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Adhering to values-based nursing leadership can help senior nurses and managers deliver compassionate care
Having had little time to recover and recuperate from the pandemic, nurse leaders now face an arguably greater challenge with a resurgence of COVID-19, a looming flu season and the usual NHS seasonal challenges.
Nursing Management. 27, 6, 12-12. doi: 10.7748/nm.27.6.12.s11
Published: 26 November 2020
Nursing has run the gamut of opinion over the past few months – from enthusiastic weekly applause for NHS staff to accusations of a lack of professionalism, kindness and compassion documented in the national press. Indeed, at times it feels paradoxical. Nurses have been expected to lead complex reconfigurations of services while also being expected to comply and carry on with the front line of COVID-19 care.
We know maintaining professional values is central to quality nursing practice and we believe a values-driven leadership approach is vital when facing these challenges.
Healthcare charity the King’s Fund has highlighted the view that the nursing profession now faces intensified pressure and requires compassionate adjustment to the inadequate working conditions, excessive work pressures and inequalities which had already blighted it. We also know from previous cases that care and compassion can easily be undermined by a lack of values-driven leadership and pressurised working conditions.
It is imperative now that as a profession we step up and champion the values on which our profession is based. It is also essential that we emphasise the need for values-based self-care.
All nurses are leaders, whether in delivering individual nursing care or when providing a vision for the profession. This is acknowledged by the Nursing and Midwifery Council and is a requirement of the standards by which we practice. However, the choice of leadership style we apply can result in quite different outcomes.
Values-based leaders act on behalf of their followers, linking values with their actions. There is a risk, at times of increased pressure, that stress and tiredness can lead to staff taking a more authoritarian approach to decision-making that may appear to others to be controlling. Focusing on values can be challenging in these circumstances when there are staffing shortages or lack of capacity for patients.
While nursing faces the challenges associated with COVID-19, the driving forces may seem overwhelming and values-based leadership may be less evident. However, we are resilient and proud of our professional standards, so we suggest there are ways of keeping our values central to leading care and services, especially in times of crises.
Leadership in times of crisis requires strength and energy, and nurses are already weary. As the winter crisis approaches it is essential that emotional intelligence is applied to its fullest extent so that nurses are mindful of their own needs while maintaining core nursing values.
The current crisis may feel perpetual and uncertain, with imposed and rapid changes presenting a tremendous leadership challenge to nurses professionally and personally. But values-based leadership can be beneficial for leaders, teams and individuals in the delivery of compassionate care for patients, colleagues and ourselves.
A longer version of this article is available at rcni.com/values-driven-leadership
