Xu, J. H. (2017). Leadership theory in clinical practice. Chinese Nursing Research, 4(4), 155-157.
This small article is written by J. H. Xu to discuss the application of main leadership theories in healthcare settings. The author describes a typical management case of a nurse violating a night shift policy and sleeping at her workplace to determine how different leadership styles will address the issue. The author presents transformational and participative leadership and then compares these theories. It becomes evident that the transformational approach is more beneficial for behavioral changes, while participative leadership is a great option to increase job satisfaction among practitioners since it fosters organizational commitment and team collaboration. Next, Xu introduces the transactional theory that sets a system of rewards and punishments designed to motivate staff to comply. Rewards include extra payments, health benefits, time-offs, and other bonuses. The article ends with the notion that nurse leaders should use a mixture of leadership styles. In other words, they should apply all of them in appropriate situations to meet multiple workforce challenges. Cited sources are reliable, and the leadership effects presented seem to be accurate.
Mitchell, G. (2013). Selecting the best theory to implement planned change. Nursing Management, 20(1).
Planned change within the healthcare setting requires the involvement of different units, teams, and practitioners. It is always challenging to manage a planned change; thus, Gary Mitchell discusses theories that can be helpful in such a scenario. To incorporate change into a system, managers can turn to Kurt Lewin’s change theory. It has three stages of Unfreezing (a change is needed), Moving (actions), and Refreezing (when the new practice became common). Then author compares Lewin’s theory to those introduced by Lippitt and Rogers. As a result, many stages are similar and correspond to each other. Although the three change theories provide similar problem-solving tools, managers should apply one of them according to circumstances. Moreover, this article discusses leadership styles and presents how Lippitt’s theory together with a democratic style, can be used in practice. Mitchell uses original articles and books of mentioned theoretical fathers that make it credible. This work is essential since it compares and contrasts leadership styles and fundamental change theories.
Rousell, L. A., Thomas, T., & Harris, J. L. (2018). Management and leadership for nurse administrators (8th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
The book written by Rousell et al. is a useful source of principal theories and philosophies related to nursing management and leadership. It starts with a discussion of forces that affect nursing leadership and proceeds to present main leadership theories and their hospitals’ applications. The list includes transformational leadership, strategical leadership, innovative leadership, main archetypes of leadership, and nursing healthcare policy. It also covers such topics as interprofessional collaboration, nurse leader professional development, effective leaders’ characteristics, and the role of transformational leadership in healthcare reform. The second part of the book is dedicated to strategic planning and change leadership. The third one covers all elements regarding ongoing quality and safety improvement of health care delivery. Although this book has much jargon, it still provides all the needed and reliable information that can be used further. It is not outdated and uses reliable sources; however, some sentences are vague.
Huffstutler, D. C., & Thomsen, D. (2015). A framework for performance excellence and success. Frontiers of health services management, 32(1), 45-50.
Huffstutler and Thomsen’s article shows and discusses the main concepts and elements for the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. It is an improvement framework that helps medical leaders pursue and sustain evidence-based service quality changes and hospital transformations. The authors insist that high-performing health care organizations require high cooperation between staff accompanied by clear communication. They also reveal the importance of employees’ goals alignment to those of the organization to encourage them and retain more talents. The Baldrige criteria are based on such core values: visionary leadership, agility, ongoing learning, societal responsibility, management by fact, and focus on results. The article uses Hill Country Memorial Hospital and Schneck Medical Center as examples to prove the framework’s success. This article is also useful since it covers an interesting approach to nursing management and leadership.
References
Huffstutler, D. C., & Thomsen, D. (2015). A framework for performance excellence and success. Frontiers of health services management, 32(1), 45-50.
Mitchell, G. (2013). Selecting the best theory to implement planned change. Nursing Management, 20(1). Web.
Rousell, L. A., Thomas, T., & Harris, J. L. (2018). Management and leadership for nurse administrators (8th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Xu, J. H. (2017). Leadership theory in clinical practice. Chinese Nursing Research, 4(4), 155-157. Web.