Transformational Leadership and Healthcare Policy Paper

Transformational Leadership and Healthcare Policy Paper

Transformational Leadership and Healthcare Policy

Nurses, especially nurse leaders, play a critical role in policy formulation and implementation. Using certain leadership models like transformational style, nurse leaders can influence policy changes in their practice environment at different levels. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of health policy on NP practice and the influence of transformational leadership on policy change.

Impact of Health Policy on NP Practice

Nurse practitioners rely on policies enacted at different levels of government to provide quality, cost-effective, and accessible care to different patient populations, individuals, and communities. Healthcare policy entails actions, plans, and decisions undertaken to attain specific health care goals. Health policies shape the entire healthcare landscape for providers and patients. Firstly, policies impact nurse practitioners as they dictate the scope of their practice, authority, and requirements that one must possess based on skills and knowledge to practice (Chism, 2021). Scope of practice authority is a fundamental policy requirement that impacts the level of service and specialties that NPs can join in providing care.

Secondly, health policy impact NPs by ensuring that they meet set legal and ethical practice requirements. The implication is that NPs policies like those expanding access to care and reducing costs for patients mean that NPs will have increased roles like being primary care providers in rural settings. NPs use their advanced skills and knowledge to engage policymakers like those in the political arena to develop policies that increase accessibility to care for minority populations (ANA, 2022). Therefore, health care policy has substantial influence on nurse practitioners, especially their scope of practice.

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Advocacy as an essential component of Nurse’s Role

Nurses advocate for their patients and colleagues with the aim of improving care quality, expanding access, and reducing overall cost of care. Nurses understand the healthcare environment and possess skills and knowledge through advanced education and research to help stakeholders formulate effective policies. Therefore, advocacy is essential because advanced practice nurse’s role is to help shape the health care delivery process for patient’s benefits (Salvage & White, 2019). Therefore, advocacy allows APNs to interact with policymakers like legislators to design policies that reflect the wishes and demands of patient populations, families and individuals. Advocacy is critical because of the need to allow nurses to practice to full extent of their training and education. Increased advocacy for states to review their practice authority and recognize nurses as primary care providers is important and underscores the critical role that nurses play, especially advanced practice nurse.

Transformational Leadership in Nursing

Transformational leaders inspire and motivate followers to attain their goals and do better than them. Transformational leadership entails four pillars, facets or components. These include idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized considerations (four Is). For instance, inspirational motivation implies that leaders must impart a visions to followers that is not only appealing but has value. Transformational leaders are effective communicators who describe and show their vision for followers (Campbell, 2018). Idealized influence arises when a leader positively models good aspects that impact followers or employees to have the enthusiasm concerning an organization’s present strategy. Transformation leadership has substantial influence on policy change. Transformational leaders seek change and new way of doing things, especially through innovation and not keeping the status quo. Therefore, transformational leaders are keen on getting the best in any situation and empowering followers to attain even more than them leading to policy changes for better patient care delivery process.

Conclusion

Nurse practitioners are a core component of the healthcare system and can help shape healthcare policy at different levels. Nurses play a critical role in advocacy for both their patients and profession to ensure effective policies focused on improved care for patients. The implication is that through transformational leadership, nurse practitioners can influence policy change to enhance access to quality and affordable care, particularly for minority populations.

References

American Nurses Association (ANA) (2022). Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN).

https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/workforce/what-is-nursing/aprn/

Campbell, J. W. (2018). Efficiency, incentives, and transformational leadership: Understanding

collaboration preferences in the public sector. Public Performance & Management Review, 41(2), 277-299. https://doi.org/10.1080/15309576.2017.1403332

Chism, L. A. (2021). The doctor of nursing practice: A guidebook for role development and

            professional issues. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Salvage, J., & White, J. (2019). Nursing leadership and health policy: everybody’s business.

International nursing review, 66(2), 147-150. https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12523

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Students will analyze how health policy may affect NP practice and how Transformational Leadership can help to influence policy changes.
Criteria for Content

Explanation of how healthcare policy can impact the advanced practice nurse profession
Explanation of why advocacy is considered an essential component of the advance practice nurse’s role
Discuss the four pillars of Transformational leadership and the effect it may have on influencing policy change
* APA 7th edition
*Sources must be from 2016 to current