Clinical Leadership in Nursing and Healthcare: Values into Action

Abstract

Clinical Leadership in Nursing and Healthcare: Values into Action suggests that clinically focused leadership or clinical leadership and administration-based or managerial leadership are not the same thing. The case for this view is set out in this first part of the book. To support this statement, the book outlines a number of principles, frameworks, tools and topics describing how nurses and other health professionals can develop, lead and deliver effective clinical care - as clinical leaders, not as managers or as administrative leaders in the academic, political or managerial sphere. It also outlines a new theory of leadership, congruent leadership, which has been developed from a number of research studies exploring the nature and characteristics of clinical leadership from a wide range of different health professional disciplines, in the UK and Australia. Congruent leadership theory suggests that leaders demonstrate a match (congruence) between the leader's values and beliefs and their actions. As such, clinically focused nurses and a range of other health professionals have moved decisively and clearly in the direction of their values and beliefs and can be seen expressing congruent leadership. They may simply have stood by their values, working not because they wanted to change the world, but because they knew that what they were doing was the right thing to do and that their actions were making a difference, if only in the life of one person. It is timely that clinical leadership is being re-evaluated and frameworks developed that support it (Stanton, Lerner & Mountford 2010; Swanwick & McKimm 2011; Martin & Learmonth 2012; Mannix, Wilkes & Daly 2013; Storey & Holti 2013; Scully 2014; McLellan 2015; Rose 2015; West et al. 2015; Bender 2016), because it is clear that in attempting to climb the career ladder, many health professionals have faced the dilemma of having to move further away from the core reason they first became health professionals, resulting in role confusion and blurring of values (Stanley 2006c). Many have had to move into management or administrative positions or academic roles and leave their clinical roles further behind with each promotion. However, if leadership happens at all levels (Cook 2001; Stanley 2006a, b, 2008, 2011; Swanwick & McKimm 2011; Higgins et al. 2014), identifying who the clinical leaders are and attempting to gain an understanding of what clinical leadership means becomes vital.