The Relationship Between Authentic Leadership and Nurses' Resilience: A Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy

Authentic leadership has been identified as a style needed to promote quality patient care and nurses' retention.

The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between the authentic leadership exhibited by nurse managers and the levels of resilience and self-efficacy among nurses.

A descriptive correlational study was conducted in an Egyptian hospital. A sample of convenience nurses (N = 285) completed the Authentic Leadership Inventory, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. The data were analyzed with correlation and structural equation modeling.

The highest percentages of nurses (53.33% and 45.96%) perceived their nurse managers as having either moderate or high levels of authentic leadership. The majority of nurses rated themselves as moderately resilient (63.98%, 25.59 ± 6.56) and highly efficacious (76.70%, 30.68 ± 4.95). Furthermore, the analysis conducted using SPSS-AMOS reveals a significant positive association between the variables. Specifically, authentic leadership, along with its constituent components, accounts for approximately 22% of the overall variance observed in nurses' resilience. Additionally, it is shown that these same factors explain approximately 34% of the variance in nurses' self-efficacy. Moreover, the mediating role of self-efficacy was found to explain 49.3% of the variability in nurses' resilience.

Nurse leaders should be aware of and implement effective and authentic leadership behaviors and apply tailored strategies for fostering nurses' resilience and self-efficacy to deal with the challenging healthcare environment.