is an absolute must. This means seeking feedback from your colleagues and mentors to identify areas for growth and improvement, then taking proactive steps to grow in areas of weakness. Likewise, great nursing leaders should be self-aware, developing their own understandings of themselves to adapt leadership styles as effectively as possible.
Find Your Nursing Program at Marymount University
Being an effective leader in nursing is not just about choosing a leadership style and sticking to it. It’s also about sharpening your situational leadership skills and being able to adapt to different personalities in your workplace. This is something that comes naturally with team and experience in the field, although the right education and training can also be crucial.
Still looking for the nursing program that aligns with your needs and professional goals? Explore nursing programs at Marymount University, including our Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), our online master’s in nursing programs, and our online MSN-FNP program. These programs offer unique opportunities to build not just your clinical skills, but your leadership abilities as well.
Get in touch to learn more about any of these nursing programs or begin your online application to enroll at Marymount University today!
Sources
https://marymount.edu/academics/nursing/bachelor-of-science-in-nursing/
https://www.nursingworld.org/content-hub/resources/nursing-leadership/leadership-in-nursing/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10903131/
https://www.nursingworld.org/content-hub/resources/nursing-leadership/leadership-in-nursing
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7915070/
https://www.aonl.org/initiatives/cnml
https://www.nursingworld.org/our-certifications/nurse-executive/
