What is Situational Leadership in Nursing? (PLUS, Pros VS. Cons, Characteristics, & How to Become)

Written By: Kelsey BaderKelsey Bader, BSN, RN

Kelsey Bader is a registered nurse from Louisiana. Kelsey has a diverse range of experiences. Some of Kelsey’s work experience includes bedside nursing in ICUs at various hospitals in COVID and non-COVID units, emergency rooms. Read Full Bio »» , BSN, RN

If you are currently fulfilling a leadership role in nursing or considering taking on a leadership role, then you are probably aware that several different leadership styles exist. Maybe you are familiar with some of the styles, but not all. You may be on a quest to discover which leadership style you want to implement with your team. Suppose you have been doing any research on the different styles of leadership. In that case, you have most likely come across situational leadership, and now you wonder, "What is situational leadership in nursing?”

Perhaps you are wondering if your natural leadership style aligns with situational leadership in nursing. In this article, I will share some information with you about the situational leadership style in nursing to shed some light and give you a better understanding. As you continue reading, you will learn about common characteristics of situational leaders, what it takes to succeed as a situational nurse leader, and the pros and cons of this type of leadership.

What is Situational Leadership in Nursing?

Situational leadership is a flexible approach in which the leader analyzes the situation at hand, assesses the needs of team members, and adjusts their responses accordingly. With this leadership style, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all response. Instead, the situational leader in nursing recognizes that every combination of circumstances and individuals requires a unique approach. Situational leaders can adjust their approach according to team members' ability to accomplish the task at hand. In this leadership style, you must “meet them where they are, "so to speak.

Within situational leadership, there are four leadership styles: telling, selling, participating, and delegating. Telling occurs when you make the decisions for the team, give detailed instructions on completing the task, and provide close supervision. Selling is the leadership style in which you provide clear instructions and support to unmotivated team members to get them to complete their tasks. Participating is when you collaborate with the team to reach a decision together. Delegating occurs when you can assign tasks to team members who are competent and can complete the task with minimal supervision or guidance.

3 Main Pros of Situational Leadership in Nursing

As with any other leadership style, there are pros and cons to consider when deciding whether or not you should implement situational leadership in nursing. Below is a list of a few of the advantages that accompany the situational leadership style.

Pro #1: Adaptability

Nursing leaders who practice a situational leadership style are able to adapt to the ever-changing circumstances of healthcare. You can assess the specific needs of the situation and the readiness of team members to meet those needs and then make the necessary adjustments to your leadership style. With this adaptability, you can provide the appropriate level of support while encouraging autonomy and promoting growth. Recognizing that each team member has unique skills and individual experiences allows you to offer personalized guidance and empowerment to every team member.

One example I can think of when I used situational leadership was when new nurse graduates joined my team. At first, I had to use a “telling” or directive approach, offering them guidance and clear instructions. Once they became acclimated to their new roles and I felt comfortable with their skills and abilities, I delegated more tasks to them and allowed them to have more autonomy.

Pro #2: Increased Job Satisfaction

Situational leadership in nursing promotes individualized approaches based on each team member's skill set and readiness, which fosters comfort with assigned job duties and tasks. By recognizing each individual's strengths, weaknesses, and training needs, team members are more likely to feel valued, acknowledged, and appreciated. Situational leadership encourages each person to make meaningful contributions to the team's overall goals and priorities, leading to a greater sense of fulfillment and job satisfaction.

The fact that situational leadership in nursing takes into account each team member’s individuality is one of the things I like most about this leadership approach. I feel it gives me the opportunity, as a leader, to connect with each member of my team, meeting them where they are. This is especially important because, as nurses, it really does take a team to make things happen. We each have our own strengths, and when leaders learn to recognize those in our team members, it makes them feel valued, appreciated, and happier on the job.

