Journal of professional nursing : official journal of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing
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The aims of this study are to examine the constructs of transformational leadership as they played out for one nurse who steered significant change in the care of the dying in the United States and to provide deeper insights into how nursing leaders can design and direct meaningful changes in the delivery of health care in turbulent times. A significant problem was identified in how the terminally ill were treated in this country post World War II. The introduction of hospice care in the United States represented a paradigm shift in how the health care community viewed and treated dying patients. ⋯ Nursing leaders who build upon the shared values to provide direction and promote momentum critical to the change will have more success in reaching strategic outcomes of transformational efforts. Transformational nursing leaders who build consensus on vision before executing purposeful change by collaborating with a wide group of stakeholders will encourage a broader ownership of the change. When nursing leaders work to elevate the consciousness of their work groups to direct meaningful change by developing and sustaining value-driven cultures of inquire, decisions will more directly align with evidence and support successful outcomes.