Running head: PHILOSOPYHY PAPER 1

Discovering leadership style and personal nursing philosophy

Allison Saddler

East Tennessee State University

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Introduction

Nursing is made up of a combination of many different theories and philosophies. Having

these theories put in place allows for better communication, understanding, improvement of

patient care, and organization. Leadership is a very important part of nursing as this is the

foundation of the care that is portrayed on a unit. A leader is someone with strong characteristics

who is able to make decisions, critically think, plan, and coordinate. Those in a leadership

position are there to help teach and guide their team members. Theories help to mold nursing and

give health care professionals the ability to discover the best way they can care for each patient.

This paper is going to discuss what my personal nursing theory is in comparison to nursing

theorist, Jean Watson. I will also be discussing my leadership style.

Significance of issue

Leadership of healthcare professionals is crucial to improve the quality of care patients

receive and the integration of care (Sfantou, 2017). It has been recognized that having a leader

and knowing their leadership style is a vital component for quality of healthcare (Sfantou, 2017).

Leaders are a vital source in the quality of care due to leaders being the prime example of how

the patients are treated. It is important to discuss leadership, so both the leader and followers

know what expectations are set in order to effectively care for patients. Having quality leadership

is the most crucial element that can lead a unit to effective and efficacious outcomes (Sfantou,

2017). Leaders are individuals with strong characteristics who have been on a unit for a decent

amount of time and have discovered the best ways to run a unit to ensure quality care is met.

Leaders know their staff members the best and can place them accordingly. While a big part of

leadership is spent making decisions, leadership is also used for teaching purposes. Leaders are

aware of how their staff carries out tasks and can assign staff to patients that best fit their skill
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and knowledge level. If a staff member is not performing at the level they should be or lacking

knowledge in specific areas, the leader is able to step in and teach, in order to meet those specific

needs. Substantial positive relations between effective leadership style and communication

among staff members results in high levels of patient gratification and reduction of adverse

effects (Sfantou, 2017).

Nursing theory

My personal nursing theory is about meeting the patients’ needs by providing the best

patient centered care, respecting patients and their families, being their support system,

encouraging and caring for each patient, providing care physically and emotionally, and being

the advocate for each patient. Jean Watson’s theory correlates each of those into her theory.

Caring is the biggest part of nursing and what leads to better care and trust among medical staff

and the patients. After discovering my own personal belief about nursing, I discovered Watson’s

theory which related greatly to what I believe. Jean Watson wrote a theory about the science of

caring (Saddler, 2017). Watson believes that caring for patients is better than an actual cure

(Saddler, 2017). While I believe a cure is beneficial to the patient, what happens aside from that

is the most important. Caring for patients and providing for their immediate need helps to get the

patient to where they need to be or comfortable during their passing. According to Watson,

caring for patients has been a part of society but is something that is based down (Saddler, 2017).

Caring has always been a part of nursing, but I agree with Watson in the fact that caring is being

based down and not taken with as much gratitude as it did in the past. Caring is something that

varies among different cultures and beliefs (Saddler, 2017). Determining what their cultural

differences and practices are and providing care to me those beliefs, is an exclusive way of

confronting and enduring the environment (Saddler, 2017). I also agree with Watson on the
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cultural aspect of patients. Nurses have to get to know their patients and what they believe in

order to be able to provide the best care for them, and provide the care that is going to get them

through the illness or diagnosis they have been diagnosed with. Nursing can be both illustrated

and demonstrated according to Watson’s theory (Saddler, 2017). I agree with this due to the fact

sometimes patients need more than just physical care. Physical care is very important, but

sometimes being ears that listen and a voice that speaks means more to the patient that any

physical care would. Caring is portrayed through the actions we portray and the way we

approach and tend to each patient’s emotions and coping process. Watson states that tending to

the patients allows for growth in a way that acquires a person for who they are now as well as

what they may become in the future (Saddler, 2017). Watson has ten caritive factors that I agree

are a big part of nursing and important factors to demonstrate to provide care to our patients.

These ten factors include: constructing humanistic- unselfish value systems, disseminating faith

and hope, cultivating sympathy of self and others, promoting a healthy- trustworthy

interconnection, developing interpretation of feelings, making decisions using a problem- solving

method, stimulate teaching and learning, allowing for a complementary or supportive

environment, helping with the fulfillment of personal needs, and acknowledge spiritual for power

(Saddler, 2017). Each of these ten factors back up why I agree with Watson and her theory.

Including each of these in the care between the health care provider and patient, ensures the best

care is given to the patient and allows for relationships among providers that otherwise may not

have happened.

Leadership theory

Leadership is a very important aspect of nursing, having a leader allows for organization,

providing direction, planning, coordinating, and making decisions (Henry, 2016). My philosophy
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is based on caring for the patients, which makes leadership very important. Having leadership in

place helps to determine if the patient is getting the appropriate care and if not, leadership would

need to step in. I would describe my leadership skills as democratic. Nursing to me is carried out

through team work. It takes working together and collaborating with other interprofessional

medical staff to provide quality care for our patients. The teamwork aspect of nursing lead me to

choosing a democratic leadership style. I find it very important to include everyone in decision

making just as a democratic leadership style includes (Henry, 2016). Including the entire staff

upon making a decision ensures that all aspects have been considered and thought out and makes

for better team communication and collaboration. If the medical staff feels cared for and

included, they will be able to demonstrate the same to their patients. How leadership portrays

their style sets a foundation in how the followers of that leader demonstrate their care. I believe

motivating and encouraging staff members is very important. Nursing is very rewarding but can

also be very sad and difficult. It is important for leaders to acknowledge staff accomplishments,

showing their work doesn’t go unnoticed and lets them know they are doing a good job (Henry,

2016). A rough day could be turned around simply based off good encouragement and support

from leaders, which a democratic leadership style fulfills. A good leader in my opinion will use

other resources and staff members of other positions to ensure all situations are handled. Using

the chain of command when making decisions will ensure that all situations are handled to the

fullest. (Henry, 2016). While my leadership style is democratic, sometimes an authoritative

position will need to take place if the situation cannot be handled through a democratic

leadership style. While including everyone in decision making is important to me, depending on

certain situations, decision making for the group is necessary (Henry, 2016). An authoritative
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person is good in the fact that they can provide valuable teaching lessons, but if not corrected

further actions would need to be taken.

Conclusion

Theories and leadership styles are very important aspects of nursing. These aspects set a

foundation for the medical staff and impact the way care is portrayed among patients. Watson

and I have the same theory being that caring for patients is the most important aspect of nursing.

Care is both illustrated and demonstrated. Care is not just through the treatments and actions

provided for patients, it also includes listening, supporting, and encouraging our patients. I

approach nursing with a democratic leadership style using a team approach to decision making.

Decisions are made best if it involves the entire staff and using leadership if a decision can’t be

made. After reading this paper, I hope you understand the importance of nursing theories and

leadership styles.
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References

Danae F. Sfantou, A. L. p. (2017, 10 14). US National Library of medicine National Institutes of

Health. Retrieved from NCBI:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5746707/

Henry, N. J. (2016). Managing Client Care. In Nursing Leadership and management (p.3).

Saddler, A. (2017). Nurse Philosophy Paper. Unpublished manuscript, NRSE 2020- 003, East

Tennessee State University, United States.