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Brenda Barrett has worked in various nursing positions including an emergency room nurse, a medical surgery nurse and a psychiatric nurse at the University of Virginia for over thirty-one years. She has many educational accolades including a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Science in Nursing, and an American Nurses Credentialing Center Psychiatric–Mental Health Nursing board certification. In addition to her impressive educational background, she was chosen to be interviewed for this assignment as she has been a nurse manager on the University of Virginia’s inpatient psychiatric unit for twenty-six years. Additionally, as a student nurse on the psychiatric unit, I have personally seen her diffuse difficult situations in which her nurse leadership skills were apparent.
Leadership Traits and Style
An effective nurse leader must be emotionally intelligent, flexible, and be an effective communicator (Sullivan, 2018; Tyczkowski, et al., 2015). Brenda exemplifies all of these traits when interacting with her staff and patients. She makes herself available to all staff members with an open-door policy, which allows honest conversation without judgement. Additionally, if staff members are having issues that they would like addressed but wish to remain anonymous, Brenda has placed a box outside of her office door where staff can place suggestions without being identified.
By using emotional intelligence, Brenda is able to differentiate and monitor her staff member’s emotions and use that analysis to guide necessary action. Likewise, upon discharge from the unit, patients are encouraged to share their experiences, whether positive or negative, in an effort to improve staff-patient relationships and overall patient satisfaction. Brenda must use her emotional intelligence in conjunction with flexibility in order to make appropriate changes to how patient care is delivered.
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Leadership Style
Brenda’s leadership style most closely resembles that of a transformational leadership style (Smith, 2015). A transformational leader utilizes emotional intelligence, distributes information effectively, encourages and fosters staff engagement, and is inclusive (Smith, 2015; Tyczkowski, et al., 2015). Brenda actively listens and deciphers staff and patient concerns and applies the necessary changes to improve conditions. Any policy changes or recently published information regarding patient care is distributed via email, a printed copy is posted in the breakroom, and is discussed during huddle. Staff members are encouraged to lead group activities and Brenda provides the necessary training to interested staff. Lastly, Brenda treats all of the staff members and patients equally and does not discriminate.
Organizational Structure
The University of Virginia Hospital classifies as both an acute care hospital and a teaching hospital. The psychiatric unit as UVA consists of twenty beds with the care team consisting of two physicians, four residents, one nurse, and two certified nursing assistants. The University of Virginia hospital is organized using the service-line structure as the clinical services provides are organized based on specific patient conditions (Sullivan, 2018). Brenda is responsible for managing the psychiatric unit as well as coordinating all patient care that falls within other specialties within the hospital. Ideally, because the hospital is organized using the service-line structure, Brenda is able to ensure high patient satisfaction in a rapidly changing environment.
Current Challenges in Healthcare
A common challenge faced by Brenda on the psychiatric unit is ensuring that all staff are caring for patients using the most recent evidence-based practices. Unfortunately, Brenda identified some staff members that provide nursing care based solely upon anecdotal evidence and what she described as non-experimental design research (Sullivan, 2018). To combat this issue, she provides recent studies related to psychiatric care issues via email, posts them in the breakroom and meeting room, and discusses them during huddle. After reading the evidence-based practice studies herself, she identifies potential barriers to implementing best practice and works to implement the scientifically supported practices that ultimately benefit the patients.
For example, Brenda recently implemented mandatory therapeutic nurse-patient relationship training to ensure that staff interactions with patients were therapeutic. Additionally, she has instituted a schedule that would require all staff undergo refresher training once every two years. To ensure that staff benefit from the training, Brenda set aside time during shifts and created a test that required 80% competency to pass. Brenda works daily to identify potential barriers that inhibit the practice of using the most current research.
References
- Smith, C. (2015). Exemplary leadership: How style and culture predict organizational outcomes. Nursing Management, 47-51.
- Sullivan, E. (2018). Effective Leadership and Management in Nursing. New York: Pearson.
- Tyczkowski, B., Vandenhouten, C., Reilly, J., Bansal, G., Kubsch, S., & Jakkola, R. (2015). Emotional intelligence (EI) and nursing leadership styles among nurse managers. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 172-180.
