Beyond the Ward: Investigating Nurse Managers’ Leadership Dynamics in COVID-19 Crisis
Peter John Gono
Discipline: Education
Abstract:
Effective leadership plays a crucial role in nursing, shaping the vision for optimal practice, inspiring and supporting
personnel, and addressing professional interests and concerns. This quantitative research employed a descriptive
correlational design to explore the relationship between various challenges experienced during the COVID-19
pandemic and the perceived leadership styles of nurse managers. The study revealed that all nurse managers faced
challenges related to staff safety and infection risk during the pandemic. The majority reported changes in staff
shortage, absenteeism, turnover, stress, fear, anxiety, work overload, duty assignments, conflict management, crisis
handling, collaboration, resource and personal protective equipment shortages, regulatory complexities, changing
instructions, information overload, and ambiguity in performing duties. Nurse Managers perceived these challenges
to be predominantly high, with few being moderate or low. Transformational and transactional leadership styles were
reported as high, while passive avoidance was low. Transformational leadership was influenced by staff shortage,
absenteeism, and turnover, increasing with higher challenges in these areas. Transactional leadership correlated with
staff turnover and information overload, increasing as challenges in these aspects intensified. Passive avoidance
leadership style was associated with staff turnover, stress, fear, and anxiety, escalating with higher challenges in these
areas. Leadership outcomes were influenced by staff shortage, absenteeism, and turnover, exhibiting a substantial
increase with heightened challenges. Despite the challenges, diverse leadership styles were observed, emphasizing the
adaptability of leadership approaches to different situations. The study concludes with the development of a leadership
enhancement plan.
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