Formal Leadership In Nursing

Leadership in Nursing Leaders are often thought of corporate executives and administrators, political representatives, military generals, or those who are the head of an organization. Nurses are also considered leaders because they make a difference every day in the lives of their patients and patients’ families by using their knowledge to manage and meet the patient’s needs (Kelly, 2012, p. 2). Leaders are not always managers, but are individuals that inspire others and do the right thing. Nurse leaders take a certain type of person and the best way to understand that is to interview a leader about the style of leadership used, the characteristics of a leader, and how they empower their staff. The nurse leader interviewed was the Director of Emergency Services and she has been in the nursing field for over 27 years. She climbed her way to the top little by little and has held many formal and informal leadership positions throughout the years. The difference been informal and formal leadership is that an informal leader is an individual who demonstrates leadership as a member of a group and is accepted as an influence by others. A formal leader is considered a person in a position of authority (Kelly, 2012, p. 3). She began as an informal leader in the position of a registered nurse and the …show more content…
There are many different aspects of being a leader and in order to get to a position of authority, they must possess these qualities and be prepared to handle any situation. The director mentioned that her organization prepared her to be the leader she is today by providing her a mentor to give her advice, tuition reimbursement for two master’s degrees (MSN and MSHSA), and developmental and leadership courses to help her grow and