the relationship between nursing leadership practices and hospital nursing retention

Abstract

Nurse leaders play an essential role in healthcare organisations. This narrative literature review evaluates nurse leaders and how their leadership and communication style impacts nurse job satisfaction and retention. Transformational leadership style positively influences employee’s job satisfaction and increases the likelihood of staff retention. Effective communication, transformational leadership style protects staff from chaos during organisational change and decreases absenteeism. Nurse leaders have an integral effect on staff nurses and developing their leadership skills benefits the nurse managers, healthcare organisation, and employees alike. Limitations of this narrative review include that it only reviewed studies in English, transformational or transactional leadership styles, and focuses on hospital-based nurses. The data may not be generalizable globally and across different types of organisations. Future nursing leadership studies should address the impact of transactional leadership on nurse job satisfaction, contrast the practise between experienced and new nurses, appraise community-based nurses, and evaluate additional leadership styles.