Abstract
BackgroundNurse leadership is about aligning employees to a vision. This happens with buy-in, motivation and communication. When conducive environments are created by organisations, the motivation of nurse leaders will be enhanced, which will have a positive outcome on the organisation. Highly motivated nurse leaders accomplish more and are more productive. Nurse leadership is an essential source of support, mentorship and role modelling. These attributes tend to be more evident when nurse leaders are motivated.ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to determine the factors that influence the motivation of nurse leaders.MethodA quantitative, descriptive design and stratified sampling was used. Participants comprised unit managers (n = 49) from five hospitals in a private hospital group in South Africa. A self-administered questionnaire, namely, the Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale, was used to collect the data. Data were analysed using the IBM SPSS 22.0 program.ResultsThe results indicated that the nurse leaders in this study were intrinsically motivated. Their motivation was influenced by support, relatedness, autonomy and competence. No relationships were found between motivation and age, years in a management position, gender, qualifications and staff-reporting structure.ConclusionBy implication, to understand what motivates nurse leaders and to keep them motivated, recommendations were proposed to nursing and human resources management. It is expected that the implementation of the recommendations will have a positive influence on patient outcomes, organisational success and the motivation and satisfaction of nurse leaders.
Highlights
Leadership is a concept of importance on a global level, as the success of any organisation depends on the quality of its leadership
This study showed that nurse leaders engage in their tasks and activities because they are important to them
Nurse leaders who are not motivated cannot contribute to the profession, and it is important to establish what motivators are important to leaders
Summary
Leadership is a concept of importance on a global level, as the success of any organisation depends on the quality of its leadership. Leadership can be described as the ability to organise and influence employees with specific skills to complete delegated tasks to achieve results (Ramchunder & Martins 2014). According to Cooper (2015), leadership is the ability to influence others to achieve organisational goals. Ramchunder and Martins (2014) believed that the leader’s ability to influence the behaviour of employees can positively influence performance outcomes. Nurse leadership is about aligning employees to a vision This happens with buy-in, motivation and communication. Nurse leadership is an essential source of support, mentorship and role modelling. These attributes tend to be more evident when nurse leaders are motivated
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