Long-Term Care

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Advancing Long-Term Care through Transformational Leadership |

Empowering the Workforce to Improve Quality |

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Throughout my core curriculum, I have observed a sort of significance in the relationship between influential leadership and the overall success of a health care establishment. With long-term care specifically, I have taken note of the importance of effective leadership styles in the successful management of long-term care facilities, particularly the use of the transformational leadership model. Transformational leadership (TL) is a method, which emphasizes the importance of having a shared vision and common purpose among all personnel, focusing on the good of all involved by motivating one another to maximize the potential of each staff member to do well while recognizing the potential of the group, as a whole (Harrison, 2010).

The model of transformational leadership was first introduced by James MacGregor Burns in 1978. Mr. Burns described transformational leadership as a method in which leaders and their associates work to advance one another toward higher levels of motivation, allowing individual employees to engage in ways that develop and maintain strong interpersonal relationships. Transformational leadership is found to be the most suitable approach for healthcare leaders to embrace today (Harrison, 2010). Because of the significant amount of turnover that exists in the long-term care industry, TL is recognized as the best approach to achieving a constructive work environment, providing increased job satisfaction, decreasing turnover rates, and enhancing the quality of care provided to facility residents (Utley, Anderson, & Atwell, 2011).

Utley, et al. (2011) introduces four components of TL. The first is individual consideration, which involves leaders getting to know each employee, showing concern for their individual needs and desires. The second involves intellectual stimulation, which encourages creativity, and allows...