The nursing profession has evolved. Once thought of as doctors’ helpers, nurses have grown into leadership positions in the healthcare industry. On the front lines in their communities, they’re role models for what medicine can and should be. If you’re ready to set trends and blaze trails, the time to become a vocational nurse is now.
What Is a Nurse Leader?
A nurse can be a leader at any level. Nursing leadership is the potential to inspire and motivate others into working together toward a common goal.
Nurse leaders are found everywhere in the medical field from the upper echelons of management to the halls of small-town nursing homes. At the facility level, they plan patient care and supervise paraprofessional staff. Charge nurses have an expanded role, overseeing other nurses while ensuring their unit runs smoothly. At the executive level, nurse leaders serve organizations as directors, administrators, and vice presidents.
Why is Leadership Important for Nursing?
Healthcare is a team sport, and nurses are the quarterbacks. They set the stage for everyone’s success by:
Establishing a Unified Vision
Nurse leaders collaborate with other healthcare professionals to create a single plan of care for their patients. Among peers, they set an example through dedication, cooperation, enthusiasm, and support for company culture. Vocational nurse leaders motivate patients and the paraprofessionals they supervise to achieve the highest possible level of personal success.
Choosing the Right People for the Right Jobs
Nurse leaders recognize hard work and dedication. As supervisors, they recognize potential and know who to tap for specific roles when something needs to be done. Putting the right people in the right positions improves work and patient outcomes.
Providing Guidance
Good leaders don’t tell people what to do, they help them learn to do it. In an ever-evolving field, nurse leaders are go-to sources of education and inspiration for patients, peers, and staff.
Creating a Positive and Affirming Work Environment
Leaders make a point of praising their peers and staff, recognizing that teamwork and morale are built on mutual trust and appreciation. They give credit where credit is due.
And they smile through adversity, setting an example of how positive thinking creates a warmer, friendlier workplace. Enthusiasm is infectious.
Resolving Conflicts
Conflicting interests in the workplace can boil over into serious arguments that compromise team efficiency if they’re not managed proactively.
Nurse leaders mitigate disagreements through compromise, mediation, and negotiation, keeping teams together by troubleshooting the hurt feelings that damage interpersonal relationships.
Leading the Charge for Change
Transformation is the key to growth in any industry, but change is difficult for most people without guidance. Nurse leaders explain the rationale for change, implementing it in baby steps while seeking input from the teams involved.
What Are the Qualities of a Good Nurse Leader?
A good nurse leader will possess a set of qualities. They are:
Knowledgeable
Nursing is a broad and complex industry in which leaders must be especially knowledgeable.
Unit managers, for example, understand the policies, procedures, and protocols within their facility. Senior executives should be well versed in healthcare regulation, human resources, strategic management, marketing, and outreach.
Among the most rewarding aspects of a nursing career is that any nurse can rise through the ranks through education and experience.
Professional
Nursing is a highly regarded field, and the public puts more trust in nurses than most other professions. Nurse leaders set an example by being consummate professionals in dress, demeanor, attitude, and work ethic.
Self-Aware
Knowing what you don’t know is a skill. Nurse leaders reflect often on their strengths and weaknesses, continuously developing their skillset to grow professionally. Their humble yet confident attitude encourages learning among their colleagues and staff. A good nurse leader leads horses to water and teaches them to drink.
Creative
Nurse leaders create positive change through innovation. Never taking no for an answer, they collect ideas and explore new technologies in search of better ways of doing things. Whether you’re a senior VP or a charge nurse, creativity is the mother of invention. Be bold.
Empowering
No nurse can be everywhere at once. They need to trust their team and delegate. The best nurse leaders empower others to be successful, encouraging them to use their expertise and problem-solving skills. They offer guidance, tools, and appreciation, helping their staff become self-reliant team players by not micromanaging their projects.
Inclusive
Organizations are made up of individuals with unique qualities, experiences, and world views. Each person brings something valuable to the table.
Inclusive nurse leaders recognize the importance of diversity by embracing different perspectives. They create a welcoming environment by reaching beyond their circle for alternative opinions and feedback.
Reliable
Reliability is a reflection of a nurse’s performance. To be reliable means that you’re consistently trustworthy and dedicated.
All nurses have life-or-death responsibilities, but nurse leaders manage a wide range of functions that impact safety and outcomes. They need to play their A-game every day.
A Good Communicator
Nurse leaders serve as liaisons between patients, families, and other healthcare professionals. They also run interference between their subordinates, colleagues, and managers. The ability to express themselves clearly, confidently, and compassionately is an essential skill. They can’t lead, teach, or mediate conflicts without it.
Collaborative
The essence of collaboration is that “teamwork makes the dream work.” It’s a way of accomplishing things as a group that no individual could do alone.
However, working in the same office with someone isn’t the same as working together. Teams need nurse leaders to define roles, set goals and keep people accountable in a fast-paced environment.
An Advocate
A nurse’s most important role is that of a patient advocate. It’s their foremost responsibility to defend the interests of the clients they serve.
However, nurse leaders are also advocates for their teams. Part of their job is labor relations and mediation between organizational leadership and staff. They support employees by listening to their concerns and carrying them up the organizational ladder.
A Goal Setter
Vocational nurses learn to set SMART goals for patients in school. Objectives must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. Creating these strict parameters helps nurses evaluate whether goals have been met or not and if they should change.
Nurse leaders expand on this concept by setting performance targets for their team, unit, facility, or organization. Whether they’re setting budgetary or staff attendance goals, they’re responsible for meeting critical benchmarks.
Compassionate
Compassion is the foundation of nursing. It’s why most nurses get into the field and why they stay despite its challenges.
Nurse leaders are called not only to be compassionate but to instill compassion in others by making it a core value in the workplace. Leading by example, they build a more caring and sensitive team.
Empathetic
Empathy is the ability to share someone else’s experience. Beyond sympathy, it’s the willingness to see what others see through their lens.
For nurses, empathy is the cornerstone of therapeutic relationships with patients, but nurse leaders take it a step further by also supporting colleagues during tough times. As a supervisor or just a friend, empathy helps emotionally vulnerable people navigate difficult times and keeps good teams together.
Tough
Being able to perform well under pressure is no small feat for any nurse. However, nurse leaders must balance many challenges for themselves, patients, and peers.
Developing mental toughness helps nurses respond positively to pressure, but like many of the other skills and qualities needed to lead others, it’s not innate, it’s learned through training and experience.
Final Thoughts
The landscape of healthcare is changing. Advancing technology and shifting demographics are creating an unprecedented demand for nurse leaders. If you’re ready to accept the challenge, the future is waiting.
Licensed Vocational Nurse
Classes for the Vocational Nursing program are conducted in a student-friendly atmosphere conveniently located in Austin, Texas. After graduating from the Licensed Vocational Nursing program, students can apply to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN), become a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), and start their exciting new career immediately.
Contact us today to learn more about our CyberTex Austin campus.