Leadership is important in any setting where people aim to be successful and productive in their work. In the setting of nursing, leadership is something that is required to be sure patients are receiving the best care possible, to ensure that no mistakes are being made, and to have proper delegation between hospital staff so that tasks done by staff do not exceed anyone’s scope of practice.
Leadership Qualities
When I think of a leader, I think of someone who has many years of experience in the department they are leading, is a team-player, listens to everyone’s concerns, and is very knowledgeable in the type of practice they are leading. In the article Leadership Traits from The American Library Association, a leader is defined as someone who: has tolerance for stress, self-confident, self-disciplined, emphasizes partnership, listens, knows how to delegate, and has competency – just to name a few (NMRT, 2018).
My Observations
The nurse that I observed in a clinical setting is a nurse that I work with in the Bellin Emergency Department (ED). This nurse has been working at Bellin in the ED for over 25 years. During her shifts, she will work as either a floor nurse, triage nurse, or charge nurse. All three of these positions require her to be a good leader, although the charge nurse position is the most requiring of leadership. The specific observation that I am going to talk about is one where she was the charge nurse on a busy shift in the ED, seeing over 8 nurses and 2 CNAs.
During the shift, she received a squad call from EMS, stating that they were bringing in a patient who was having a STEMI. With something so life-threatening and time sensitive as a STEMI, she needed to have great leadership to ensure the best possible care for this patient. The second she got off the phone, she had broadcasted a code STEMI, stating the type of code, patient’s ETA, and patient initials to all of the ED staff, ED providers, the Cath lab, and the SWAT nurse. She immediately delegated the CNA to grab and have ready an EKG and telemetry unit upon the patient’s arrival. She notified the RN that would be primary nurse and the MD of the patient’s current condition. Once the patient arrived, she overlooked the code, ensuring that nothing was missed, and delegated tasks to the appropriate staff.
Leadership Style
The type of leadership style that the charge nurse used is autocratic. Autocratic leaders make quick decisions without taking input from others. This type of leadership is useful in code situations where decisions need to be made fast, but in other situations, when autocratic leadership is not necessary, this type of leadership can be demoralizing (MindTools, 2016). In the situation I observed, autocratic leadership was appropriate and very effective. This leadership was effective because of the respect staff has for her, and the time-sensitivity of the situation. All staff did exactly as she said because they knew the severity of the situation and that there was no extra time to object. The traits that this nurse displayed include but are not limited to: tolerance for stress, proper delegation, and competency. Code situations are very stressful and she did not let the stress affect her top-notch decision making skills. She delegated tasks to staff and did not delegate anyone to do a task outside of their scope of practice. She has been an emergency nurse for 25 years, over her years in the ED, she has gained an enormous amount of experience in code situations that helped her lead the team effectively.
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