HEAD NURSE LEADERSHIP IMPACT: A STUDY OF HEAD NURSE SELF-PERCEPTIONS OF LEADERSHIP, ENVIRONMENTAL SUBSTITUTES FOR LEADERSHIP, AND SELECTED INDICES OF HEAD NURSE EFFECTIVENESS IN TEACHING HOSPITALS.
Contributors: University of Houston.
Published: 1986
Number of pages: 409
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The study had its roots in the increased concern with productivity and the economics of health care delivery prompted by the current period of economic decline and retrenchment. The purpose of the study was to determine whether behaviors of head nurses were related to head nurse effectiveness and whether situational factors in the hospital environment mediated between head nurse leadership behaviors and effectiveness.

Five major issues were considered in the study: (1) the importance of the leader's ability to adapt his or her leadership style to situational demands; (2) the relationship between leader attitudes toward leadership behaviors and effectiveness; (3) the relationship between environmental substitutes for leadership and leader effectiveness; (4) the identification of leader behaviors or qualities characteristic of effective leaders; and (5) the attempt to measure and determine the affect of magnetic leader behavior.

The Climate Impact Profile System (Performax Systems International, Inc.) and the Leadership Opinion Questionnaire measured head nurse impact modes and attitudes. The Revised Substitutes for Leadership Questionnaire measured situational moderating factors. Leadership effectiveness was viewed as a composite entity measured by the Group Descriptions Questionnaire (staff work group perceptions), a supervisory rating of quality of unit nursing care, and unit percent compliance with standards of patient care as measured by the Medicus quality assurance module and/or institutionally developed or adapted methods.

Fifteen hypotheses were developed and were considered in sets of three, each set containing an hypothesis for each indicator of effectiveness. Hypothesis testing was at the .05 level of significance.

Major study findings from 544 hospital staff members, 77 head nurses and 19 nursing supervisors revealed that as in other leadership studies leaders scored high in both task and relation behaviors. When the Medicus quality measure was used as the dependent variable results of hypothesis testing using regression analysis were consistently in the expected direction although in most cases were not statistically significant.

Implications for nursing administrators seeking to evaluate head nurse effectiveness and to increase staff productivity are discussed and recommendations for further research are listed.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-01, Section: B, page: 0088.

Thesis (ED.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, 1986.

School code: 0087.