Safety-Specific Transformational Leadership: How do We Recognize and Develop It?

It is well-established that leadership behaviors, attitudes, and priorities can have a significant impact on patient safety outcomes. Borrowed from other high-risk industries, behaviors related to Safety-Specific Transformational Leadership (SSTFL) may improve quality and patient safety outcomes in several ways, such as raising the sense of urgency, explaining the "why" behind goals and strategies for achieving them, and encouraging co-workers to prioritize the greater good over their individual needs. SSTFLs prioritize individual and collective patient safety among the many interests vying for their attention. Learner Objectives Recognize behavioral characteristics of Safety-Specific Transformational Leadership. Describe at least one method for developing Safety-Specific Transformational Leader behaviors in your leadership team. Presenter Shelly A. Fischer, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, CNE; Associate Professor, Specialty Director - iLEAD, University of Colorado Dr. Fischer is a nurse leader, educator, and researcher with a passion for understanding leadership influence on patient safety. Specifically, she examines factors that mediate and moderate the relationship between leader behavior and patient safety outcomes in healthcare. With more than 35 years as a nurse leader and a decade as an educator and researcher, Dr. Fischer's recent work has included the development of a typology of factors that influence safety climate, to include shared decision-making, staffing decisions, and other characteristics of Safety-Specific Transformational Leaders. Borrowed from the industries of transportation and manufacturing, this innovation holds significant potential for teaching current and future leaders how to prioritize patient safety. Dr. Fischer is now conducting a funded study to develop an instrument to assess the behavioral characteristics of Safety-Specific Transformational Leadership. NURSING CEs This course is not eligible for Nursing CE