Assignment: NUR 2058 Leader Self-Assessment
Assignment: NUR 2058 Leader Self-Assessment
The realization of safety and quality outcomes in care are the aims of health organizations in the modern world. Healthcare providers should strive to ensure that culture of patient safety is created in their organizations. Organizational factors however influence the realization of the desired safety and quality goals of care in nursing. For example, vices such as bullying affect the health and wellbeing of the healthcare providers, which hinder the provision of care that meets the safety and quality needs of the patients. Therefore, this paper examines the differing approaches that nursing leaders and managers use in addressing the issue of bullying in nursing practice.
Description of the Selected Issue
The selected issue for analysis is bullying. Bullying is an expression of workplace violence that can exist in forms such as verbal, emotional and physical abuses. Bullying occurs persistently with the aim of damaging one’s professional and personal relationships through actions such as harassment and social exclusion. Bullying in nursing and healthcare has adverse consequences on patient care and safety in settings where it occurs (Hartin et al., 2018). Accordingly, bullying has psychophysical consequences to the victims that may affect their ability to provide high quality care to their patients. Nurses who are victims of bullying experience mental health problems such as alteration in their mood and attention, which affect the safety and quality of patient care. The risk of post-traumatic stress disorder is also elevated in nurses who are victims of bullying. Evidence also shows that bullying is a predictor of burnout among nurses. As a result, there is a decline in productivity, which predisposes nurses to committing errors in care provision, hence, raising safety and quality concerns (Bambi et al., 2019). Additional evidence also shows that bullying contributes to decrease in the job satisfaction among victims of bullying. The rate of staff turnover also increases with bullying (Johnson & Benham‐Hutchins, 2020). Cumulatively, the above effects of bullying affect the quality and safety care that patients receive in healthcare.
Professional Standards of Practice
Professional standards of practice should be applied in addressing the issue of bullying in nursing. Accordingly, professional standards obtained from institutions such as the American Nurses Association (ANA) should be applied in addressing bullying. Nurses should abide with the professional standards set by ANA such as not tolerating violence of any form in their workplace and collaborating with other healthcare providers and their employers to create culture of respect in their organizations. Nurses and other healthcare providers should work together in identifying effective interventions that minimize and prevent factors contributing to bullying in the workplace. The best practices that prevent incivility and bullying should also be incorporated into the existing organizational practices for culture of safety in health. Nurses should also advocate the adoption of evidence-based interventions that are effective in mitigating and preventing incivility, workplace violence and bullying. The approach to addressing the issue of workplace bullying in nursing should also be objective in nature. In this case, professionalism should be demonstrated using facts to examine and develop effective solutions to address the issue.
Roles of Nurse Leaders and Managers
Nurse leaders and managers have differing roles to play in addressing the issue of workplace bullying. Nurse leaders have a role to play in preventing the occurrence of workplace bullying. Nurse leaders identify the potential risk factors for bullying within the organization and implement interventions to address it (Hampton et al., 2019). Nurse leaders also have the responsibility of being aware of the existence of possible triggers for bullying and embracing anticipatory interventions to prevent it. Nurse leaders also demonstrate empathy in seeking facts related to bullying from the victims and perpetrators. Empathy promotes the acquisition of accurate information that can aid the development of effective solutions to bullying incidents. Nurse leaders also act as role models of effective behaviors that minimize bullying in nursing practices (Edmonson et al., 2017).
Nurse Managers also have a role to play in addressing the issue of workplace bullying. The managers set workplace policies and standards that regulate employee behavior. The nurse managers also implement preventive interventions against workplace bullying. They use the information obtained from workplace assessment and observation of staff performance to develop responsive interventions to prevent bullying. Nurse Managers also play a role of creating awareness among the nurses on bullying, workplace violence and incivility. For example, they provide training opportunities to their staffs to raise their level of awareness about the causes, effects, and prevention of bullying in the workplace (Vessey & Williams, 2021). Therefore, both nurse managers and leaders have critical roles in addressing bullying in nursing.
Effective Leadership Style
An effective leadership style that can be applied in addressing the issue of workplace bullying is democratic leadership style. Democratic leadership is a type of leadership style where the leader prioritizes active participation of the team members. Nurse leaders utilizing this approach seek input from those they lead prior to making decisions. The implementation of interventions is done collectively to achieve optimum outcomes in undertaking the assigned tasks. There is also the utilization of open channels of communication where the team members can express their views and concerns. The use of this leadership style is appropriate in addressing bullying because it enables active participation of the healthcare providers in examining the causes and effects of bullying (Hassmiller & Pulcini, 2020). The leadership approach also promotes empowerment of the participants, hence, its applicability to the issue.
Conclusion
Overall, bullying in nursing has a negative effect on safety and quality of patient care. Bullying predisposes victims to health problems such as changes in mood and attention, which increases the risk of errors in nursing care. Professional standards of practice should be applied in addressing the issue of workplace bullying. In addition, nurse leaders and managers should play a proactive role in addressing and preventing bullying in nursing. Nurse leaders and managers can achieve the goal of bullying prevention through the adoption of effective leadership styles such as democratic leadership, which strengthen provider empowerment and creation of culture of safety in an organization.
References
Bambi, S., Guazzini, A., Piredda, M., Lucchini, A., Marinis, M. G. D., & Rasero, L. (2019). Negative interactions among nurses: An explorative study on lateral violence and bullying in nursing work settings. Journal of Nursing Management, 27(4), 749–757. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12738
Edmonson, C., Bolick, B., & Lee, J. (2017). A Moral Imperative for Nurse Leaders: Addressing Incivility and Bullying in Health Care. Nurse Leader, 15(1), 40–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2016.07.012
Hampton, D., Tharp‐Barrie, K., & Rayens, M. K. (2019). Experience of nursing leaders with workplace bullying and how to best cope. Journal of Nursing Management, 27(3), 517–526. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12706
Hartin, P., Birks, M., & Lindsay, D. (2018). Bullying and the nursing profession in Australia: An integrative review of the literature. Collegian, 25(6), 613–619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2018.06.004
Hassmiller, S. B., & Pulcini, J. (2020). Advanced Practice Nursing Leadership: A Global Perspective. Springer Nature.
Johnson, A. H., & Benham‐Hutchins, M. (2020). The Influence of Bullying on Nursing Practice Errors: A Systematic Review. AORN Journal, 111(2), 199–210. https://doi.org/10.1002/aorn.12923
Vessey, J. A., & Williams, L. (2021). Addressing Bullying and Lateral Violence in the Workplace: A Quality Improvement Initiative. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 36(1), 20–24. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000480
