Leadership and management for health professionals

In the molding of young leaders, practice under more experienced nurse leaders is an imperative experience. Utilizing reflective learning is a critical part of nursing development which enables one to identify areas of knowledge and improvement that can be incorporated in future practice to enhance their leadership abilities and potential. During my leadership experience in the ward, I had the opportunity to experience nursing leadership in practice. In this assignment, I will utilize the Gibbs reflective cycle (Koshy, Limb, Gundogan, Whitehurst & Jafree, 2017). Description During my ward experience, I was assigned to work as an assistant in a new unit, working under a unit manager I had noted during my time in the ward, that there was poor communication between the night shift staff and the day staff with each shift pushing patient care interventions to the incoming shift.

Leaders have an obligation to identify sources of conflicts and act to prevent the escalation of conflicts (Ahmed, 2015). Having known and recognized the developing strife as well as witnessing the pointers to the conflict such as declined communication among the staff, I felt I should have taken responsibility to report to the unit manager. I also felt that the nurses working in the ward have been qualified and more experienced, should have explored a more amicable dispute resolution process. During the morning of the conflict, I felt that the application of a democratic leadership approach in conflict resolution was a poor choice and a more inclusive approach would have surfaced. I did feel the need to cultivate better team communication skills and develop more astute decision and negotiating skills as a leader to be able to respond to different situations within the care environment through adapting different leadership styles (Cope & Murray, 2017).

The experience also posed significant challenges on my ability to respond effectively and timely to conflicts to prevent escalation and in avoiding the impact of such conflicts on patient care. Analysis Poor communication between nursing teams coupled with poor interrelations with the nursing leadership contributes to poor practice outcomes. This interrelation is critical to enhancing patient's care quality as leadership plays an integral role in ensuring patient safety (Murray, Sundin, & Cope, 2018). The lack of open communication within the teams and the leadership contributed to the resultant conflict and consequences on patient care quality. The lack of ownership in practice by the nursing team and poor coordination between the unit leadership and the team leadership also played a critical role in alienating the nurses and driving them away from a common goal.

Action Plan In the future, I will practice improved interpersonal communication skills to enhance communication between nursing teams and leadership. Enhanced communication is essential as it creates a better rapport and encourages improved collaboration between staff nurses and nurse leaders (Overton & Lowry, 2013). To ensure improved communication and enhanced nurse-leader collaboration, I will forge a servant-leadership approach to practice to create better interactions to understand better and develop more comfortable interactions with staff nurses (Trastek, Hamilton & Niles, 2014). I will also ensure to establish more flexible leadership skills to effectively responds to varying practice needs. As a nurse leader, it is imperative to develop different leadership styles to address the dynamism in patient care scenarios and situations as depicted in contingency theory of leadership (Vidal, Campdesuñer, Rodríguez & Vivar, 2017).

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