Pro #3: Promotes Communication and Collaboration

Situational leadership encourages therapeutic communication and collaboration between leaders and team members. As a situational leader in nursing, when you actively engage with team members, you cultivate a relationship of trust and mutual respect. You provide clear directions, honest feedback, and the level of support needed to help your team run efficiently. Effective communication drives this collaborative approach that promotes teamwork and the shared responsibility of decision-making. In my experience as both a bedside nurse and in leadership, I can truly say that communication and collaboration are two of the most crucial parts of any successful nursing team.

3 Main Cons of Situational Leadership in Nursing

Although there are many advantages associated with a situational leadership style in nursing, there are also some drawbacks that must be considered. I have described a few of the associated cons in the following list. It is important to reflect on both the pros and the cons of the situational leadership style when deciding whether it is the right style for you.

Con #1: Disregards Long-Term Needs

Nurse leaders who practice a situational leadership style tend to get into the habit of only addressing problems as they arise, or in the moment. By tackling immediate issues, this practice often fails to implement long-term strategic planning and problem-solving. In this regard, reactive decisions made as solutions to short-term problems may have a negative impact on the facility's long-term goals, vision, and success.

Con #2: Can Be a Complex Style of Leadership

Situational leadership in nursing can be a complex leadership style to implement, as its success depends on the nursing leader's ability to accurately assess and appropriately respond to a variety of conditions in a fast-paced environment. You must be able to analyze the situation, assess the task, evaluate your team members' readiness, and decide when and how to react. The intricacy of this process requires leaders to possess high emotional intelligence, strong decision-making skills, and effective communication practices to successfully practice situational leadership in nursing.

Anyone who has been a nurse leader in any capacity knows the nurse leadership role can be complex. Situational leadership in nursing sort of takes it to a whole new level, though. I have worked with nurse leaders who literally check all the boxes for the skills I mentioned above and who left me feeling they could work circles around me. Those same nurses inspired me to become a better nurse and stronger leader!

Con #3: Lack of Consistency

With a leadership style that changes based on the situation, it is easy to see how the approaches can be interpreted as inconsistent or uncertain. Team members may find it hard to anticipate how a leader will respond to certain circumstances, as there is no defined structure with situational leadership. This unpredictability can cause the team to experience feelings of confusion, anxiety, and frustration regarding their specific job role and expectations. With the nature of shifting priorities that situational leadership produces, the facility’s core goals, priorities, and values can become ambiguous.

Having utilized situational leadership myself, I know how situations can change in an instant and that as leaders we sometimes must make fast decisions, which can leave our teams feeling frustrated. If you plan to implement the situational leadership style of nursing, it is important to keep communication open with your team to help relieve any anxiety or tension they feel, especially when situations call for abrupt changes.

7 Main Characteristics of a Situational Leader

Although each nursing leader has their own unique personality and set of character traits, there are some common characteristics identified among successful situational nurse leaders. Whether you are trying to decide if your natural leadership style lines up with that of a situational leader in nursing, or you want to identify the traits that you will need to practice to successfully implement this leadership style, the following are seven of the most common characteristics of a situational leader to consider.

Characteristic #1: Flexibility

Situational leaders must be willing to change their approach depending on the circumstances and the team member's readiness to accomplish the task. Your willingness to adapt to your work environment will allow you to address and conquer a variety of issues that may arise. By realizing that there isn't one universal solution to every problem, you will be more equipped to handle the varying complexity of the problems you will face.

For example, as a charge nurse in the ICU, I had to be ready and willing to adapt my approach to leading my team according to what was happening at that moment. In a unit where things can drastically change from one minute to the next, the unexpected was actually the norm. Therefore, flexibility was a must!

Characteristic #2: Effective Communication

Leaders who practice a situational leadership style must be able to clearly and effectively communicate with team members. After all, how can you expect anyone to follow your leadership if they cannot clearly understand your goals and expectations of them? You can't! There will be situations where your team members require direction and guidance.

