7 Leadership Styles in Nursing You Can Practice in Your Institution
It is common knowledge that good leadership is crucial for the success of any group in every profession. Individuals who can effectively influence, inspire, and direct others are foundational to all fields, including that of healthcare. One of the essential tools for improving the health sector and patient care, in particular, is nursing leadership.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) defines a nurse leader as a healthcare professional who applies nursing leadership skills and principles to excel in the healthcare sector. They focus on the quality of care as well as the safety of their patients while leading and directing teams of nurses. Seeing as how nurses spend the most time out of all staff interacting with patients directly, their competence and leadership style is of the utmost importance for the facility.
So, if you are interested in learning more about leadership styles a nurse leader can follow, stay with us as we will explain the most common styles followed by leaders in the healthcare industry.
What Is a Leadership Style in Nursing?
In nursing and in general, a leadership style is associated with a leader's principles and characteristic behaviors related to influencing, directing, motivating, and managing a group of people. To put it simply, the leadership style in nursing represents the nurse leader's methods of managing other nurses and implementing shared plans for improving the care provided by their sector.
Whenever we consider how some leaders approach matters, we can notice vast differences in each leader and some patterns running through a few. Thanks to such similarities and differences, you can choose between numerous leadership styles in nursing.
Why choosing a leadership style is vital in nursing?
Choosing your leadership style is important in nursing because once you know your preferred methods and techniques, you can evaluate your style's effectiveness in particular circumstances. Furthermore, once you choose a leadership style, you can learn from the success and mistakes of other leaders who have used the same type and make changes when necessary.
What Are the Main Leadership Styles in Nursing?
As we already mentioned, there are many leadership styles in nursing, each one characterized by a specific approach, different processes and methods used to meet objectives, as well as skills emphasized. Generally, professionals tend to develop their style based on their personality, principles, and company culture. However, more often than not, their style falls under already-defined leadership styles.
In your quest to become a competent nursing leader, you must be aware of your leadership options and the weaknesses and strengths associated with each one. So please read on as we go through the seven main leadership styles in nursing and some leadership in nursing examples. This way, you can determine which kind you identify with, what you like and dislike about the other styles, and things you can incorporate from the different types.
1. Democratic leadership
Arguably, the most popular leadership style is the democratic one. The word "democracy" illustrates a style run by multiple people who participate in decision-making. Democratic leadership in nursing is characterized by a leader who values relationships and always encourages their team of nurses to voice their opinions and ideas.
One of the main advantages of this nursing leadership style is that all team members feel more valued, which then helps with team morale. Furthermore, you do not have to worry much about managerial supervision because you share responsibilities with other nurses.
However, you can notice that this leadership style tends to be inefficient due to the big groups involved in each process. Another weakness of the democratic leadership style is keeping track of the ideas and feedback thrown between the team and the possibility of disagreements arising between the team members.
An example of democratic leadership in nursing would be a head nurse looking to implement new protocols and procedures to help maintain patient safety. As a democratic leader, the head nurse will communicate the issue with their team members and consider their proposals and thoughts while drafting the new protocols and procedures.
2. Transformational leadership
Another leadership style is transformational leadership, based on theories of leaders working with their teams to influence change beyond self-interest. The main focus of leaders who utilize the transformational leadership style is to influence their followers and inspire them to improve by giving the supervised nurses more autonomy over some jobs.
A definite pro of the transformational leadership style in nursing is motivating the team of nurses by helping them raise their standards and achieve collective goals. Yet, this style can be counterproductive because it is tough to implement in the early stages of initiatives. This happens because the style requires the teams to have set structures and not be newly created.
A simple example of utilizing the transformational leadership style in nursing would be if you, as the leader, are asked to set new goals for the nursing staff. You spend the following month working closely with the nurses, understanding their strengths. The process would help you assess clear targets for each member and help them set goals for themselves that align with the nursing staff's shared objectives.
3. Delegative leadership
The delegative leadership style, frequently referred to as laissez-faire leadership, focuses on entrusting specific tasks and initiatives to the other nurses without much supervision. Because leaders with such a leadership style do not have to manage the nurses intensely, they can dedicate more time to other projects.
The main appeal of laissez-faire leadership is the inclusion of a successful strategy where nurses are competent and take responsibility for their work. Nonetheless, the style is not perfect, as disagreements can arise if the nurses are not good at communicating with one another. Furthermore, sometimes the staff is better at following set orders than having the freedom to make their own decisions, which affects others.
