ABSTRACT
AIM: To test the psychometric properties of a newly developed measure of staff nurse clinical leadership derived from Kouzes and Posner's model of transformational leadership. BACKGROUND: While nurses have been recognized for their essential role in keeping patients safe, there has been little empirical research that has examined clinical leadership at the staff nurse level. METHODS: A non-experimental survey design was used to test the psychometric properties of the clinical leadership survey (CLS). Four hundred and eighty registered nurses (RNs) providing direct patient care in Ontario acute care hospitals returned useable questionnaires. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis provided preliminary evidence for the construct validity for the new measure of staff nurse clinical leadership. Structural empowerment fully mediated the relationship between nursing leadership and staff nurse clinical leadership. CONCLUSION: The results provide encouraging evidence for the construct validity of the CLS. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nursing administrators must create empowering work environments to ensure staff nurses have access to work structures which enable them to enact clinical leadership behaviours while providing direct patient care.
Subject(s)
Leadership , Nurse Administrators , Nursing Evaluation Research/organization & administration , Nursing Staff, Hospital/organization & administration , Nursing, Supervisory/organization & administration , Program Development , Adult , Cooperative Behavior , Factor Analysis, Statistical , Female , Health Care Surveys , Humans , Male , Models, Nursing , Models, Organizational , Ontario , Power, Psychological , Psychological Theory , Psychometrics , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The restructuring of Canadian health care organizations during the past decade has reduced the visibility of nursing leadership. This has resulted in job conditions that have disempowered nurse managers and influenced their ability to create positive work environments, mentor potential nurse leaders, and gain satisfaction in the leadership role. These conditions threaten the retention of a cadre of high quality nurse leaders in today's chaotic health care setting. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between structural empowerment and perceived organizational support and the effect of these factors on the role satisfaction of middle level nurse managers. METHOD: A secondary analysis was conducted as part of a larger study of 126 middle level nurse managers working in Canadian acute care hospitals, randomly selected from the Ontario provincial registry. Eighty-four nurse managers responded to a questionnaire mailed to their home addresses. RESULTS: Structural empowerment was positively associated with middle level nurse managers' perceived organizational support. The combination of empowerment and perceptions of organizational support were significant predictors of middle level nurse managers' role satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support R.M. Kanter's (1977, 1993; Men and Women of the Corporation. Basic Books, New York) contention that empowering work conditions have an impact on employees' feelings of support and sense of accomplishment at work. Positive perceptions of organizational support may play an important role in retaining current middle managers, and possibly attracting future leaders to management positions.
