The healthcare leader I interviewed was a healthcare administrator and CEO at a local hospital. My interviewee’s experience in nursing and management spans two decades. This speaks volumes for a person who has successfully managed the hospital without any major problem or incidence being noted or recorded. This healthcare leader’s academic record is impressive. He has a diploma in pharmacy, a bachelor’s degree in Nursing, masters in healthcare administration, and a Ph.D. in the same (healthcare administration). The interviewee is in charge of a general health facility. The facility takes care of close to 300 patients a day which underpins the busy nature and the size of the facility. This healthcare leader is also responsible for 200 members of staff that assists in delivering services to the sick and injured that visit the facility on a daily basis. The following is part of the interview that I engaged in with the healthcare leader.
Student: Could you elaborate more on your background and the role you play in the facility on a daily basis?
Leader: Well I have been working in this facility as an administrator and CEO for over two decades. Before I took that higher position, I worked as head of human resource and later assistant administrator in this same hospital. Probably, due to my increased experience and advancement in my career I hold such a seat. Healthcare is like any other business thus it needs qualified professionals to manage the processes needed for optimal functioning of a health facility. My role as a healthcare administrator is: to ensure that my facility complies with the existing healthcare rules and regulations, make staffing decisions and manage personnel, keeping patient records and ensuring they are safe, assigning duties and forming schedule patterns for staff, training and mentoring new members of staff, and ordering new equipments and other medical supplies. These are just among many of the duties that my job title requires me to perform in this facility.
Student: What would your definition of a leader be?
Leader: In the context of such a busy facility as this, a leader would be one who is naturally gifted with the ability to co-ordinate all the various systems working in this facility into one system geared towards ensuring the facility is a success. A leader is one determined to ensure the goals of a facility are met. A leader solves problems with ease finding long lasting solutions in the process.
Student: What are some of the vital qualities and characteristics that make leaders?
Leader: For a leader to steer a facility past challenges and effectively achieve the facility’s goals, a leader need to posses some vital characteristics. Such characteristics make leaders stand out from the rest of the pack. Leaders have certain practices and trends that make them successful. A leader is at first devoted to success. A leader aims at achieving success despite the challenges that the facility may face. In the process, he also inspires and motivates his employees. Secondly, a leader inspires confidence. A leader never bows to challenges and setback. Instead, he uses the challenges for his benefit. Thirdly, a leader is a good communicator. A leader listens to opinions from his employees and also communicates vital information to the staff. In addition, a leader is open-minded. A leader never follows formal conventions, but adopts practices that he feels will best suit the facility.
Student: What is your personal philosophy of leadership?
Leader: My personal philosophy of leadership is democratic or participative leadership philosophy. I believe in being democratic, allowing my employees to exercise their rights. In this regard, I as a leader offer guidance to my staff members at the same time being part of this larger group. This leadership philosophy allows my staff members to develop a consultative attitude. My staff members are encouraged to participate and engage in the decision making process. With this leadership philosophy, I have maintained to develop a good working relationship with my members of staff.
Student: What experiences in your personal life do you consider having had a major influence in your development as a leader?
Leader: I consider my early childhood to be a major motivating factor that made me be the leader that I am today. Me and my siblings were left destitute and orphans while young after our parent’s tragic death. The sudden responsibility heaped upon me to fend for my younger siblings bore in me a spirit to lead. Since then, I consider that traumatizing experience to be a life-changer.
Student: How do you perceive leadership evolving in nursing presently?
Leader: Nursing has become a significant career in the industry today. With the number of hospitals on the increase, the demand for nurses has been at an all time high. This significance has put pressure on the healthcare leaders. Leaders are to supervise successfully the staffing exercise of the new nurse recruits and also ensure that the facility runs smoothly without any hitch. Therefore, I would say that today, healthcare leadership is more important than any other position.
Student: What significant challenges do you encounter in your position?
Leader: The number one challenge I would say is about staffing. While there are few staff members to work with, managing the small number is also becoming impossible. Patients frequenting the hospital are more than in the previous years. Having to sort out all the patients’ problems with such a small team is straining to the staff members thus complaints from the staff are now on the regular.
