Healthcare Managers/Executives/Administrators
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship among value congruence of a nurse and his/her immediate supervisor and its effect on leadership support and patient outcomes and this relationship to nurse job satisfaction and turnover intent.
METHODOLOGY The sample involved nursing units in five non-magnet hospitals in a large metropolitan area in the Mid-Atlantic area of the United States. Each nurse manager completed the Leadership Practices Inventory (59% response rate), and had staff nurses (21% response rate) complete the Observer form of the LPI. In addition, respondents completed the Satisfaction in Nursing Scale (Lynn, et al., 2009), the Anticipated Turnover Scale (Henshaw & Atwood, 1985), and the Value of Patient Outcomes Scale (developed by the researcher). The typical nurse managers (N=21) was female (95%), had 22 years of work experience, with an average of eight years in their current position, supervised about 35 nurses, and held a graduate degree. The staff nurses (N=92) were predominantly female (95%) and 77 percent were between the ages of 26-55; they had an average of 12.6 years in nursing, 8.4 years with their current organization, and 6.8 years in their current position.
KEY FINDINGS Leadership value congruency (measured by the extent of agreement between LPI-Self and LPI-Observer scores) was significantly correlated with nursing satisfaction but not with anticipated turnover. The study results indicated that when congruency for leadership and value of patient outcomes are combined with amount of interaction and the staff nurses' experience, the results are positively related to anticipated turnover.
The author concludes: “Nurse Educators may use the results of this study to guide future programs on leadership development and patient outcomes. Many organizations believe in ‘growing their own’ and promote from within the organization. In many respects this is a good practice as the employee is already familiar with the organization's mission and philosophy. However, these new nurse managers need to be developed, especially in the area of leadership. A comprehensive leadership development program that includes continued education and support is warranted. Including methods of self-assessment will enable nurse managers to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses” (p. 123).