Running Head: NURSING LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 1

Nursing Leadership Philosophy

Miranda Jennings

Delaware Technical Community College

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Nursing Leadership Philosophy

Robin Sharma explains leadership as “not about a title or designation. It’s about impact,

influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the

passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire teammates and customers” (n.d.). This

quote summarizes my nursing philosophy. As a leader, I strive to lead by example. I want to

inspire my coworkers to better themselves and share my nursing knowledge, passion, and

experiences with new nurses. My leadership experience thus far involves precepting new nurses.

I very much enjoy functioning as a preceptor because I am able to share the nursing knowledge I

have gained in practice with nurses who are either new to the nursing field or new to the

emergency department.

The leadership style I try to use at work is transformational leadership. The

transformational leadership style is in-line with my nursing leadership philosophy.

Transformational leaders embrace change and work to guide staff, while rewarding positive

actions (Finkelman, 2016, p. 13). Transformational leaders inspire their followers by gaining

their trust, and leading by example (Curtis, de Vries, & Sheerin, 2011, p. 307). These leaders

need to have vast nursing knowledge that they can share with others to gain their trust and

improve nursing practice at their facilities (Curtis, de Vries, & Sheerin, 2011, p. 307).

While working on the unit, the model I am used to working with is team leadership. This

leadership model is especially important in the emergency department because nurses frequently

need to work together, especially in critical situations. Team leadership is focused on

productivity and staff morale (Finkelman, 2016, p. 10). This teamwork is important when

patients are critically ill because each person in the healthcare team functions within their

specialized roles and does individual tasks that combine to make an impact on the patient
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condition (Kaissi, Johnson, & Kirschbaum, 2003, p. 211). An example would be during a cardiac

arrest. At my hospital, we need at minimum two nurses, one technician, a respiratory therapist,

and a doctor during codes. Each person has a specific task to keep the patient alive. The doctor

gives orders, one nurse gives medications, the other nurse documents, the technician starts the IV

and does compressions, and the respiratory therapist manages the patient’s airway. All of these

staff members are equally important in managing the patient’s critical condition.

Transformational leaders would recognize the importance of each staff member. They

would gather the team after the code to discuss what went well and what could be improved

upon for the next time. This is called a debriefing (Leonard, M., Graham, S., & Bonacum, D.,

2004, p. 87). These conversations are especially important in the emergency department because

we are constantly faced with critical situations and must quickly respond to help the patient.

Debriefings are a great method of communication in the emergency department because they

provide an opportunity for individuals as well as the team to learn while the event is still fresh in

their minds (Leonard, M., Graham, S., & Bonacum, D., 2004, p. 87). Debriefings are also

important when the critical situations do not have a positive outcome. When the nursing team

works tirelessly to save a life, but are unable to do so, they need to come together and discuss

their feelings (Kaissi, Johnson, & Kirschbaum, 2003, p. 213) Transformational leaders would

lead these discussions and attempt to improve staff morale during these upsetting situations.

My short-term nursing goals involve my functioning as this transformational leader. The

next accomplishment I am working toward is to become an Advanced Cardiac Life Support

(ACLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) instructor. I have spoken with my nursing

director and am in the process of finding instructor courses for these classes. When my hospital

switched from paper to computer charting and I was highly involved in educating the ED nurses
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on the new system, I realized that I greatly enjoy teaching. By becoming an ACLS and PALS

instructor, I will be able to put my love for teaching to good use by offering more courses at my

hospital for the nurses and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to take. Becoming an ACLS

and PALS instructor would give me the expertise to educate my coworkers and allow me to

function as a role model for them to turn to with any questions.

My long-term nursing goal is to become an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP).

ACNPs can work in the emergency department and in the intensive care units, as well as a

variety of other units (RegisteredNursing.org, n.d.). I would be interested in working in either the

ED or the ICU where I would have more autonomy and be able to make the most of the skills I

would acquire during school. During school, ACNPs learn to do suturing, perform incision and

drainage, intubate patients, place central lines, place chest tubes, and perform lumbar punctures

(RegisteredNursing.org, n.d.). These are all skills that are only performed by physicians at my

hospital that I would be interested in learning. As an ACNP, I would still be able to function as a

transformational leader. Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are unique in that they are providers and also

nurses. In my experience, staff nurses are better able to relate to NPs and the NPs I have worked

with have been excited to educate the staff nurses. As an NP, I would also be able to continue

teaching classes and be an informal educator to my peers.

My nursing philosophy to inspire others to be their best nurses, to lead by example, and

to educate my coworkers is something I am confident I will be able to continue to do throughout

my career, no matter where it takes me. This philosophy most closely resembles the

transformational leadership style. Transformational leaders strive for change and improvement in

nursing practice (Finkelman, 2016, p. 13). This type of leadership style is especially important in

my specialty of emergency nursing because we are constantly involved in critical patient

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situations where we need to know best practice guidelines in order to better care for our patients.

By training to teach critical care courses and keeping myself educated on evidence-based, best

practice, I am confident that I will be able to function as a transformational leader throughout my

career.
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References

Curtis, E. A., de Vries, J., & Sheerin, F. K. (2011). Developing leadership in nursing: Exploring

core factors. British Journal of Nursing, 20(5), 306-309. Retrieved from

http://www.nurse2nurse.ie/upload/na6873leadershp.pdf

Finkelman, A. (2016). Leadership and management for nurses (3rd Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson

Education Inc.

Kaissi, A., Johnson, T., & Kirschbaum, M. S. (2003). Measuring teamwork and patient safety

attitudes of high-risk areas. Nursing Economic$, 21(5), 211-218. Retrieved from

http://web.a.ebscohost.com.libproxy.dtcc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&sid=c7c

cda94-7614-4432-b9dd-af455d010b74%40sessionmgr4008

Leonard, M., Graham, S., & Bonacum, D. (2004). The human factor: The critical importance of

effective teamwork and communication in providing safe care. Qual Saf Health Care,

13(1), 85-90. doi: 10.1136/qshc.2004.010033

RegisteredNursing.org. (n.d.). Acute care nurse practitioner (ACNP). Retrieved from

https://www.registerednursing.org/nurse-practitioner/acnp/

Sharma, R. S. (n.d.) Leadership quotes. Retrieved from

https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/leadership