CNO's Leadership Plan for Establishing a Covid-19 Unit in Mid-Sized TN Hospital - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Covid-19 pandemic has shaken the American healthcare system. As a chief nursing officer (CNO), setting a 30-bed wing for Covid-19 patients in a mid-sized hospital in Tennessee would demand leadership, accountability and communication techniques. The task of designing the unit would require the cooperation of the nurses and the leaders within the hospital.

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Leadership Style

Leadership is one of the tools that will be critical in establishing this unit. An authoritarian or autocratic leadership would be more suited for this situation. This leadership is effective more so in cases of emergencies where the leader, and in this case the CNO, makes all the critical decisions and demands compliance and cooperation from the employees (Sfantou, Laliotis, Patelarou, Sifaki-Pistolla, Matalliotakis, & Patelarou, 2017). The leaders, therefore, has control over the work, as well as the flow of communication. Authoritarian leadership results in predictability, and thus eliminates frustrations while fostering a sense of security. It is focused on efficiency and results and works best when maximum supervision is required.

Accountability of CNO

The chief nurse officer is in overall accountable for the care delivered by the other nurses. One of these accountabilities falls within nursing duties, where the CNO is responsible for maintaining patient-care and clinical standards. To do this, the CNO has to collaborate with the stakeholders and the hospital management to ensure the required infrastructure, and resources are available for the attainment of standard care. As a leader, the CNO hold administrative roles that include organizing, coordinating and directing health services. They need to be up-to-date with the demands and changes within the clinical settings and find ways to incorporate the ideas of the nursed to improve performance (Ingwell-Spolan, 2018). The CNO also maintains a healthy relationship with the physicians and nurses as a way of offering them support as they undertake their various roles of delivering care to patients.

Effective Communication

Communication forms a critical part of the leadership process and more so when coming up with an emergency intervention. As a leader, one often requires to utilize written, face to face and even verbal communication as they involve other stakeholders within the teams. One technique would be to be active listeners and thus consider the opinions of others. Communicating in teams requires empowering them to ensure they maintain their autonomy and air their concerns and contribution, as well as giving them positive feedback and reinforcement. When communication with other leaders require the concise stating of goals and objectives and the use of formal correspondence such as e-mails.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as a CNO mandated with establishing a wing for Covid-19 patients, the most critical tools would be communication, stable authoritarian leadership and accountability in ensuring the best standards of care and patient outcomes.

References

Ingwell-Spolan C. (2018). Chief Nursing Officers' Views on Meeting the Needs of the Professional Nurse: How This Can Affect Patient Outcomes. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 6(2), 56. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare6020056

Sfantou, D. F., Laliotis, A., Patelarou, A. E., Sifaki-Pistolla, D., Matalliotakis, M., & Patelarou, E. (2017). Importance of Leadership Style towards Quality of Care Measures in Healthcare Settings: A Systematic Review. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 5(4), 73. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare5040073