What an Emergency Room Nurse Thought Management Was

               Management is about trading in your scrubs, sneakers, and nursing station for a corner office on the 5^th floor. It’s about buying a new wardrobe filled with skirt and pant suits and walking down the hallway with a new pair of Christian Louboutins. Management gives me the opportunity to work Monday through Friday with holidays off, and a guarantee extended vacation. I am in charge of budgets, timelines, meetings, hiring new employees, and addressing issues on the unit to the best of my ability. Executives say they respect what I do and honor all my hard work. However, my ideas are often pushed to the side and ignored. Some of my staff look up to me as their leader, and some talk about how I don’t do anything right. Management does not allow me to be creative and implement new strategies or ideas. It does not allow me to fight for my staff and get them and the patients that they need. I am unable to push my employees to reach their full potential. When my employees make mistakes, I must discipline them according to policy without empathy or compassion to what is going on. I am a manager.

            Over the last 11 weeks, Leadership in Healthcare Administration has taught me about being a leader. Prior to taking this class I was a firm believer that managers managed and were not considered leaders. From previous employments, mangers did their rounds and I never felt supported or heard. However, with the start of my new job I started to see a difference in management and what I learned in this course supported those observations. To manage effectively one must be a leader. A manager needs to lead along with handling budgets, staffing, schedules and meetings. Throughout this class, I have learned the roles and skills of a true leader and the influence they have to inspire the team.

            Leadership effectiveness in healthcare is an important role.  It merges the work of clinical staff and administrators in the success of the organization. Leaders have a large effect on inspiring the team, managing, reaching goals and changing the atmosphere of the facility. They are able to do this by tapping into many of the topics discussed throughout this semester. Leaders must shift between roles daily for each encounter they face. These roles include being an innovator/broker which focuses on creativity and communication, a monitor/coordinator focusing on project management and supervising. Leaders need to be a director/producer in order to achieve goals and facilitate and mentor which supports their managerial role. Along with switching between roles, groundbreakers need to be skilled in motivating, vision-setting, analyzing, and task managing. It is important to utilize these roles and apply their skills while dealing with the constant tensions within the organization. Tensions are required to balance each other out. Polarity maps help visualize the need for these tensions. Freedom and hold responsible is a good example a tension that complements each other. As a leader, we must give others the chance to grow and perfect their skills. By doing someone else’s work we are not holding them responsible and not allowing them to flourish. What surprised me most in leadership was the need for creativity and empathy. As I stated before, management at my current employment has confirmed the benefits of empathy and creativity in effective leadership. Leaders working among the staff have the power to voice their needs and implement new strategies. Open minded managers can take imperfections in the system and innovate creative alternatives to those problems. With flaws in the system, leaders must empathize with staff, patients and family. Staff who feel disconnected and not cared about tend to be distant and their work is less effective. Patients and family who feel uncared for, unheard and not a priority will not come back to the facility. Empathy is needed in leaders to connect with staff and patients and make them feel like they are important. Empathy will keep staff happy and patients and family coming back to the organization.

            Mangers are not the only leaders in a team. Staff who apply leadership qualities and values are leaders themselves. Anyone can be a leader. Throughout this course I have learned that management is more than pant suits and red bottom heals. Leaders who manage effectively are still wearing their scrubs and sneaks, working among staff and listening to patient needs. They may have a corner office on the 5^th level, but their real office is on the clinical floor. Healthcare is in need of leadership, and with the understanding and implementation of what I have been taught in this class, I know I will be a pronounced leader in healthcare.

 References

Belasen, A.T., Eisenberg B., Huppertz, J. (2016) Mastering   Leadership A vital Resource for Health Care Organizations.   Burlington MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning 978-1-284-04323-5

Patel, N. (2014, May 19). 8 must-have ingredients of a successful blog post. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233891

Contributed by Brianna Colleran, MHA Student, Saint Joseph's College