Effect of leadership practices on nurse retention, quality care

Editor's Note

This Canadian study finds that transformational leadership practices lead to high quality care and increased retention of new nurses. Conversely, abusive managers lead to poorer quality care and a strong intention for nurses to leave healthcare facilities and quit the nursing profession.

The authors surveyed a sample of 541 RNs with an average age of 26 and less than 5 years of nursing experience. The anonymous online survey asked participants to report on the effect of management styles.

Results from three linear regression analysis indicated that transformational leadership practices potentially lead to high quality care and weak intention to quit the healthcare facilities. Conversely, abusive leadership practices potentially lead to poorer quality care and to strong intention to quit the healthcare facilities and the nursing profession.