Topic: Organizational, Political, and Personal Power/Organizing Patient Care
Huston’s Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing, 11th edition.
Learning Exercise 13.3 (page 321)
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Organizational, Political, and Personal Power in Nursing Patient Care
Introduction
Nurses play a vital role in ensuring quality patient care through organizational leadership, political advocacy, and empowerment at the personal level. This paper examines the various forms of power and influence nurses wield in their profession, with a focus on how these powers can be leveraged to organize care delivery, shape healthcare policy, and empower individual nurses.
Organizational Power and Leadership
At the organizational level, nurses gain power through leadership roles and management functions that allow them to directly influence how patient care is structured and delivered. For example, nurse managers oversee unit operations and staffing levels, which impacts the quality of care patients receive (Huston, 2018). Chief nursing officers represent nursing interests to hospital administrators and boards, advocating for resources and policies that support nurses’ work.
Union leadership and participation also enhances nurses’ organizational power. Through collective bargaining, unions give nurses a voice in determining working conditions, workload standards, and compensation (American Nurses Association, 2022). Well-organized unions have been shown to improve nurse retention and patient outcomes by reducing burnout and boosting job satisfaction (McHugh et al., 2013).
Political Power and Advocacy
Politically, nurses gain influence through advocacy and lobbying efforts aimed at shaping healthcare policy and legislation. For instance, the American Nurses Association actively lobbies Congress on issues like nurse staffing ratios, scope of practice reforms, and healthcare reform bills (American Nurses Association, 2022). State-level nursing associations similarly engage in the political process to pass beneficial regulations.
Individual nurses also wield political power through voting, contacting elected representatives, and in some cases running for public office themselves. For example, in 2020 there were over 50 nurses serving in the US Congress (American Nurses Association, 2022). Collectively, nurses represent a sizable voting bloc with the power to influence candidates and policy agendas.
Personal Power and Empowerment
At the personal level, power derives from knowledge, skills, confidence, and autonomy in one’s practice. Formal education and certification enhance nurses’ expertise and command of their field. Empowerment occurs when organizational culture and management styles support clinical autonomy, shared governance, and respect for nurses’ professional judgment (Huston, 2018).
Feelings of personal power and control over one’s work promote nurse retention, as empowered nurses are less likely to experience burnout (Roberts-Turner et al., 2014). Mentorship and continuing education also sustain individual empowerment by keeping nurses up to date in their fields. Overall, empowered nurses are better able to deliver high-quality, compassionate care.
Conclusion
In summary, nurses gain power and influence through organizational leadership, political advocacy, and empowerment at the personal level. By leveraging these various forms of power, nurses can work to improve patient care, working conditions, and the broader healthcare system. Overall, greater power and autonomy for nurses supports both the nursing profession and quality care for all patients.
References
American Nurses Association. (2022). Nursing advocacy. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nurse-advocacy/
Huston, C. J. (2018). Leadership and management. In C. J. Huston (Ed.), Professional issues in nursing: Challenges and opportunities (4th ed., pp. 71–98). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
McHugh, M. D., Kelly, L. A., Smith, H. L., Wu, E. S., Vanak, J. M., & Aiken, L. H. (2013). Lower mortality in magnet hospitals. Medical care, 51(5), 382–388. https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0b013e3182726cc5
Roberts-Turner, R., Hinds, P. S., Nelson, J., Pryor, J., Robinson, N. C., & Wang, J. (2014). Effects of leadership characteristics on pediatric registered nurses’ job satisfaction. Pediatric nursing, 40(5), 236–241.
