The Role of Leadership and Advisory Support in Building a Stronger Nursing Workforce

Nursing leadership roles do more than make schedules and form directives. They shape the culture within which modern healthcare professionals work. In this way, they play a very direct role in how an entire generation of nurses experiences the job.

It’s through leadership that retention rates are made or broken. It’s also through leadership that good nurses are set on the right trajectories. Leadership positions are an important element of modern healthcare.

In this article, we take a look at nursing leadership strategies and provide a comprehensive overview of what these roles look like and how you can pursue them.

Nursing Leadership Strategies Explained

Nursing leadership strategies vary based on organizational needs, institutional culture, and the specific preferences of the people you’re working with. They can include:

• Embracing open communication: Make nurses feel empowered to speak their minds. When people feel safe communicating, they’re more likely to bring concerns forward early. What begins as a minor issue can quickly turn into a churn-worthy problem if left unaddressed.
• Providing resources: Many nurses leave the profession because they feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities. This is especially true during staffing shortages, when nurses are expected to do more with less. Ensuring access to adequate resources helps nurses succeed and reduces burnout.
• Recognizing achievement: About 70% of nurses who report wanting to leave their job say that recognition from a superior could change their mind. Making people feel valued for their work is a powerful way to improve morale and retention.

All of these qualities boil down to one core principle: make nurses feel appreciated and empowered to do their work. When leaders succeed at this, nurses are far more likely to stay and grow within the profession.

How to Become a Nursing Leader

Leadership in nursing can take several different forms. At the most basic level, there's always the charge nurse route. Charge nurses still engage heavily in direct patient care, but they also handle managerial tasks including, but not limited to, making schedules, handling employee relationship dynamics, and generally helping with management at the hospital.

To become a charge nurse is usually just to excel in your role as an RN and stick around long enough to get a promotion. If you are interested in taking on a more administratively focused role, there are options available for that as well. Generally, this requires getting a graduate degree. These positions are harder to come by, but they come with a higher level of responsibility as well as a proportionately lucrative salary.

If you're particularly interested in shaping the way hospitals are run, you might also consider an administrative career. While hospital administration is several steps removed from the patient care side of things, it is a great way to impact a large number of lives with your work. Administrators may make choices that impact thousands of people throughout the course of their career.

It's a great way to maximize your impact. And as a bonus, many administrators work traditional 9–5 hours, making it a good option for people who want to step outside the hectic and often unpredictable schedule of RN life.

Providing Exterior Support

It's also possible to perform a leadership role from the outside of the healthcare profession. Nursing consultants look at systems and structures within a healthcare system and make informed recommendations targeted toward specific problems. They are generally registered nurses who leverage their expertise to produce higher levels of quality and efficiency.

They may work in a variety of settings, including administrative roles, shaping legislation, or even educating patients and families. It is also a role that is increasing in demand, with estimated growth of about 6% between 2021 and 2031.

The salary range can vary pretty dramatically, but it generally hovers in the $60,000 to $120,000 per year bracket. In that way, it is fairly consistent with salary expectations for nurses in other leadership-oriented roles.

How to Take on Leadership Roles

If you're interested in the positions described above, you'll find that eligibility is generally a matter of either performing well within your current role, as is often the case with charge nurse positions, or pursuing additional certifications for other leadership paths.

Some leadership roles are not defined strictly by their position within a hospital hierarchy, but rather by the scope of their responsibilities. Advanced practice nursing roles, for example, are not exactly promotions, but they do offer higher levels of responsibility and autonomy.

Most people think of nurse practitioners when they think of advanced practice nurses, but there are other roles and career paths available as well.

Because advanced practice positions require a graduate degree, it generally takes three to five years for working nurses to get the credential. It is difficult because you'll generally be holding down a nursing job as you try to get your MSN.

There are a few things to keep in mind. First, most MSN programs are designed to reflect the fact that the people entering them are most likely working nurses. The other thing to remember is that you can take as long or as short as you want. The key is to finish.

There are lots of different ways to work as a nursing leader. Explore your options and decide on the path that helps you make the impact that you find most appealing.