![]() Recently graduated nurses do not usually fall into the same category and, while they may have a patient assignment, are expected to be closely monitored by the nurse manager and mentoring RN. Nurses may hold meds, administer PRN meds, and provide compassionate care and culturally sensitive interventions without ever obtaining explicit permission from the nurse manager. The expertise of the nurse allows him or her to make decisions about patient care without immediately consulting the nurse supervisor. A nurse arrives at work, is assigned certain patients, and starts accomplishing tasks associated with patient care. In nursing, this is part of our daily routine. This does not mean that team members may take any action they choose, but rather that they stay within certain guidelines and boundaries. Unlike what is described by Bernard Bass (2006), who claims laissez-faire is the absence of leadership, this style allows team members to work with minimal supervision and empowers them to make decisions. Laissez-faire leadership is a more distant form of leadership. Somewhere between micromanagement and relinquishing all control of employees is a fine medium where proper application of laissez-faire leadership is highly successful. ![]() In some ways, laissez-faire is the antithesis of micromanagement. Nurses do not need managers to look over their shoulders every minute. ![]() To empower team members to achieve is most certainly an excellent idea. Certainly, it is neither all good nor all bad. It is time that a more refined definition is used to describe laissez-faire leadership. However, I believe nursing is an occupation where laissez-faire leadership can be effective.Ī significant problem associated with this leadership style is the way business leaders define it. Other researchers suggest that laissez-faire leadership is empowering to employees and increases motivation. There are few scientific studies of this leadership style, but multiple studies suggest that laissez-fare leadership is effective with highly skilled and motivated personnel ( Khan et al., 2015 Sellgren, Ekvall, & Tomson, 2006 Zareen, 2014). I use it all the time, and so do most nurse managers. You would have to be crazy to utilize this “ugly” form of leadership. Research reveals a highly negative view of this leadership style when it is examined in business and the medical industry. This leadership style has been described as the antithesis of transformational leadership and also characterized as an absence of leadership. Research has demonstrated that laissez-faire leadership has a negative association with patient safety and employee satisfaction. ![]() There is certainly no more dangerous form of leadership than laissez-faire, a leadership style where the leader takes a “hands-off” approach toward managing personnel on the team. ![]()
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