The relationship between the authentic leadership of nurses and structural empowerment: a systematic review

Strategies and Interventions to Support Quality Outcomes in the Home Care Setting: A Longitudinal Multilevel Study

BACKGROUND

The relationship between the practice environment, empowerment, and outcomes such as quality of care, job satisfaction, and intent to stay has been extensively studied in healthcare settings, including hospitals and long-term care facilities. Research consistently demonstrates that a positive practice environment, characterized by supportive leadership, adequate resources, and opportunities for professional growth, are associated with better quality of care, increased job satisfaction, and higher intent to stay among healthcare professionals. Limited knowledge exists regarding the specific relationship between the practice environment, empowerment, and these outcomes within home care organizations.

OBJECTIVE

This study assesses the impact of strategies on nurse practice environment, social capital, decision latitude, workload, care quality, job satisfaction, and retention in a Belgian home healthcare organization.

METHODS

A longitudinal survey was conducted in a home healthcare organization, with data collected at 3 time points: baseline (T1) (2015), T2 (2018), and T3 (2021).

RESULTS

In T3, respondents reported significantly higher scores for departmental and general management compared with T1. The interventions led to significant improvements in social capital and decision latitude. Self-reported quality of care at the department level showed a significant increase, whereas no significant change was observed for quality of care during the last round.

CONCLUSION

The implementation of strategies and interventions as part of a broader healthcare transformation process had a positive impact. Improvements were observed in nurse-reported quality of care, job satisfaction, and intent to stay in nursing. These findings emphasize the effectiveness of the implemented measures in enhancing nursing practice and creating a positive work environment. Continuous efforts to implement and evaluate such strategies are essential for enhancing the satisfaction and retention of nursing teams within healthcare organizations.

The Trend of Authentic Leadership Skills in Nursing Education: The Key Role of Perfectionism and Self-Efficacy

(1) Background: Shaping leadership skills is a complex process, which may be modified by psychological factors such as self-efficacy and perfectionism. The aim of the study was to determine whether perfectionism can be a mediator between self-efficacy, and authentic leadership skills in nursing students; (2) Methods: The cross-sectional study included 615 Polish nursing students (women = 96.3%) was carried out at Medical University of Warsaw in 2019. The following research tools were used: Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R), and General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES); (3) Results: The level of perfectionism is a significant mediator of relations between self-efficacy as measured by the GSES and the level of authentic leadership (Sobel test: t = 6.958; p < 0.000). The relation, without a mediating factor, is positive, and the standardized beta coefficient for the feeling of self-efficacy totals beta = 0.470 (p < 0.000), while in the presence of a mediator the strength of the correlation is smaller and amounts to beta = 0.366 (p < 0.000); (4) Conclusions: Personality factors such as self-efficacy and perfectionism play an important role in shaping AL skills of nursing students. Therefore, academic teachers should pay special attention to strengthening students’ self-efficacy and adaptive perfectionism. In this context, adequate feedback and reflection may be important.

AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP AND NURSES' MOTIVATION TO ENGAGE IN LEADERSHIP ROLES: THE MEDIATING EFFECTS OF NURSE WORK ENVIRONMENT AND LEADERSHIP SELF-EFFICACY

BACKGROUND

Leadership styles of a nurse manager have a profound influence on staff nurses' motivation to engage in formal nursing leadership roles; however, the mechanism underlying this pattern of influence remains unknown.

AIM

To assess the direct and indirect effect of nurse managers' authentic leadership on staff nurses' motivation to engage in formal leadership roles, through the intermediary role of nurse work environment and leadership self-efficacy.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study involved 1534 nurses from 24 acute care hospitals in the Sultanate of Oman.

FINDINGS

Nurse managers' authentic leadership was associated with staff nurses' motivation to engage in formal leadership roles. Nurse practice environment and leadership self-efficacy mediated partially the association between authentic leadership and motivation to engage in formal leadership roles.

CONCLUSION

Results of this study underscore the value of authentic leadership in creating a healthy work environment and fostering nurses' leadership self-efficacy, resulting in greater motivation to engage in nursing leadership roles.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Organizational strategies to attract nurses to undertake leadership roles should include measures to bolster authentic leadership behaviours in nurse managers through theory-driven leadership development programmes or interventions, continuing education, effective succession planning, and creating a supportive work environment.