The influences of nursing transformational leadership style on the quality of nurses’ working lives in Taiwan: a cross-sectional quantitative study

Abstract

BackgroundTaiwan’s NHI system is one of the most successful health care models for countries around the globe. However, little research has demonstrated the mental health issues associated with nursing transformational leadership style under the NHI system, especially in the quality of nurses’ working lives in Taiwan. It is important to know the relationship between transformational leadership style and the mental health of nurses, organisational commitment and job satisfaction. The research aimed to understand the influences of nursing transformational leadership style on the quality of nurses’ working lives in Taiwan. The research hypothesis was that transformational leadership styles would have positive influence on the quality of nurses’ working lives.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional quantitative study. Nurses from each type of hospital ownership (private, public and religious) were recruited. Participation was voluntary and signed informed consent was obtained. The inclusion criteria were nurses with at least one year’s work experience in the hospitals. Self-administrated questionnaires were used. A total of 807 participants were contacted and 651 questionnaires were fully completed (response rate 80.7 %). A theory driven model was used to test the research hypotheses using structural equation modelling performed with AMOS 16.0.ResultsTransformational leadership contributes significantly to supervisor support. Workplace support, particularly from the supervisor, is an important mediator variable that explains the relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction. Organisational commitment was the strongest factor relevant to the general health well-being in Taiwanese nurses than job satisfaction. The hypothesized positive relationships between transformational leadership and all variables were supported by the data.ConclusionsOur findings have important consequences for organisational health. Our model demonstrates a complete picture of the work relationships on the quality of nurses’ working lives. The results provided information about the subordinates’ perceptions of transformational nursing leadership styles and mental health outcomes in different hospital settings, as well as identified organisational factors that could improve the quality of nurses’ working lives.

Liderança e satisfação no trabalho da enfermagem: revisão integrativa

“…The Taiwanese authors contended that the characteristics of transformational leaders stimulate their managed employees to share the vision and use it as motivational inspiration to achieve goals. (9) Research developed in China suggested that through transformational leadership, clinical nurses had a higher level of job satisfaction because they felt they could provide more meaningful service to clients and the entire organization. (19) In one of the studies conducted in the United States, transformational leadership had a large and significant impact on the work environment, but for leadership to be performed in nursing units, some aspects needed to be taken into account, such as organizational structures.…”

“…(17) In another study, the indirect relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction took place through supervised support. (9) The supportive environment of professional practice mediated the relationship between authentic leadership and professional satisfaction of new graduate nurses in Canada. (13) In view of these findings, one can observe that the relationship between leadership and job satisfaction occurs through another variable, such as empowerment, supervised support, and support of professional practice.…”

Liderança transformacional na prática dos enfermeiros em um hospital universitário

“…(6) Studies (7,8) report the benefi ts of institutions where there is concern with forming and empowering transformational leaders, since this is positively associated with higher levels of job satisfaction and care delivery. (9,10) Particularly in Nursing, nurses must recognize leadership as an essential skill for the professional practice related to organization, trust and guidance of the team. (11) From this perspective, arises the following research problem: "how does the nurse exercise lead-ership in a university hospital?".…”

The influence of resilience on mental health: The role of general well‐being

“…All those stressors impact on the mental health of nurses and likely contribute to the turnover (Kamaua, Medisauskaiteb, & Lopesc, 2015). The increasing shortage of nurses has become a worldwide phenomenon (Lin, MacLennan, Hunt, & Cox, 2015). As the largest discipline group among health service providers, improving the mental health and retention rate of nurses seems to be of great significance.…”