Effect of ethical nurse leaders on subordinates during pandemics

As caring in times of pandemics becomes extremely stressful, the volume and intensity of nursing work witness significant increase. Ethical practices are therefore even more important for nurses and nurse leaders during this special period.

The aim was to explore the relationship between ethical nurse leaders and nurses' task mastery and ostracism, and to examine the mediating role of relational identification in this relationship during pandemics.

Based on social exchange theory, this study tests a theoretical model proposing that ethical nurse leaders can increase nurses' task mastery and reduce their ostracism by improving their relational identification with leaders during pandemics.

A multilevel and multi-wave field study using data from 172 nurses from 45 departments of two comprehensive hospitals was performed from April to August 2020 to test proposed hypotheses.

We received formal approvals from the ethical committee of the hospital where we conducted this study before the data collection.

Ethical nurse leaders can indeed increase nurses' task mastery and reduce their ostracism during the pandemic period; furthermore, nurses' identification with their leaders mediates these relationships. We find that ethical leadership plays an even more important role in improving nurses' task mastery and reducing their ostracism that may be facilitated by pandemics this special time. Nurses will become more identified with their leaders when they are treated by ethical ways.

The study tries to advance our understanding of the important role of ethical leadership in nurse management literature and provide useful suggestions for healthcare institutions, nurse leaders, and nurses during pandemics.

Theoretical contributions and practical implications of our findings are discussed. Specifically, we suggest that healthcare institutions cultivate ethical nurse leaders to facilitate nurses' relational identification, which in turn will positively influence work outcomes.