Leadership Practices in Hospital Nursing: A Self of Manager Nurses

To assess the frequency of the leadership practices performed by the manager nurses of hospital institutions and their association with the variables of the socioprofessional profile.

METHOD

Cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational study conducted in four hospitals in a city of the state of São Paulo. A sociodemographic questionnaire and the instrument Leadership Practices Inventory were used. Data collection and analysis were based on an exemplary Leadership Practices Model.

RESULTS

Eighty-four manager nurses participated in the study. The mean values of the leadership practices used by the nurses were: enable others to act (50.6); encourage the heart (48.2); model the way (46.7); challenge the process (43.3); and inspire a shared vision (43.1). Data analysis also evidenced a correlation between the practice encourage the heart and the variables time of care and employment relationship.

Conclusion

The study evidenced the presence of manager nurses exercising moderate leadership, and promoting teamwork, an environment of trust, and a horizontal vision. However, moderate values also reveal managerial aspects to be improved by the leaders by means of organizational strategies and/or tools aimed at best leadership practices.

Descriptors
Nursing; Leadership; Management; Nursing Service, Hospital; Nursing, Supervisory; Hospital Administration

Variables	Mean	Median	Standard deviation (SD)
Age	41.2	40.5	8.6
Years since graduation	17.0	16.0	7.7
Time of experience in care	15.5	14.5	8.2
Time of employment relationship	15.2	14.0	8.5
Time of experience in management	8.2	6.0	6.1

Practice	Mean	Median	Standard deviation (SD)
Model the way	46.7	47.5	6.9
Inspire a shared vision	43.1	44.0	8.7
Challenge the process	43.3	44.0	8.0
Enable others to act	50.6	51.0	5.0
Encourage the heart	48.2	50.0	7.0

	PRACTICE	N	%
I treat others with dignity and respect.	Enable	58	69
I develop cooperative relationships among the people I work with.	Enable	36	42.9
I follow through on the promises and commitments that I make.	Model	35	41.7
I give the members of the team lots of appreciation and support for their contributions.	Encourage	34	40.5
I make it a point to let people know about my confidence in their abilities.	Encourage	32	38.1
I make certain that we set achievable goals, make concrete plans, and establish measurable milestones for the projects and programs that we work on.	Challenge	30	35.7
I praise people for a job well done.	Encourage	29	34.5
I am clear about my philosophy of leadership.	Model	29	34.5
I publicly recognize people who exemplify commitment to shared values.	Encourage	29	34.5
I ensure that people grow in their jobs by learning new skills and developing themselves.	Enable	27	32.1
I actively listen to diverse points of view.	Enable	26	31
I speak with genuine conviction about the higher meaning and purpose of our work.	Inspire	26	31
I give people a great deal of freedom and choice in deciding how to do their work.	Enable	26	31
I show others how their long-term interests can be realized by enlisting in a common vision.	Inspire	25	29.8
I support the decisions that people make on their own.	Enable	24	28.6
I paint the "big picture" of what we aspire to accomplish.	Inspire	24	28.6
I set a personal example of what I expect of others.	Model	23	27.4
I build consensus around a common set of values for running our organization.	Model	22	26.2
I talk about future trends that will influence how our work gets done.	Inspire	22	26.2
I ask "What can we learn?" when things do not go as expected	Challenge	21	25
I spend time and energy making certain that the people I work with adhere to the principles and standards that we have agreed on.	Model	21	25
I make sure that people are creatively rewarded for their contributions to the success of our projects.	Encourage	20	23.8
I find ways to celebrate accomplishments.	Encourage	20	23.8
I describe a compelling image of what our future could be like.	Inspire	19	22.6
I experiment and take risks, even when there is a chance of failure.	Challenge	19	22.6
I seek out challenging opportunities that test my own skills and abilities.	Challenge	18	21.4
I ask for feedback on how my actions affect other people's performance.	Model	18	21.4
I challenge people to try out new and innovative ways to do their work.	Challenge	17	20.2
I search outside the formal boundaries of my organization for innovative ways to improve what we do.	Challenge	16	19
I appeal to others to share an exciting dream of the future.	Inspire	14	16.7

Variable	Model sum 1	Inspire sum 2	Challenge sum 3	Enable sum 4	Encourage sum 5
Gender	0.120	0.583	0.861	0.142	0.055
Experience in management	0.568	0.508	0.676	0.264	0.354
Postgraduation in management	0.795	0.146	0.376	0.959	0.614
Postgraduation in other areas	0.542	0.969	0.962	0.224	0.555

Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Enfermagem Av. Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 419 , 05403-000 São Paulo - SP/ Brasil, Tel./Fax: (55 11) 3061-7553, - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: reeusp@usp.br

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[1] Corresponding author
: Silvia Helena Henriques Camelo. Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo. Departamento de Enfermagem Geral e Especializada. Av. Bandeirantes, 3900. CEP 14040-902 - Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil shcamelo@eerp.usp.br

Brasil

Brasil

Leadership Practices in Hospital Nursing: A Self of Manager Nurses* * Extracted from the dissertation “Práticas de liderança em enfermagem executadas por enfermeiros em organizações hospitalares”, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, 2015.

Prácticas de Liderazgo en enfermería hospitalaria: Una Selfie de Enfermeros Gestores

Abstract

OBJECTIVE

METHOD

RESULTS

Conclusion

Leadership Practices in Hospital Nursing: A Self of Manager Nurses^* * Extracted from the dissertation “Práticas de liderança em enfermagem executadas por enfermeiros em organizações hospitalares”, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, 2015.