Relationship between nurses' leadership styles and power bases

Area of Science:

• Nursing Management
• Organizational Psychology

Background:

• Understanding the relationship between a leader's power bases and their chosen leadership style is crucial for effective nursing management.
• The Situational Leadership Theory (SLT) proposes specific links between power types and leadership approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To empirically investigate the correlation between the power bases utilized by nurse leaders and their corresponding leadership styles.
• To test specific hypotheses derived from the Situational Leadership Theory regarding power and style.

Main Methods:

• A quantitative correlational study was conducted with 204 nursing professionals from a public hospital.
• Data were collected using the Supervisory Behavior Description Questionnaire (SBDQ) for leadership styles and the Power Perception Profile for power bases.
• Statistical analyses included descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate approaches.

Main Results:

• A positive relationship was found between coercive power and the S1 (telling) leadership style, aligning with SLT predictions.
• A positive relationship was observed between referent power and the S3 (participating) leadership style, also supporting SLT.
• However, for other power bases, the results were contrary to SLT expectations, indicating that certain power uses may decrease the likelihood of employing the prescribed leadership style.

Conclusions:

• The study partially validates the Situational Leadership Theory, confirming specific power-style relationships in nursing.
• Unexpected findings suggest a more complex interplay between power bases and leadership styles than SLT initially proposes.
• Further research is needed to understand the nuanced dynamics of power and leadership style in nursing practice.