Leadership Style and Quality of Work Life among Nurses in Malaysia during the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the association between leadership styles and the quality of work life among nurses in Selangor. The researcher used four independent variables, which are transformational, transactional, autocratic, and democratic leadership styles, while the dependent variable is Quality of Work Life (QWL). This study utilized a correlational quantitative design with 202 nurses. The researcher used a simple random sampling method to distribute the questionnaires. The findings revealed that transformational, transactional, autocratic, and democratic leadership styles are correlated with the QWL, indicating positive, moderate, and significant relationships. While regression analysis shows the most influential leadership style on QWL was the Transactional Leadership style, this study is significant to nurses as there are a need to identify the best leadership style that can assist nurses in the healthcare industry to perform their best and to help human resource managers to identify which leadership style is suitable for the management and the nurses. Apart from that, management can use these findings to aid leaders in improving their leadership skills and moulding competent leaders in a way that improves employees’ quality of life at work. Empirically, this study is relevant to ensure the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is fulfilled in SDG 3 and SDG 8.