Investigating the relationship between nurse managers' leadership style and predicted nurses' turnover

Nurse turnover presents a significant challenge globally, impacting healthcare costs, patient outcomes and quality of care. This profound issue is very alarming in Saudi Arabia, necessitating an urgent need for effective strategies to mitigate such challenges. Effective management and leadership styles have emerged as pivotal determinants influencing nurse turnover and the intention to leave the profession. This research seeks to explore the relationship between the impact of three distinct leadership styles, transformational, transactional and passive-avoidant leadership, as implemented by nurse managers and the anticipated turnover among nurses, as well as investigate the relationship between the demographic characteristics and anticipated nurse turnover.

This study used a quantitative cross-sectional correlational design. Using a convenience sampling method, nurses from a tertiary governmental hospital in Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia, were included. The self-administered questionnaire consists of participant demographic inquiries, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and the Anticipated Turnover Scale (ATS).

The study involved a total of 192 nurses. The study analysis showed a significant positive relationship between passive-avoidant leadership and the predicted nurse turnover. The proximity in mean scores of both transactional and transformational leadership styles indicated a relatively balanced prevalence of the two leadership styles among nurse managers, whereas the passive-avoidant leadership style was the least prevalent leadership style. Markedly, the data indicated that 77.6% of the participants had high ATS scores, signalling high turnover intentions. The results also revealed that two demographic variables, nationality and qualification level, have a statistically significant relationship with anticipated turnover.

The investigation concluded that the leadership style implied by nurse managers has a significant relationship with the predicted turnover level of nurses. This study suggests fostering the growth of transformational leaders while discouraging the passive-avoidant style. Implementing targeted leadership development programmes can empower nurse managers to adopt effective leadership approaches and ultimately mitigate turnover rates.