Experiences of Military Nurse Manager: Implication to Clinical Leadership

DOI

10.2991/msmi-14.2014.5How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Clinical leadership, Experiences, Military nurse-managers, Phenomenology.

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the characteristics of an effective leader in a Military hospital institution from the perspectives of military nurse-managers. The researcher extracted the different facets of leadership from the stories of six nurse- managers from a military hospital. The stories which are in pre-reflective stage convey an unbiased perspective from which clinical leadership may be defined. Using Phenomenology as a method of Research, the lived experiences of the military nurse-managers served as empirical data which were reflected upon until the formulation of insights. The insights from the co-researchers became gallows from which the characteristics of effective leadership in the clinical area were drawn. Military nurse managers in their stories revealed that leadership qualities are acquired and are polished by hard work: these qualities stand-out; clinical leaders served as committed, disciplined and dedicated staff nurses before they were appointed to leadership position; they are goal-oriented; they want people who can be trained and are fast learners; they carry out different strategies to earn the support of the people they work with; they want to be recognized as good leaders; they seek approbation; they all believe that they are doing their best in their work. These insights were synthesized through another layer of reflection that resulted to the knowledge about clinical leadership (a) clinical leaders develop their skills through experiences and hardwork; (b) clinical leaders are devoted; (c) clinical leaders are focused; (d) clinical leaders are good in interpersonal relationship; (e) clinical leaders are mentors; (f) clinical leaders seek affirmation and recognition; and (g) clinical leaders are responsible and dependable. The common themes that emerged from the nurse manager’s stories showed that clinical leadership maybe attained if leaders possessed the following traits, (a) the gift to establish steadfast and firm management; (b) the proficiency to guide and encourage others towards the achievement of their goals and objectives; (c) the ability to instigate participative and collaborative work among his/her subordinates and (d) the aptitude and skill to address the institutional concerns in their unit. In conclusion, military nurse managers are effective clinical leaders who are faithful and loyal in their work and service; they are good nurses who are intellectually and skillfully competent, and disciplined; they have the strength to lead and guide; and they have the ability to commit themselves to accomplish their assigned works and tasks to the best of their ability. Future direction would be the establishment of an evidenced based practice for optimal clinical leadership that will promote effective and efficient nursing care environment.

Copyright

© 2014, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - Maria Monica D. Espinosa
PY  - 2014/06
DA  - 2014/06
TI  - Experiences of Military Nurse Manager: Implication to Clinical Leadership
BT  - Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Management Science and Management Innovation
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 26
EP  - 34
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/msmi-14.2014.5
DO  - 10.2991/msmi-14.2014.5
ID  - Espinosa2014/06
ER  -