Leadership in intensive care: A review.

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Medicine
• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Psychology

Background:

• Leadership is crucial in intensive care units (ICUs) due to high-stakes decision-making.
• Existing literature provides insights into ICU leadership but lacks a synthesized overview for future research.
• Understanding leadership dynamics is vital for improving patient care and team performance in critical care settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct an integrative literature review on leadership within intensive care units.
• To identify key themes, facilitators, barriers, and outcomes related to ICU leadership.
• To guide future research and interventions aimed at enhancing leadership in intensive care medicine.

Main Methods:

• An integrative literature review was performed using four databases.
• Inclusion/exclusion criteria and quality checks ensured study rigor.
• Thematic coding framework and NVivo software were utilized for data extraction and synthesis of 28 papers.

Main Results:

• Four major themes emerged: leadership dimensions/discourses, experiences, facilitators/barriers, and outcomes.
• Focus areas included leader behaviors (e.g., decision-making, communication) and traditional hierarchies.
• Personal factors were identified as significant enablers/barriers; training emerged as a facilitator.

Conclusions:

• Current ICU leadership literature emphasizes leader behaviors and individual attributes.
• Positive leadership experiences and outcomes are frequently reported.
• Future research should focus on interventions to improve leadership effectiveness in intensive care units.