MANAGEMENT, NURSING, LEADERSHIP

Healthcare in the United States is constantly changing and becoming increasing more complex. An essential portion of the recent Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, focuses on the significance of nurses as leaders in healthcare (2010). The terms “leader” and “manager” are sometimes used interchangeably. Those of us who have worked for, or with, someone who is one and not the other will see the error in viewing those terms as synonymous. An individual can be a great leader but not a manager. Conversely, a typical nurse can be a manager but not possess many nursing leadership skills. According to Huber (2010) leadership is defined as “the process of influencing people to accomplish goals” (p. 6). Key concepts related to leadership according to Huber (2010) are influence, communication, group process, goal attainment and motivation. At is