A chief nursing officer, or a CNO, is a practitioner that has a multitude of roles within the workplace. Apart from the guaranteed nursing duties, a CNO will also perform administrative roles, leadership duties, advisory functions, and links between physicians and the hospital’s nursing staff (Batcheller et al., 2017). A CNO is a branch of the nurse executive specialization and enforces the practice of conventions such as collaboration across their roles, cooperation with patients and providers, advocating for staff or patients that cannot do so for themselves, assuming collective accountability, connecting systems of care and wellness, and to deliver cost-effective care to the patients.
The preparation of nurses as leaders and the patient care quality outcome are interconnected. For instance, in preparing nurse leaders, it was observed that with advancement in clinical leadership skills, the nurses were able to identify issues, employ innovative change, and assess the outcome of the care provided (Miehl, 2018). The majority of the preparation comes from a work environment that promotes efficient nursing practice through collaboration, independent decision-making, teamwork, and space for administrative and clinical leadership efforts.
Nurse leaders are often distributed among five categories of leadership styles (University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, 2020). The first is the ‘servant leader, which develops the abilities of individuals in the workspaces. The second is the ‘transformational’ style which works to unite team members through a shared vision and plan. Third, a ‘democratic’ leader focuses on the improvement of the system as a whole while working to unite team members into an effective unit. Fourth, an ‘authoritarian’ leader strives to overlook the work environment from a self-sufficient command role while managing the personnel. Lastly, the ‘laissez-faire’ leadership style functions in response to events and is a reactive mode of management.
References
Batcheller, J., Zimmermann, D., Pappas, S., & Adams, J., M. (2017). Nursing’s leadership role in addressing the quadruple aim. Nurse Leader, 15(3), 203-206. Web.
Miehl, N. (2018). Clinical manager perceptions of new nurse preparation for clinical leadership [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Arizona State University.
University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. (2020). A breakdown of nursing leadership & management roles. Web.