This book’s philosophy has evolved over the past 30 years of teaching leadership and management.
We entered academe from the community sector of the health care industry, where
we held nursing management positions. In our fi rst effort as authors, Management Decision
Making for Nurses: 101 Case Studies, published in 1987, we used an experiential approach
and emphasized management functions appropriate for fi rst- and middle-level managers. The
primary audience for this text was undergraduate nursing students.
Our second book, Retention and Productivity Strategies for Nurse Managers, focused on
leadership skills necessary for managers to decrease attrition and increase productivity. This
book was directed at the nurse–manager rather than the student. The experience of completing
research for the second book, coupled with our clinical observations, compelled us to incorporate
more leadership content in our teaching and to write this book.
Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing was also infl uenced by national
events in business and fi nance that led many to believe that a lack of leadership in management
was widespread. It became apparent that if managers are to function effectively in
the rapidly changing health care industry, enhanced leadership and management skills are
needed.
What we attempted to do, then, was to combine these two very necessary elements: leadership
and management. We do not see leadership as merely one role of management nor management
as only one role of leadership. We view the two as equally important and necessarily
integrated. We have attempted to show this interdependence by defi ning the leadership components
and management functions inherent in all phases of the management process. Undoubtedly,
a few readers will fi nd fault with our divisions of management functions and leadership
roles; however, we felt it was necessary to fi rst artifi cially separate the two components for
the reader, and then to reiterate the roles and functions. We do believe strongly, however, that
adoption of this integrated role is critical for success in management.
The second concept that shaped this book was our commitment to developing critical thinking
skills through the use of experiential learning exercises and the promotion of whole-brain
thinking. We propose that integrating leadership and management and using whole-brain
thinking can be accomplished through the use of learning exercises. The majority of academic
instruction continues to be conducted in a teacher-lecturer–student-listener format, which
is one of the least effective teaching strategies. Few individuals learn best using this style.
Instead, most people learn best by methods that utilize concrete, experiential, self-initiated,
and real-world learning experiences.
In nursing, theoretical teaching is almost always accompanied by concurrent clinical
practice that allows concrete and real-world learning experience. However, the exploration
of leadership and management theory may have only limited practicum experience, so
learners often have little fi rst-hand opportunity to observe middle- and top-level managers
in nursing practice. As a result, novice managers frequently have little chance to practice
their skills before assuming their fi rst management position, and their decision making thus
refl ects trial-and-error methodologies. For us, then, there is little question that vicarious
vii
viii PREFACE
learning, or learning through mock experience, provides students the opportunity to make
signifi cant leadership and management decisions in a safe environment and to learn from
the decisions they make.
Having moved away from the lecturer–listener format in our classes, we lecture for only
a small portion of class time. A Socratic approach, case study debate, and problem solving
are emphasized. Our students, once resistant to the experiential approach, are now our most
enthusiastic supporters. We also fi nd this enthusiasm for experiential learning apparent in
the workshops and seminars we provide for registered nurses. Experiential learning enables
management and leadership theory to be fun and exciting, but most important, it facilitates
retention of didactic material. The research we have completed on this teaching approach supports
these fi ndings.
Although many leadership