For your team to be successful, you must be able to provide clear and concise instructions. Along with being able to clearly express your own thoughts to team members, another element of effective communication is successfully soliciting and addressing any questions or feedback that team members may have.

One of my favorite nurse managers had a way of getting the nurses on our team to talk about anything. Even subjects that were hard, or things we felt may be misunderstood, were never off-limits to her. She was tough, in a sense, but she was fair, and she always made sure we felt like we were truly part of a team. Good situational nurse leaders learn the art of effective communication and implement it in various ways, based on the team’s needs.

Characteristic #3: Ability to Delegate

To successfully execute a situational leadership style in nursing, leaders must be able to delegate various tasks to team members when appropriate. Delegating entails more than randomly assigning tasks to each team member. To be an effective delegator, you must accurately assess each team member's skill level and readiness and evaluate which tasks they are capable of successfully completing.

As a leader, I sometimes struggled with delegating tasks. With experience, I realized that task delegation plays a vital role in the growth of team members' skills and abilities. By providing opportunities to learn and practice a variety of skill sets, I was able to become a better leader and my team was stronger.

Characteristic #4: Collaboration

Situational leaders should promote and foster a collaborative environment among their teams. Doing so will promote teamwork, open communication, and individual engagement. In a collaborative environment, team members feel empowered to share their thoughts, feedback, and input. Through collaboration, you can identify common goals and encourage the collective resolution of any conflicts that may arise. Every team member wants to feel like their contribution is recognized and valued.

Some of the most successful teams I have ever been a part of were the ones where the leader actively listened to and considered the input of each team member. When my leader encouraged collaboration among the team, I felt like my input influenced the team's response and plan of action, and I was, in turn, more invested in the team's success.

Characteristic #5: Strong Assessment Skills

To be a successful situational nurse leader, you must be able to accurately assess your work environment multiple times throughout each day. Your assessments should include evaluation of the situation at hand and identify things such as the complexity and urgency of tasks that need to be completed and the resources required to accomplish them. From your assessment, you must then evaluate each team member's skill level, readiness, competence, and confidence regarding specific tasks so you can delegate them to the appropriate person.

Characteristic #6: Decision-Maker

Whether you are deciding how to handle an emergency or staffing situation or choosing how to delegate tasks among team members, your decision-making skills will directly impact your success as a situational leader. Unlike other leadership styles, where there is a structure for how to handle and respond to a variety of situations, situational leadership in nursing relies on your ability to correctly assess intricate circumstances and decide on the best approach as a situation occurs. Every aspect of situational leadership depends on your ability to make solid decisions based on the most current information.

Characteristic #7: Committed to Lifelong Learning

Just as the circumstances and situations you will face are forever changing, the best approaches and methods for addressing each situation continue to improve and evolve. For this reason, situational leaders must be committed to lifelong learning. There are endless continuing education opportunities available that focus on the latest and most successful leadership practices. These courses are a great resource for how and when to implement each approach. There are also great courses available that you can implement at the team member level that will cover the rationale behind your response to various situations.

Nurses of all levels and in all roles are required to adopt an attitude of continuous learning. It is essential, as healthcare is always changing. As a nurse leader, I committed myself to learning as much as possible because I believe that leading by example does so much more than simply telling someone what to do.

How to Become a Successful Situational Leader in Nursing?

Perhaps by now you feel that you naturally possess most, if not all, of the characteristics of a situational nurse leader? Maybe now you are trying to figure out how to utilize those traits to become a successful situational leader in nursing. I will make it easy for you by sharing seven main steps for success when implementing a situational leadership style.

Step #1: Assess the Individual Readiness of Each Team Member

The first step in being successful as a situational nurse leader is accurately assessing each team member's level of readiness. You must evaluate each team member's skill set, knowledge, experience, motivation, and confidence. Before you can accurately tackle a problem, you must take inventory and know what tools and resources you have at your disposal. Knowing your team's strengths and weaknesses plays a vital role in your ability to effectively address and resolve issues as they arise.