Student: As a leader in your career, have you ever had a mentor? If so, how was the mentor helpful in influencing your leadership style?
Leader: Mentors help leaders grow through influencing their leadership skills. I had a mentor while I was doing my undergraduate course. My mentor was very significant in instilling in me the leadership philosophy that I hold to date. My mentor was vital in recruiting me into the healthcare leadership business. Mostly I learned through example, copied the way he handled the facility he headed at the time, and this made me become the leader I am today.
Student: What advice would you give an individual who is aspiring to be a leader?
Leader: One should first know that being a leader is not as easy as one thinks. Therefore, one should have the willingness and the courage to take up a leadership position. One willing to be a leader should ensure that he has a mentor from whom he can learn what it means to be a leader and also the qualities that he should muster
My interviewee’s take on the subject of leadership was an eye-opener and really inspiring. Hospital leaders in the current situation are overwhelmed with responsibilities. Keeping facilities afloat and employees motivated while at the same time tackling uncertain mandates as stipulated by healthcare reforms in addition to coping with increased competition for physicians, nurses, and patients can be overwhelming for hospital leaders (beckerhospitalreview.com). Just as my interviewee said, this requires hospital leaders to posses certain traits that make hospital and health system leaders efficient in carrying out their duties. Such traits include good communicator, flexible, open-minded, organized, consistent, delegator, and initiative (leadership.uoregon.edu). Such traits make for leaders that are efficient in handling the pressure that comes with being a healthcare leader. A leader knows how to take action. They are good at decision making relying on their intellect and experience to make judgments and solve problems.
Other than having beneficial traits as listed, a leader should also posses certain practices. These practices make leaders effective at what they do. A leader leads by example. Since a leader is the face of the organization, his actions, conducts and personality should set the tone for the entire facility to emulate. A leader should be accountable and demand accountability not just from their employees, but also from themselves. By leaders being accountable, they serve as a role model for others. A leader challenges conventional thinking. Leaders do not follow what others rather they encourage people to embrace new ideas (besmith.com).
A healthcare leader has a number of responsibilities. A leader is responsible for all the staff working in the facility. He is to ensure the employees perform the functions they are supposed to within the facility. He is also to ensure the people within the community the facility is located are satisfied about their medical situation. A leader ensures that the facility complies with healthcare regulations; he approves budgets and allocates resources; maintains patient records; overlooks admissions and daily operations within the facility; and, also handles external and internal communication in the facility (slideshare.net). In light of all the above functions, a leader needs to run by a philosophy that ensures he performs every responsibility and in the long run, ensures the goal of the facility is met. While there are many leadership philosophies are available for a leader, the most successful of all is the democratic or participative leadership. Such a leader offers guidance to the facility and is democratic and participative. He focuses on interactive relationships. This leadership philosophy creates motivated and creative employees (udemy.com).
In conclusion, my interview with a healthcare leader opened me up to the roles of a healthcare leader and the traits and practices required for one to be an efficient leader. From my leader, I learnt to appreciate a leader based on his delicate function as a head of a facility.
References
Fields, R. (2011). Becker’s Hospital Review. 10 Traits of Tope Healthcare Leaders. Retrieved from https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/10-traits-of-top-healthcare-leaders.html
Holden Leadership Center. Leadership Characteristics. Retrieved fromhttps://leadership.uoregon.edu/resources/exercises_tips/skills/leadership_characteristics
Madden, M. B.E Smith. Top 8 Practices of Effective Healthcare Leaders. Retrieved fromhttps://www.besmith.com/thought-leadership/career-management/top-8-practices-effective-healthcare-leaders
Pendergrass, K. (2013). Udemy. Leadership Philosophies to Help You Succeed in any Situation. Retrieved from https://www.udemy.com/blog/leadership-philosophy/
Slideshare. What does a Healthcare Administrator do? Retrieved fromhttps://www.slideshare.net/MichaelB4/what-does-a-healthcare-administrator-do
