The Influence of Nurse Managers’ Leadership Styles on Nurses’ Job Satisfaction at the War Memorial Hospital
Abstract:
Background: Leadership is as a multifaceted process of identifying a goal, motivating other people to act, and providing support and motivation to achieve mutually negotiated goals. Nursing leadership is seen as the most crucial aspect of healthcare management since nurses represent the largest group of health professionals and rendering up to 90% or more of the health care services. That notwithstanding, nursing leadership in Ghana/Africa has attracted little investment and research as compared to Europe, America and parts of Asia.
Aim: The study was designed to determine the leadership styles used by nurse managers’ and the impact of these leadership styles on nurses’ job satisfaction at the War Memorial Hospital.
Methods: The study used a cross-sectional study design and 118 nurses were selected using a consecutive sampling technique. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), now known as Predictive Analytics Software (PASW) version 20 was used for data analysis.
Results: The findings from the study revealed that Nurse Managers use transformational, transactional, and participative leadership styles; with transformational leadership style being the most frequently used. Laissez – faire and autocratic leadership were hardly used by nurse managers in this study. This implies that Nurse Managers do not stick to one particular leadership style, but rather use the contingency (situational) approach to leadership. Additionally, the majority of nurse, 66.1% (n = 78) exhibited low level of job satis faction whereas 33.9% (n = 40) had moderate level of job satisfaction. Nurse Managers’ leadership styles had a significant positive relationship with nurses’ job satisfaction.
Conclusion: From the findings of the study, we concluded that there is no single leadership style suitable for all circumstances in the nursing profession. Therefore, if nursing will continue to pursue its image as a noble profession successfully, then Nurse Managers may need to go beyond just being managers, to becoming con temporary leaders aimed at propelling their staff to provide quality evidence-based practice.
