The Impact of Relational Leadership Styles on the Burnout of Nurses: A Systematic Review

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Relational leadership styles are integral to the nurse management. Nurses are prone to burnout levels due to the work schedules, work environment, bullying incidences, and overall demanding nature of work. However, there is a lack of systematic reviews that synthesise the existing evidence. Although the majority of studies showed that relational leadership styles can reduce the risk of burnout, little is known about the potential mechanisms and pathways through which relational leadership styles reduce the risk of burnout. Aim: To determine the impact of relational leadership styles on the burnout of nurses Methodology: A systematic review approach was used. The approach was anchored in evidence-based practice. A search strategy was developed and implemented in four databases namely ScienceDirect, PubMed, CINAHL, and SCOPUS. A matrix was used to extract data from the included studies. The study used ROBINS-I and RoB 2 Tools to assess methodological quality of non-randomised and randomised studies, respectively. Thomas and Harden’s (2008) thematic synthesis were used for synthesising the findings from the eleven studies. Results: Search in ScienceDirect, PubMed, CINAHL, and SCOPUS generated 144, 42, 22, and 137 articles, respectively. Screening and inclusion process found 11 studies for the final qualitative synthesis. The synthesis of the outcomes of the 11 included studies revealed the different forms of relational leadership styles including transformational leadership style, resonant, emotionally intelligent, ethical, and authentic leadership styles. The findings revealed that emotionally intelligent leaders created a conducive environment and fostered their adaptation to the demanding clinical practice to curb burnout rates. This study found that transformational leadership style reduces burnout among nurses. This leadership style inspires, motivates, and empowers team members to succeed. The study found that resonant leadership reduced burnout of nurses by enhancing job satisfaction. The review found that nurses registered low burnout rates because ethical leaders motivated and increased their morale for work. The review found that authentic leadership created an effective and conductive work environment for the nurses and reduced their burnout rate. Conclusion and Recommendations: Nurse leaders should adopt relational leadership framework to curb burnout among nurses. Further studies should use either cross-sectional or longitudinal studies to explore the impact of nurse managers adoption of relational leadership on the personal and professional issues affecting job demands.