Relation between First-line Managers’ Servant Leadership Behaviour and Staff Nurses’ Empowerment at Benha University Hospital

Abstract

Background: Servant leadership is a powerful tool for nurse leaders to empower nurses to practice well in a constantly changing environment of care. The study aimed to assess the relation between first-line managers' servant leadership behaviour and staff nurses’ empowerment at Benha University hospital, Materials and Methods: A descriptive correlational research design was utilized. The study was conducted in randomly selected units at Benha University Hospital (no=9 units). The subject of the present study consisted of two groups; first-line managers (n=30) and a convenient sample of staff nurses (n=60) at the selected study units. Two tools were utilized including; Servant leadership questionnaire and Staff nurses’ empowerment questionnaire. Results: a high percentage of first-line managers and nearly two-thirds of staff nurses reported that first-line managers were highly adopting servant leadership behaviour. However, there were statistically significant differences between first-line managers' self-report and staff nurses' reports. Nearly half of staff nurses reported a high level of empowerment, while nearly one-third of them reported a moderate level of empowerment. Conclusion and implication: There was a significant positive relation between first-line managers’ adopted servant leadership behaviour and staff nurses’ level of empowerment. Therefore, nurse managers can benefit from integrating the principles of servant leadership and be enthusiastic in focusing on servant leadership attributes when leading their followers by considering them as valuable assets to the organization and thus empower them structurally and psychologically. Recommendation: Continued training on servant leadership characteristics and values through formal workshops and feedback from staff nurses on their nurse managers’ leadership behaviours through polling should be a basic competency requirement for nurse managers.