Author:

Keywords:

leadership, nursing

Abstract:

Background Nurse shortage is a potential risk for nursing homes to sustain appropriate patient-centered care. Therefore, nursing homes have to retain nurses and nurse assistants. We suggest that nursing unit managers’ leadership style may have an impact on nurses and nurse-assistant’s engagement. Aim This study addresses the following research questions: - Is there a difference in engagement between nurses and nurse-assistants in nursing homes? - Is there a difference in perception of leadership styles between nurses and nurse-assistants in nursing homes? - Do specific leadership styles in nursing homes have an influence on nurses and nurse-assistants' engagement ? Method In a cross-sectional survey study 141 nurses and 301 nurse-assistants reported the leadership style of 36 nursing unit managers in 13 Flemish nursing homes between January 2012 and March 2012. The transformational, transactional and passive-avoidance leadership styles were measured by the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X). In addition, nurse work environment, work engagement, burnout, job satisfaction and intention to leave were measured with a questionnaire including the Revised Nursing Work Index (NWI-R-vl), the Utrechtse Bevlogenheidsschaal (UBES) and the Utrechtse Burnoutschaal (UBOS). We used SPSS version 20.0 software for data analysis, including logistic regression. Result Nurse-assistants had higher levels of vitality (p=0,535), dedication (p=0,007) and absorption (p=0,043) than nurses. There was no significant difference in perception of the transformational (p=0,796), transactional (p=0,335) and passive-avoidance (p=0,986) leadership style between nurses and nurse-assistants. High levels of the transformational and transactional leadership style had a significant influence on the engagement of nurses and nurse-assistants. Conclusion While nurses and nurse-assistants perceived the same leadership styles, nurse-assistants were more engaged then nurses. Nursing unit managers with high levels of transformational and transactional leadership styles have a positive influence on the engagement of nurses and nurse- assistants. Training in leadership and research about the effect of it is recommended.