Resonant leadership and workplace empowerment: the value of positive organizational cultures in reducing workplace incivility.

Nursing leaders are indispensable in creating positive nursing work environments that retain an empowered and satisfied nursing workforce. Positive and supportive leadership styles can lower patient mortality and improve nurses' health, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, emotional exhaustion, and intent to stay in their position. The results of this study support the role of positive leadership approaches that empower nurses and discourage workplace incivility and burnout in nursing work environments. The findings also provide empirical support for the notion of resonant leadership, a relatively new theory of relationship-focused leadership approaches. This research adds to the growing body of knowledge documenting the key role of positive leadership practices in creating healthy work environments that promote retention of nurses in a time of a severe nursing shortage.

Authentic leadership, empowerment and burnout: a comparison in new graduates and experienced nurses.

AIM: To examine the effect of authentic leadership and structural empowerment on the emotional exhaustion and cynicism of new graduates and experienced acute-care nurses. BACKGROUND: Employee empowerment is a fundamental component of healthy work environments that promote nurse health and retention, and nursing leadership is key to creating these environments. METHOD: In a secondary analysis of data from two studies we compared the pattern of relationships among study variables in two Ontario groups: 342 new graduates with <2 years of experience and 273 nurses with more than 2 years of experience. RESULTS: A multi-group path analysis using Structural Equation Modelling indicated an acceptable fit of the final model (χ(2) = 17.52, df = 2, P < 0.001, CFI = 0.97, IFI = 0.97 and RMSEA = 0.11). Authentic leadership significantly and negatively influenced emotional exhaustion and cynicism through workplace empowerment in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The authentic behaviour of nursing leaders was important to nurses' perceptions of structurally empowering conditions in their work environments, regardless of experience level, and ultimately contributed to lower levels of emotional exhaustion and cynicism. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Leadership training for nurse managers may help develop the empowering work environments required in today's health-care organizations in order to attract and retain nurses.

The influence of leadership practices and empowerment on Canadian nurse manager outcomes.

AIM: To examine the influence of senior nurse leadership practices on middle and first-line nurse managers' experiences of empowerment and organizational support and ultimately on their perceptions of patient care quality and turnover intentions. BACKGROUND: Empowering leadership has played an important role in staff nurse retention but there is limited research to explain the mechanisms by which leadership influences nurse managers' turnover intentions. METHODS: This study was a secondary analysis of data collected using non-experimental, predictive mailed survey design. Data from 231 middle and 788 first-line Canadian acute care managers was used to test the hypothesized model using path analysis in each group. RESULTS: The results showed an adequate fit of the hypothesized model in both groups but with an added path between leadership practices and support in the middle line group. CONCLUSIONS: Transformational leadership practices of senior nurses empower middle- and first-line nurse managers, leading to increased perceptions of organizational support, quality care and decreased intent to leave. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Empowered nurse managers at all levels who feel supported by their organizations are more likely to stay in their roles, remain committed to achieving quality patient care and act as influential role models for potential future leaders.

The influence of authentic leadership on newly graduated nurses' experiences of workplace bullying, burnout and retention outcomes: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Retaining skilled and engaged nurses is critical during a time of shortage, however growing reports of workplace bullying threaten nurses' health and wellbeing, especially the transition of newly graduated nurses entering the profession. High rates of burnout and turnover among new nurses puts additional strain on limited financial resources in healthcare organizations and can compromise the quality of care provided to patients. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to test a model linking authentic leadership to new graduate nurses' experiences of workplace bullying and burnout, and subsequently, job satisfaction and intentions to leave their jobs. METHODS: This study employed a cross-sectional survey design with 342 new graduate nurses (defined as less than two years of practice experience) working in acute care hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Participants completed a questionnaire with measures of authentic leadership, workplace bullying, burnout, job satisfaction and turnover intentions. The model was tested using path analysis techniques within structural equation modeling. RESULTS: The model fit indices suggested that the original hypothesized model did not adequately fit the data (χ(2)=33.59, df=5, p=.000, χ(2)/df=6.72, IFI=.937, CFI=.937, RMSEA=.130), thus an additional theoretically justified direct path from authentic leadership to job satisfaction was added, which improved the fit substantially (χ(2)=5.26, df=4, p=.261, χ(2)/df=1.32, IFI=.997, CFI=.997, RMSEA=.030). Authentic leadership had a negative direct effect on workplace bullying, which in turn had a direct positive effect on emotional exhaustion. Authentic leadership also influenced job satisfaction indirectly through bullying and emotional exhaustion. Authentic leadership, workplace bullying and emotional exhaustion all had significant direct effects on job satisfaction, which in turn, was related to lower turnover intentions. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study demonstrate the fundamental importance of authentic leadership in creating supportive working environments. An authentic leadership style may reduce the probability of a unit culture of workplace bullying developing, contributing to a nursing workforce that is less burned out, more satisfied with their job, and ultimately, less likely to leave their position.

