Self-Leadership and Caring as Foundations of Relational Accountability in Nursing Clinical Judgement: A Conceptual...

This study aims to examine how self-leadership and caring can be conceptually integrated to strengthen the legitimacy of nursing clinical judgement in complex healthcare environments.

This study adopts a conceptual analysis design.

A conceptual analysis approach was used to synthesise theoretical perspectives from self-leadership scholarship and caring theory to clarify the internal conditions that support accountable clinical decision-making. Self-leadership was selected because it offers a framework for understanding the self-regulatory processes underlying intentional professional action, whereas caring theory conceptualises nursing as a moral-relational practice grounded in human dignity and ethical responsibility. Integrating these theories enabled examination of how regulatory capacity and moral orientation converge to strengthen relational accountability in nursing clinical judgement.

This conceptual analysis proposes a relational accountability framework comprising three interrelated components: regulatory reflexivity, moral-relational orientation and accountable enactment. Regulatory reflexivity supports intentional reasoning and behavioural alignment, moral-relational orientation directs decision-making towards relational responsibility and patient dignity and accountable enactment reflects the transparent communication and justification of clinical decisions within relational care contexts.

Relational accountability offers a theoretical basis for strengthening the legitimacy of nursing clinical judgement by integrating internal regulatory capacity with caring-based ethical orientation. The framework provides directions for future empirical inquiry into accountable decision-making in nursing practice.

No patient or public contribution.