Chris Brooks
Genesis Medical Center
1111 Crosstown Road
Allentown, PA 18104
Dear NUSC 390 Nurses,
Your instructor has asked me to share with you some of my thoughts on Leadership,
Management, and the functions of Nurse Managers. I have been a nurse manager for 12
years so, I guess, I might have some unique perspectives; at least I hope so.
Leadership and management are not the same thing, and leaders and managers are not
always the same people. Leadership comes from interpersonal characteristics, such as
vision and charisma. Many people think that leadership cannot be taught, either you have
it or you don’t. Largely this is true, but like caring, it can be modeled and thus others can
mimic the traits and hone their own leadership characteristics.
Leadership styles can be identified based on the amount of decision-making control the
leader desires. Styles range from autocratic, full control over decision making, to Laissez
Faire, creating an environment where the staff experts make the decisions.
Management oversees the implementation of the vision and goals that the leaders set
forth. It uses a specific set of skills that can be learned. Often times managers are leaders
also, that’s why they got the job as manager, but not always. You might even know a
manager who is very good at organizing and implementing someone else’s idea, but does
not want the responsibility of having to come up with the idea. Likewise, do you know
any leaders who are not good managers? This is not that uncommon; leaders come up
with the ideas, but many of them don’t know much about what it would take to
implement that idea.
Your course primarily focuses on managers and what they do, but, before you can talk
about that, you need to understand that a lot about what a manager does is already
determined by the organization itself. To put some structure to the leadership styles and
management skills of their employees, companies follow Organizational Theories.
Some of these theories have been around for decades, Classical Theory for example, and
have evolved into other theories as we learn more about what motivates employees,
consumers, and quality production. In addition to organizational theories, hospitals and
long-term care facilities further structure their operations with nursing care delivery
models. There are several types of these, and deciding which one to use is associated
with the type of facility, its values and beliefs, the size of the staff, and acuity of patients.
We learn of the values and beliefs of these organizations through their philosophy,
vision, and mission statements. All of these are public statements that communicate the
values and beliefs of the organization and how they hope to achieve them.
Maybe you can see then, that before the nurse manager ever begins her job, the
organizational theory, nursing care delivery model, and mission statement have all
already been set up by the organization, and then the manager must practice within these
parameters. To do this, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd line nurse managers fulfill the functions of:
organizing, planning, directing, budgeting, and controlling. Nurse Managers utilize
various skills to do these functions but also must use various types of power. Some
power is personal, that is, the power comes from the personal characteristics of the
manager; other types of power are positional, meaning the power comes from the title
and position the manager holds.
When nurse managers are aware of leadership styles, power and authority, and function
within organizational theory, organizational structure, nursing care delivery model, and
mission statement to implement the goals of the organization, they are practicing the
nursing management function of organizing.
I wish you the best of luck as you proceed through your course work and hope that one
day you will consider taking on the duties and functions of a nurse manager.
Until then, sincerely,
Chris Brooks, BSN, MS, RN
MICU Nurse Manager
Genesis Medical Center
Allentown PA 18104