Step #2: Provide an Individualized Leadership Approach

Based on the information you gathered and the assessment you made in step one, you will now need to provide a unique, individualized leadership approach for each team member based on their specific level of readiness. For example, you may do like I did with new nurses who were unfamiliar with the work environment and expectations, and implement the telling style. On the other hand, you may rely on the delegating style when assigning tasks to a seasoned team member who has previously performed similar tasks successfully.

Step #3: Provide Clear and Effective Communication

With the constantly changing approaches that accompany situational leadership in nursing, it is important to effectively communicate with all team members. By being clear and fostering an environment of open communication, you reduce the threat of confusion and frustration among team members. Clearly communicating the expectations, goals, and any relevant directions ensures that team members understand the details of the task and can be successful in their assigned roles.

Step #4: Remain Flexible in Your Leadership Approaches

I hate to admit it, but one thing that really frustrates me is someone who refuses to compromise, even if they know it could result in a better outcome. Unfortunately, some nurse leaders are like that!

Your success as a situational nurse leader depends on your ability to remain flexible and adaptive in your leadership approach. Healthcare is a fast-paced, ever-changing work environment. As a situational leader, you must evaluate the circumstances, consider any new information, and assess any changes you may need to make in your approach.

Step #5: Promote the Growth and Development of Team Members

The guiding principle for situational leadership in nursing is based on the concept of meeting team members where they are with their skills, experience, and competency. As a situational leader, you must continually promote growth and professional development among your team. You can accomplish this through training, guidance, and feedback on their performances. This is an important element in the overall preparedness of your team to take on more challenging tasks and successfully solve more intricate problems. If your team's growth is stalled, you will constantly find yourself having to provide the same level of support and guidance, regardless of the task at hand.

Step #6: Lead By Example

As with any leadership style, one of the most impactful things you can do is lead by example. If you want to see certain characteristics and values in your team members, you should be willing to demonstrate them throughout your daily actions and interactions. For instance, if you expect your team to be professional, positive, and resilient, then model that behavior for them. As a leader, you should not ask your team to do something you are unwilling to do yourself. This principle transcends more than the traits and behaviors of a team; it also includes assigned duties and tasks.

I have always felt it is important for managers and supervisors to lead by example. As a charge nurse, I never asked my team to do a task I was unwilling to do myself. By stepping in and helping the team accomplish these tasks from time to time, I was able to build stronger relationships and encourage teamwork within the unit.

Step #7: Seek Feedback

Situational leadership is not a “one size fits all” leadership style. You must rely on your own interpretation of each situation and your ability to choose the best individualized approach for your team. That’s a lot of pressure for a leader! Don't be afraid to ask for feedback from your team members and colleagues. Maybe the approach you implemented did not work well for a specific team member, or maybe a team member is willing to take on additional responsibilities next time. You will not know unless you ask and encourage open communication.

My Final Thoughts

With so many leadership styles in nursing, some nurses wonder which is the best for them. In this article, I shared information with you to answer the question, “What is situational leadership in nursing?” Throughout the article, you learned about the pros and cons of this type of leadership as well as the characteristics of this type of leader and how to succeed if you implement situational leadership in nursing.

Perhaps the most important advice I can give you is to be true to yourself. Your values and commitment to your patients, your team, and the nursing profession should be the driving force behind every decision you make as a nurse leader. If you act ethically and prioritize the best interests of your patients and team, you can succeed as a situational nurse leader.

List Of Sources Used For This Article

1. “What is Situational Leadership?” (Western Governor’s University)
2. “30 Top Therapeutic Communication Techniques in Nursing + How To Use Them” (nursingprocess.org)
3. “Understanding Communication in Nursing (With Examples, Importance, & How To Improve)” (nursingprocess.org)
4. “8 Types of Leadership Styles in Nursing - Which One is Right for You?” (nursingprocess.org)