Good management and clinical leadership: Supporting quality patient care

Leadership and management are critical in the support of an effective workforce and quality patient outcomes (Finkelman. Leadership and management in nursing. Pearson, Prentice Hall, 2006). Leadership is demonstrated through systematic planning, collaboration with the team, transparent communication, and clear and measurable performance indicators (Finkelman. Leadership and management in nursing. Pearson, Prentice Hall, 2006). The terms "nursing leadership" and "nursing management" or even "clinical leadership" are often used interchangeably or misunderstood. A sound understanding of each of these terms is essential in good resource and health-care management, the importance for which becomes evident when applying responsibilities to safety and quality procedures or defining nursing roles in workforce planning. These are important concepts to understand and clarify when addressing omissions in care, auditing of practice or complaints related to the rationing of nursing care. Rationing of nursing care refers to the necessary nursing-related activities that nurses omitted or did not perform due to limited time, staffing level, or lack of skills. In this section, we will highlight the importance of nurse manager in managing situations that result in missed nursing care, and we will explain the process of building a good practice guide for nurse managers, regarding the promotion of patient safety through minimizing missed nursing care.