Introduction
To acquire good leadership and management skills, it is cardinal for a nursing student to interact with experienced nurse leaders who have a good track record in the health care sector (Sullivan, 2013). Moreover, it is important for the student to report what has been learned from the leaders. In this study I will report what I have learned from the two leaders, Sallie Britz and Amy to two different individuals.
The First Peer
Leadership Theory
When I was interviewing my first leader, Sallie Britz, I came to learn a lot of things concerning her leadership style. The leader embraces the transformational leadership model that enables her to motivate and inspire other employees. As a nurse manager, Sallie also manifests the leadership style in her practices by focusing team goals rather than individual goals. This consequently enhances employee participation in organizational affairs (Sullivan, 2013). From Sallie’s leadership style, I have learned that the culture of team work is very important in an organization.
Forecasting
With regards to forecasting, Sallie ensures that forecasting initiatives are in tandem with the requirements of the organization and monitor the activities of other nurses. Forecasting also plays an important role in budgeting and allocation of resources to different units in an organization (Stark, Mould and Schweikert, 2008). However, forecasting has been very difficult to execute due to excess cost of labor and uncertainties in the industry.
Issues of Regulation and Accreditation
As a manager, the leader ensures that her department complies with the requirements of the Joint Commission. The issues of concern in this case include ensuring patient safety and monitoring the activities of the staff and organizational charts to guarantee conformity. The most important element with regards to compliance is communication and ensuring adherence to standards (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2013).
Leadership Theory
From the interview with second leader, Amy, I learnt that it is important for a leader to embrace a reading culture. As a transformational leader, Amy relies on information search to perfect her leadership style. A transformational leader also provides opportunities to the followers that are very challenging and sometimes exciting to develop their problem solving skills (Sullivan, 2013).
Forecasting
The leader strongly believes in the principles of forecasting in achieving efficiency and cost reduction. Forecasting also enables an entity to benchmark and set goals for both short term and long term durations. From the leader’s approach to forecasting, I learnt that budgeting plays an important role in managing the cost of labor in an organization. However, this approach may force an organization to send the employees on a compulsory leave that may not be welcomed by most employees (Stark, Mould and Schweikert, 2008).
Issues of Regulation and Accreditation
The leader has the sole responsibility of ensuring that every employee in the organization complies with the requirements of the Joint Commission. She also educates her employees on issues of evidence oriented practice in the health care sector. During the interview, the leader also disclosed the importance of attaining a magnet status for every hospital. The status enables a hospital to improve the quality of medical care given to the patients (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2013). Another thing that I learnt from the leader is the role of positive criticism in influencing change among employees and other members of the organization. The latter revealed that positive criticism greatly contributes in transforming the behavior and activities of the employees in an organization.
References
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2013). HCAHPS: Patients’ perspectives of care survey. Web.
Stark, D., Mould, D., & Schweikert, A. (2008). 5 steps to creating a forecast. Healthcare Financial Management, 100-105.
Sullivan, E. (2013). Effective leadership and management in nursing. New Jersey: Pearson.