An excellent example of this leadership style is when the head nurse trusts her nursing staff to set and maintain their own work schedules. A good leader would still track their work from time to time and intervene if necessary, however, they will not set the schedule for their staff.
4. Autocratic leadership
In an autocratic leadership style, also known as authoritarian leadership, most power lies with the leader. The head nurse is responsible for making most of the decisions by themself or in agreement with the thoughts of only a small group of people, whereas the rest of the staff is expected to do as they are advised.
Although historically, authoritarian leadership is considered less than ideal, there are also positives to it. Many don't prefer this style because of the head nurse's controlling power over the staff, issuing punishments whenever mistakes are made, or nurses do not comply with rules. However, the autocratic leadership style is an excellent choice when quick decision-making is needed. Having one leader who manages emergencies is more efficient than having many people have long discussions about the best course of action.
To illustrate, imagine you are the head nurse, and before a complicated surgery, you select which team members will be helping the surgeons during the operation process. A newly appointed nurse requests to join the operating staff, but you think your team is the best experienced; therefore, you deny their request. You ensure everyone knows what they are expected to do and carefully follow the procedure and instructions to provide a safe operation.
5. Servant leadership
As you might gather from the name, people who utilize the servant leadership style are focused on serving others. These leaders aim to help their team feel fulfilled personally and professionally. They emphasize team member satisfaction which is often translated into high levels of success and respect between the leader and other nurses.
There are many benefits to this leadership style, including the leader's capacity to help boost the nurses' productivity by committing their time to help the nursing staff grow professionally. By being such a leader, you would help nurses develop their decision-making skills, cultivate more trust within the team, and help create future leaders. Still, there are a few challenges, mainly for the leading nurse themself, because they often prioritize their team's needs above their own.
A simple scenario to help illustrate this type of leadership style would be if you were the head nurse and organized monthly one-on-one lunch meetings with each nurse to voice their concerns or ask questions safely.
6. Transactional leadership
Nurses that lead with a transactional style are some of the most organized. These leaders specialize in planning, thoroughly managing their staff and their workload, as well as providing precise directions to each member of the team. Such leaders are often referred to as managerial leaders because of their meticulous work in ensuring they set clear structures and rules for the other nurses to follow.
You can expect an increase in productivity when leaders issue direct orders plus reward the nurses for understanding their roles and achieving the goals set for the staff. However, the style can also be a challenge for the nursing staff since the transactional leaders are often inflexible and formal with their approach, thus not allowing much room for independent work.
An example of the transactional leadership style in nursing being put to action is when the head nurse keeps track of the work each nurse puts in to achieve the monthly goals set for the nursing staff. Then, the top three best-performing nurses are awarded a monetary reward or a day off.
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7. Bureaucratic leadership
The last nursing leadership style we will be exploring is the bureaucratic style. Leaders of this style are pretty similar to those who use the autocratic leadership style since they both clarify who the leader is and expect the other nurses to follow each order they are given precisely. However, the bureaucratic style is more focused on creating a hierarchy of the nursing staff, where each nurse has a set of duties per their role.
This detail-oriented and task-focused leadership style is liked by nurses who work in extensive facilities where strict rules and regulations help the staff stay on top of their responsibilities. This style helps define each person's role and what they must do. Still, there are a few challenges to the bureaucratic leadership style since it makes some nurses feel restricted or inferior to others.
You would be considered a bureaucratic leader if you, as a head nurse, require each nurse to work within a defined framework, clearly setting apart the nurses with higher roles and more influence from those who have more menial tasks.
Wrapping Up: How Do You Know What Leadership Style Is Right?
As we have already established, each leadership style has its advantages as well as weaknesses. It is not the leadership style that makes a good leader, but rather the leader that makes the best out of each type.
If you wonder which style would best suit you and your team, we would advise you to evaluate your nursing staff's strengths, weaknesses, wants, and needs. Some nurses prefer to be more involved with each managerial process, whereas others might like that you carry the burden and let them deal with their day-to-day duties.
As long as you have good communication skills and are willing to make compromises with your leadership style, if it means that it will improve the productivity of the whole staff, you will make the right choice. Don't feel pressured to choose one style and stick with it. Experiment, track the progress and see which type feels the most natural and efficient.