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Transformational and Collaborative Leader

Delaware Technical Community College
NUR 400 Nursing Leadership
Tiffany Anderson
October 2, 2022
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As with every career, strong leadership and management are vital. Excellent management

and leadership set the stage for whether a company succeeds or fails. Communication amongst

all relationships in nursing is likewise imperative. “The power of effective nursing care is

strengthened and enriched by good communication” (Sheldon, Barret & Ellington, 2006). Team

management and building, understanding staffing needs, a nurturing personality, trust, strong

critical thinking skills, clinical, organizational and delegating skills, in addition to many other

vital aspects produce a strong nursing team. Active managers and leaders enhance lifelong

learning and improvement goals. They can play the role of not just a leader or manager, but also

a mentor and coach all at the same time. The collaborative and transformational leader enhances

overall care for patients, which stems for a solid knowledge base and strong leadership.

I am considered a leader at my job by many fellow coworkers, all though I may be hard

on myself and sometimes don’t see it, the way I conduct myself and care for my patients has

allowed me to be in leading positions. Being a leader has allowed others to come to me and look

to me for guidance. Nurses in higher positions have also come to me and asked if I would train

new staff coming in for several weeks at a time. In which I have always received positive

feedback in the way I precept new nurses coming in. I have great organizational skills, love

people, naturally work as a team player and believe there is power in the way you communicate

with people. I think the best outcomes result from a collection of people coming together,

brainstorming and attacking a task through different roles.

When give the opportunity to become a nurse leader, I will base my leading theories on

that of a transformational and collaborative leader. As with most leadership styles, one must

always integrate teamwork, but as collaborative leader I will not deem it necessary to emphasize

a hierarchy, but instead recognize and step in when the leader must assume actual direction like
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in emergencies or when staff is falling below their level of expectations. “Transformational

leaders stimulate their subordinates to share a vision and use goals as inspirational motivation”

(Lin, MacLennan, Hunt, & Cox, 2015). With this I will promote growth and high standards of

care through the idea of working towards an ever-changing goal for success including huddle

communication boards where goals are addressed and target daily. “By applying

transformational leadership, leaders can confidently deal with a complex and rapidly changing

working environment” (Lin et al., 2015). I plan to create workshops and competency training

assessments to build on teamwork and effective autonomy. I plan to put together small groups of

nurses who come together quarterly allow them to voice their concerns about anything including

each other. To ensure the lines of communication are open and comfortable, regular and as

needed discussions will be held to allow staff to feel more comfortable coming to me with

concerns. Being open, honest and trustworthy is critical when dealing with multiple people in

one work environment and working towards change.

With the understanding that I am the link between the nurse and administrator, the needs

and desires, opinions, and perspectives of the nursing team will be met and defended when

appropriate. This is a vital aspect because, “administrative support is needed to access the

resources, provide the support personnel, and sanction the necessary changes in policy,

procedures, and practices” (Marquis & Huston, 2009). To maintain quality skills and relate to the

nursing team my goal is to remain knowledgeable, and a physical expert at the tasks and duties

set forth by the job, without engaging in micromanaging or dictating that will negatively affect

the entire team. Incorporating these changes always will enable me to master specific

management skills such as strategy, action, organizational, justice, character, and development of

lifelong learning and others.

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A significant role that nurses, whether they practice on the floor or are in management, is

that of patient advocate. “With the expectation to handle patient complaints about unsatisfactory

situations, the exchange of information, feelings, and concerns is vitally important in therapeutic

relationships in health care” (German & Cummings, 2010). People skills with the ability to

maintain professionalism, empathize, relate, listen and problem solve are important. I will listen

to my patients and ensure that their issues are handled accordingly as well as advocate for nurses

as I am their voice of reason in discussion and if a situation was to occur. As I prepare for the

world of leadership someday, I look to words such as trustworthiness, teamwork, growth, and

change. “Nursing managers and leaders may enhance their nurse’s performance by

understanding and addressing the factors that affect their ability and motivation to perform”

(Germain & Cummings, 2010).

