Poisonous Management in Nursing
American Sentinel University

Poisonous Management in Nursing In today’s nursing world people in a management position can abuse their authority. A prime example is the case study “Nurse Manager Power” that is described in our text (Grohar & Langan, 2011). The case study describes Mrs. Jackson, the nurse manager, as a negative and abusive person. Mrs. Jackson publicly degrades, humiliates, and segregates her staff by showing favoritism. Overall, unit morale decreases because of the stigma in the unit. Upper management will now have to intervene to resolve the issue. There are several different types of power listed in our text. In this particular case, Mrs. Jackson uses coercive power. Coercive power is defined as “the use of fear to ensure compliance from subordinates” (Grohar & Langan, 2011). The staff fear repercussions if they bring their issues to Mrs. Jackson and staff members have their schedules created according to favoritism. There is also the use of legitimate power in this case. Legitimate power is defined as “the officially sanctioned right of the superior to exact rights and obligations from subordinates” (Grohar & Langan, 2011). Mrs. Jackson’s legitimate power comes from her position as nursing manager. She is responsible for controlling and running the coronary care step-down unit and with that comes power. Reward power is also apparent and is defined as “when a leader or manager uses their position to provide something of value to the employee” (Grohar & Langan, 2011). This particular form of power is shown when Mrs. Jackson shows favoritism towards certain nurses. These nurses are rewarded with the best shifts and vacations available. The nurses that are shown the favoritism can also be perceived to have connection power; “coming from association with a powerful figure”