Leadership styles and leadership outcomes in nursing homes: a cross-sectional analysis

BMC Health Services Research

Joris Poels¹  Ellen Vlaeyen¹  Koen Milisen²  Marc Verschueren³ 

[1] Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Academic Centre for Nursing and Midwifery, KU Leuven, P.B. 7001, Kapucijnenvoer 35, 4th floor, 3000, Leuven, Belgium;Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Academic Centre for Nursing and Midwifery, KU Leuven, P.B. 7001, Kapucijnenvoer 35, 4th floor, 3000, Leuven, Belgium;Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Academic Centre for Nursing and Midwifery, KU Leuven, P.B. 7001, Kapucijnenvoer 35, 4th floor, 3000, Leuven, Belgium;Development & Education, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;

关键词: Leadership;    Residential care facilities;    Nursing home;    Care manager;    Nurse;    Director of nursing;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12913-020-05854-7

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAlthough leadership is considered as a key factor in health care, leadership styles and outcomes in nursing homes often remain a black box. Therefore, this study explored leadership styles and leadership outcomes of head nurses and directors of nursing (DoN) in nursing homes based on well-defined leadership concepts.MethodsA multicenter cross-sectional analysis was conducted on baseline data of an ongoing cohort study comprising a convenience sample of nursing home staff (n = 302). Leadership styles and leadership outcomes of head nurses and DoN were measured through the rater form of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5X (MLQ-5X). Based on the Full Range of Leadership Model, the MLQ-5X visualizes transformational (relation and change focused), transactional (task-focused) and passive-avoidant (absence of leadership) leadership styles. Scores of head nurses and DoN for leadership styles and outcomes were compared with European Reference Scores (ERS) using two-sided one-sample t-tests.ResultsCompared with ERS, head nurses and DoN scored significantly lower (p < 0.001) on transformational and transactional leadership styles and significantly higher (p < 0.001) on passive-avoidant leadership styles. All leadership outcomes were significantly lower (p < 0.001) for head nurses. Similar results, however not statistically significant, were found concerning leadership outcomes of DoN.ConclusionsResults indicate that passive-avoidant leadership styles are excessively present in contrast to transformational leadership styles in nursing homes. This highlights an urgent need to invest in leadership development. Therefore, future research should focus on interventions for the development of transformational leadership.

【 授权许可】

CC BY