Sunday, January 26, 2014

Nurses as servant leaders and team players

In today’s world, it is important for nurses to be able to understand cross-culture dynamics. These dynamics play out not only among their patients, but also with their fellow nurses. In order for nurses to be effective servant leaders and team players, they need to be able to empathize and sympathize with the people they are involved with on a daily basis.


Image Source: auhs.edu


The term servant leader was first defined by author Robert K. Greenleaf. He described a servant leader as someone whose main objective is to attend to the needs of those they serve in order to attain the success of the group or organization. Through Christian values formation learned at institutions like American University of Health Sciences, would-be nurses understand that the best example of servant leadership is Jesus Christ.






Image Source: auhs.edu

On the other hand, teamwork among fellow nurses as well as other healthcare givers cannot be emphasized enough. Nurses functioning as a single unit accomplish more tasks and serve the needs of their patients more efficiently. This is especially true in instances when they face severe stress and fatigue.

Every individual has strengths and weaknesses with a different field of expertise. By working as a team, weaknesses are compensated and all strengths of the group are harnessed properly. As an old adage goes, “The whole is greater than sum of its parts.”

Image Source: auhs.edu


The American University of Health Sciences is a Christian educational institution based in Signal Hill, California. This LinkedIn account provides additional information about its health science curricula.