The influence of personal dispositional factors and organizational resources on workplace violence, burnout, and health outcomes in new graduate nurses: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The alarmingly high rate of illness-related absenteeism among nurses and recent reports of workplace violence and burnout are problematic for both the current workforce shortage and the recruitment and retention of new nurses. OBJECTIVES: To test a model derived from Leiter and Maslach's (2004) Six Areas of Worklife Model linking workplace factors (six areas of worklife, experiences of bullying and burnout) and a personal dispositional factor (psychological capital) to new graduates mental and physical health in their first year of practice. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design was utilized to survey 165 Ontario nurses with one year or less experience in nursing. Participants completed measures of nurses' work environment quality, psychological capital, bullying exposure, burnout, and physical and mental health. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized model. RESULTS: The fit indices suggested a reasonably adequate fit of the data to the hypothesized model (χ2=27.75, df=12, CFI=.97, IFI=.97, RMSEA=.09), however an additional direct path from psychological capital to emotional exhaustion substantially improved the model fit (χ2=17.94, df=11, CFI=.99, IFI=.99, RMSEA=.06). Increased psychological capital positively influenced nurses' perceived person-job fit, which in turn was negatively related to bullying exposure and emotional exhaustion, and ultimately influenced their physical and mental health. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that psychological capital and perceived person-job fit are key variables in new graduate nurses' worklife, which may contribute to decreased nurses' burnout and increased physical and mental well-being. The results support an expanded conceptualization of the areas of worklife model.

Predictors of new graduate nurses' workplace well-being: testing the job demands-resources model.

BACKGROUND: New graduate nurses currently experience a stressful transition into the workforce, resulting in high levels of burnout and job turnover in their first year of practice. PURPOSE: This study tested a theoretical model of new graduate nurses' worklife derived from the job demands-resources model to better understand how job demands (workload and bullying), job resources (job control and supportive professional practice environments), and a personal resource (psychological capital) combine to influence new graduate experiences of burnout and work engagement and, ultimately, health and job outcomes. METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A descriptive correlational design was used to test the hypothesized model in a sample of newly graduated nurses (N = 420) working in acute care hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Data were collected from July to November 2009. Participants were mailed questionnaires to their home address using the Total Design Method to improve response rates. All variables were measured using standardized questionnaires, and structural equation modeling was used to test the model. FINDINGS: The final model fit statistics partially supported the original hypothesized model. In the final model, job demands (workload and bullying) predicted burnout and, subsequently, poor mental health. Job resources (supportive practice environment and control) predicted work engagement and, subsequently, lower turnover intentions. Burnout also was a significant predictor of turnover intent (a crossover effect). Furthermore, personal resources (psychological capital) significantly influenced both burnout and work engagement. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The model suggests that managerial strategies targeted at specific job demands and resources can create workplace environments that promote work engagement and prevent burnout to support the retention and well-being of the new graduate nurse population.

New graduate nurses' experiences of bullying and burnout in hospital settings.

AIM: This paper is a report of a study conducted to test a model linking new graduate nurses' perceptions of structural empowerment to their experiences of workplace bullying and burnout in Canadian hospital work settings using Kanter's work empowerment theory. BACKGROUND: There are numerous anecdotal reports of bullying of new graduates in healthcare settings, which is linked to serious health effects and negative organizational effects. METHODS: We tested the model using data from the first wave of a 2009 longitudinal study of 415 newly graduated nurses (<3 years of experience) in acute care hospitals across Ontario, Canada. Variables were measured using the Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire, Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised and Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey. RESULTS: The final model fit statistics revealed a reasonably adequate fit (χ² = 14·9, d.f. = 37, IFI = 0·98, CFI = 0·98, RMSEA = 0·09). Structural empowerment was statistically significantly and negatively related to workplace bullying exposure (ß = -0·37), which in turn, was statistically significantly related to all three components of burnout (Emotional exhaustion: ß = 0·41, Cynicism: ß = 0·28, EFFICACY: ß = -0·17). Emotional exhaustion had a direct effect on cynicism (ß = 0·51), which in turn, had a direct effect on efficacy (ß = -0·34). Conclusion. The results suggest that new graduate nurses' exposure to bullying may be less when their work environments provide access to empowering work structures, and that these conditions promote nurses' health and wellbeing.