The roles of managers and leaders are very similar yet different. One significant

difference is a leader possess the adjective tense of the word versus being in a position. Their

authority comes from the ability to lead and organize their team while maintaining a level of

respect and concern for others. According to Finkelman, “nurse leaders do not even have to be in

formal ‘management positions’ with management titles”. Some of these key traits include the

ability to be persuasive and convince other nurses, to make changes, and improve care. These

characteristics influence others to get the job done by the nurse in management who is not a

leader.

Leaders ask questions that promote change and upward mobility, take necessary risks

needed to accomplish a goal or task and take whatever steps needed to improve care and work

production. Leaders tend to build a relationship with their team by celebrating their work and

showing appreciation for the roles that they play. “Both formal and informal leaders are
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important to the profession and to healthcare delivery” (Finkelman, 2016). A leader is always a

leader with or without the title. “There is no doubt that managers are different in not only what

they do, but also in how they do their work in the authority they hold” (Finkelman, 2016). Most

managers are in their current positions due to credentials only.

The science of improvement is an “an applied science that emphasizes innovation, rapid-

cycle testing in the field, and spread to generate learning about what changes, in which contexts,

produce, improvements” (Finkelman, 2016). The quality of healthcare provided is paramount to

the health systems reputation and patient trust relationship, but also important to the patients’

health and experience at a compromising time in their lives. Nurses are vital to the

implementation and standard of high-quality care. “Nurse performance is vital to quality patient

care outcomes, and nursing leadership behaviors have been linked to nursing performance”

(German & Cummings, 2010). Staff nurses provide most of the bedside care interaction with

patients, as it is the impression that they often leave that sets the tone of their experience while in

care.

Change is essential to success in every industry. As the world evolves, certain

adjustments should be made to remain in compliance with the demands and expectations of the

healthcare, as it is one the major systems that affect human existence and health. “Change has

become the norm for all healthcare providers…” (Finkelman, 2016). Encouraging strong bedside

nursing is a significant key to patient advocacy, but with the difficulties of the past two years

bedside nursing has decreased a lot.

Nursing is a rewarding and highly demanded profession. Nurses hold matters of life and

death in their hands. At times nurses find themselves being mothers, fathers, friends, counselors,

caretakers, mentors, as well as their already set out roles of being a healthcare provider. Nurse
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and client relationships are built on trust, empathy, and quality care and one may say the same

about nurse/manager relationships. “The quality of the decisions that leaders/managers make is

the factor that often weighs heavily on their success or failure” (Marquis & Huston, 2009).

Active and successful leadership and management set the tone in the healthcare setting.

The ability to lead has the potential to build dependable, caring, cooperative, and well-

informed nurses with the variety of leadership and management styles today. It was one believed

that a person is born a leader or with leadership skills compared to being taught or trained.

“There is greater emphasis on engagement of staff, teams, communication and collaboration, and

the work environment and organizational culture” (Finkelman, 2016). With the help of

Finkelman, and his theories about leadership like transformational and collaborative I plan to

instill and carry with me as I grow as a nurse.

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References

Finkelman, A. (2016). Leadership and management for nurses: Core competencies for quality

Care. (3rd edition). Pearson.

Germain, B., & Cummings, G. (2010, May). The influence of nursing leadership on nurse

Performance: a systematic literature review. Journal of Nursing management, 4,

425-439, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2010.01100.x.

Lin. P.Y., Macleman, S. J., Hunt, N., & Cox, T. (2015). The influences of nursing

Transformational leadership style on the quality of nurses’ working lives

In Taiwan. A cross-sectional quantitative study. BMC Nursing.

Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2009). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing:

Theory and Application (6th ed.) Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Lippincott Williams

& Wilkins.

Sheldon, L. K., Barrett, R., & Ellington, L. (2006). Difficult communication in nursing.

Journal of Nursing Scholarship. 38(2), 141-147.