Transactional Leadership In Primary Care

The United States health care system is facing an uncertain future characterized by a primary care workforce bottleneck, which poses a multitude of problems. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has expanded access to insurance coverage for the previously uninsured and with an aging population, the shortage of primary care providers in the United States is increasing profoundly (Schwartz, 2012). In addition, the number of medical students entering primary care is significantly declining (Schwartz, 2012). Advanced nurse practitioners have been identified as the leaders in addressing changes needed in our nation’s healthcare delivery system (Gaylord & Grace, 2014). Nurses have a distinguished history of being leadership pioneers, who advance the health …show more content…
It is characterized by an exchange system where the leader has more power than the followers. There are three aspects of transactional leadership including contingent reward, active management by exception, and passive management by exception (Judge & Piccolo, 2004). In contingent reward, the transactional leader often rewards the followers when goals are met either through tangible means like monetary rewards or intangible means like verbal recognition (Negussie & Demissie, 2013). Active management by exception involves the leader finding fault with the followers prior to serious dilemmas whereas, passive management by exception involves the leader becoming involved once the problem has taken place (Negussie & Demissie, …show more content…
This type of leadership style benefits organizations where there is a desire to preserve existing policies, standards, and procedures (Negussie & Demissie, 2013). It also may be applied in crisis situations since transactional leadership is concerned with present objectives and not the future (Odumeru & Ogbonna, 2013). The transactional theory also offers a clear structure of chain-of-command, rewards, and consequences.
Limitations of the theory include a lack of forward-thinking and motivation through the means of reward and punishment. The transactional theory does not inspire followers to achieve a shared vision. Rather, it focuses on bartering with followers to achieve a goal set by the leader (Odumeru & Ogbonna, 2013). Transactional leaders are rigid in nature and have set expectations for the followers. Lastly, this theory does not foster creativity and limits individual growth (Odumeru & Ogbonna,