Psychometric Properties of the Authentic Leadership Inventory in the Nursing Profession

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Leadership Studies
• Psychometrics

Background:

• The growing field of nursing leadership research necessitates validated measurement tools.
• Authentic Leadership (AL) is a key leadership style influencing healthcare outcomes.
• Assessing AL in nurse managers is crucial for effective healthcare teams.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reliability and construct validity of the Authentic Leadership Inventory (ALI) within the nursing profession.
• To confirm the suitability of the ALI as a measurement instrument for authentic leadership in nurses.
• To provide evidence for the psychometric properties of the ALI in a nursing context.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional, prospective study design.
• Involved a random sample of registered nurses (RNs) in an acute care setting.
• Utilized exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to assess the ALI's structure.

Main Results:

• Reliability was confirmed with a Cronbach α of 0.96.
• Exploratory factor analysis indicated a one-factor structure.
• Confirmatory factor analysis supported a one-factor model with good fit indices (TLI=0.95, CFI=0.96, RMSEA=0.08).

Conclusions:

• The Authentic Leadership Inventory (ALI) demonstrates strong reliability and construct validity for use with nurses.
• The findings support the ALI's application in nursing leadership research.
• This study validates the ALI as a robust instrument for assessing authentic leadership in the nursing profession.