Correlations among Emotional Labor, Servant Leadership, and Communication Competence in Hospital Nurses / 한국직업건강간호학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify correlations among emotional labor, servant leadership, and communication competence in hospital nurses. METHODS: A self-administrated survey was conducted with a convenient sample of 210 nurses, using a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation coefficient using SPSS/WIN 20.0 program. RESULTS: The mean emotional labor score was 3.4+/-0.60. There was very strong and negative correlation between emotional labor and servant leadership (r=-.896, p<.001). Communication competence was positively correlated with servant leadership (r=.298, p<.001) and moderately and negatively correlated with both frequency of emotional labor (r=-.166, p=.016) and the degree of attention to emotional expression (r=-.143, p=.039). CONCLUSION: As a strategy to reduce emotional labor of hospital nurses, the findings suggest training programs for nurses to enhance servant leadership and communication competence.