Clinical Leadership

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• David John Stanley from the University of Western Australia argues that there is a strong link between clinical leadership and innovation in healthcare. He asserts that expert clinical staff are key to leading changes in practice amongst their colleagues and identify innovation that leads to improved quality of care. These clinical leaders are found at all levels within the organization and may or may not be identified formally as a leader. However, he argues that many managers, and senior leaders while influential in driving change and innovation are not always perceived as clinical leaders by the care teams. Therefore it is important to ensure clinical staff engagement at all levels. (Journal of nursing education and practice May 2012)…show more content…
Judith Shamian looks at what she calls “the new face of healthcare CEOs -Clinician Executives, a New Breed of Leader.” (Shamian article page 22) Shamian argues that the changes in the cost of healthcare, along with the aging of the population and increased focus on quality and outcomes has given rise to this new leader. Most often the Clinician Executive is a physician or a nurse, who has developed advanced leadership skills to complement their exiting clinical expertise. As the healthcare organizations continue to evolve to meet the rising expectations and challenges, a new leadership paradigm will be required to lead innovative approaches to healthcare. Expert Clinical Leaders are well placed to fill this need. They are keenly aware of the care activities within the clinical settings and can readily understand and respond to the issues raised by both patients and the clinical teams. Their clinical background helps them to look at the broader psycho-social issues involved in patient care together and perhaps bring a more holistic perspective to the executive level discussions. Additionally, expert clinical leaders bring a different level of credibility when working with other clinical staff and this may position them differently when introducing or leading improvement changes. This may be even more critical in engaging physicians in quality and patient safety agendas. (Shanian article page…show more content…
While the focus of the research was not specifically on clinical leadership they did find that there has been more assessment of medical and nursing leadership than other clinical and no-clinical roles. Following this review they found clear evidence linking leadership with improved outcomes in patient care, organizational effectiveness, staff and physician engagement and patient satisfaction. While there was some evidence to suggest an alignment between clinical leaders and improved outcomes, there conclusions focused more on the need for developing leaders based on the best current

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