Nursing Leaders Step Forward...
This is my very first editorial and is going to be published in June by the Journal of Community Nursing. I have just signed off the final proof.
Title: Nursing leaders step forward…
A journal editorial interprets events. It encourages the reader to look beyond their current position and to adopt new and innovative ideas. It is generally a viewpoint, the aim of which is to demonstrate a particular about a particular issue and encourage others to come along with you for the ride. I have believed for years and been quite vocal about it at times, that nursing leaders should stop using leadership models that do not relate to nursing. We need our own leadership models. I am hoping someone contacts me and we develop a model for the future. I’m not holding my breath though.
This is the manuscript. I will send the link out when it is published.
International Nurse’s Day, May 12th, is the day when the life of Florence Nightingale, considered by some to be the founder of modern-day nursing, is recognised and celebrated. It is also the day when the world unites in their support and respect of nurses, while acknowledging and celebrating the unique contribution that nurses make, not only in supporting the health of all nations, but in helping to maintain and improve global economic growth. After all, when populations are healthy, they are better able to contribute to society, undertake active work, and care for their families.
It is trusted therefore that the theme of this year’s International Nurse’s Day, ‘Our Nurses. Our Future. The economic power of care’, will encourage global leaders to recognise how strategic investment in nursing can bring considerable economic and societal benefits on a global scale. This should prompt the shift in perspective needed to ensure that the nursing profession is recognised for the contribution it makes. However, none of this can be fully achieved without a dedicated team of nursing leaders, determined to advance the future of nursing and lead the profession through the third decade of the millennium and beyond.
As I have progressed throughout my career, I have embraced the importance of having strong nursing leaders at the helm. Equally through my writing, I have sought to profile the unique contribution that nurse leaders make in promoting the value of nurses and the positive impact they have on a global platform.
In 2019, the Queen’s Nursing Institute published my blog entitled ‘International Women’s Day: not just one day but every day’, which promoted the fundamental characteristics of an effective nurse leader. In 2021, a further blog entitled: ‘Forging Ahead: International Women’s Day 2021’, published by Evidence- Based Nursing, argued that current nurse leaders could play an active part in supporting the ambitions of future nurse leaders by becoming inspiring and accountable role models in all establishments where the skills of nurses are needed; including care homes, community teams and charitable organisations.
While there exists a plethora of leadership models through which nurses can develop their leadership skills, including Servant Leadership (Greenleaf, 1970), Situational Leadership Theory (Hersey and Blanchard, 1969), Transformational Leadership (Downton, 1973) and Authentic Leadership (George, 2003), many of which have served nursing leaders well, there is no specific model that focuses on nursing leadership. To strengthen our leadership position, it is important that nurses through collaborative action develop a leadership model that not only fits with nursing, but is taught throughout the nursing curriculum and used within nursing practice; at the forefront of which should be praxis, a process which ‘requires action along with a reflective awareness of what we experience when we care for others’ (Chinn et al, 2021).
Praxis encourages nurses to think differently. Rather than passively accept the rhetoric, it encourages us to challenge how things are and consider how they could be. It encourages me to think what can I do to make a difference and collaboratively what can we do?
References
Best C (2021) Forging Ahead International Women’s Day 2021.
Best C (2019 ) International women’s day; not just one day but every day.
Chinn PL, Kramer MK, Sitzman K (2021) Knowledge Development in Nursing. Theory and Process in Nursing. 11th edn. Elsevier, St Louis, Missouri
Downton JV (1973) Rebel leadership: commitment and charisma in the revolutionary process. Free Press, New York
George B (2003) Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets of Creating Lasting Value. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco CA
Greenleaf RK (1970) The Servant as Leader. Greenleaf Publishing Center
Hersey P, Blanchard KH (1969) Life Cycle Theory of Leadership. Training Development J 23(5): 26–34
