As a nurse, I had a hurdle when the senior nurse gave me new instructions for using the changed electronic medical recording system. As a result, these instructions contradicted what was provided in the operating and using manual for this system in taking and preserving medical records. Leadership was considered at this time in order to resolve the crisis. I approached the senior nurse and explained the issue with her directions. I also showed her proof of the correct operation handbook for the device. This included a discussion of the consequences of her decision to require nurses to follow updated operating instructions for the equipment. Democratic leadership style was embraced as a tool for solving the crisis (IOM Report, 2011). As such, focus was on decision-making sharing where the senior nurse was encouraged to look at the interest of the group members. The senior nurse was focused on getting the results from the new electronic medical recording system, but not on the interest of other nurses. Thus, the senior nurse was approached to ensure that other nurses had the freedom of following the given instructions on the operation and usage of the equipment (Yoder Wise, 2015). This was in accordance to the desire of ensuring that all the people had social equity and could aim at achieving the desired success. It is from this that the senior nurse made a decision to allow all the nurses to be involved in making decisions, which are related to the operation and usage of the new electronic medical recording equipment.
The leadership theory that supports the action is the behavioral theory. As such, behavioral theory aims at the behavior of the leaders. It is the behavior of these leaders, which determines their ability to ensure that optimum performance is obtained from the team. Being a democratic leader, the team of other nurses was granted the opportunity of offering their suggestions prior to making decisions (Woods, 2010). However, these suggestions varied from one nurse to another.
The other nurses had a positive response. They depicted that they were ready to adhere to the new instructions on operation and usage of the equipment since these instructions focused on their ability to deliver quality services. The nurses were also motivated and focused on ensuring that they achieve success in service delivery. I was not surprised by the actions of the people around me or my actions. This is because I believe that democratic leadership style is the best to steer the organization towards achieving its anticipated success. Such a leadership also ensures that followers are motivated and remain focused on execution of the organization goals and objectives.
I could not have responded to this situation in a different manner. This is because this was the only way to make the senior nurse understand why she was wrong in giving new instructions. The new instructions that she was offering differed with the operation instructions for the new equipment. Therefore, these instructions would have contributed towards the destruction and reduction of the self-life of the medical equipment. As such, the response was the best to have for the given situation to ensure the longevity of the equipment, as well as avoiding undue medical errors because of the wrong operation of the equipment.
References
IOM Report. (2011). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.
Woods, A.P. (2010). "Democratic leadership: drawing distinctions with distributed
leadership". International Journal of Leadership in Education. 7 (1): 3-36.
Yoder Wise, P.S. (2015). Leading and managing in nursing (6th ed.). Texas: Elsevier.
ISBN: ISBNundefined13: 978undefined0323185776
