Role-taking abilities of nursing education administrators and their perceived leadership effectiveness

This article examines the relationship between role-taking abilities of nursing education administrators and their perceived leadership effectiveness as rated by their faculty. Thirty nursing education administrators and their respective faculty members (n = 176) participated in this cross-sectional survey study. All participants filled out a demographic questionnaire, nursing education administrators also filled out the Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index, which measured their role-taking abilities, and faculty also filled out selected subscales of the Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire-XII (LBDQ-XII), which measured their perception of their nursing education administrators' leadership effectiveness. Correlation coefficients were calculated for these data, and they were also subjected to multiple regression analysis. Initial analysis of the data indicated that 26 of the 30 administrators were perceived to be effective leaders. Statistical analysis determined that there was a significant positive relationship between the role-taking abilities of the nursing education administrators and the consideration subscale of the LBDQ-XII. Multiple regression analysis found that certain organizational variables--formalization, centralization, and job satisfaction--affected the perception of leadership effectiveness. Further analysis of these three organizational characteristics according to large and small organizations found inverse relationships between job satisfaction and the faculty's perception of formalization and centralization. The results of this study support role-taking abilities among nursing education administrators as a way of enhancing their leadership effectiveness.