Transactional and transformational leadership styles of chief and associated chief nurses in Department of Veterans' Affairs medical centers: A descriptive study

Abstract

<p>This study described the self reported leadership styles of the Chief (CNS) and Associate Chief Nurses (ACNS) and the perceptions of their leadership characteristics by their immediate management subordinates. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Bass, 1985) was used to measure the leadership styles. Relationships among transactional/transformational leadership styles and the self reported job satisfaction, effectiveness, and extra effort of subordinates were also analyzed.</p> <p>A&nbsp;descriptive&nbsp;correlational&nbsp;study&nbsp;was done by national survey. The final sample consisted&nbsp;of&nbsp;49 CNS, 106 ACNS and 545 management subordinates from 49&nbsp;medical&nbsp;centers.</p> <p>The results of this study indicated that four demographic and Medical Center variables were significant: age, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">p</span> &lt;.005 survey; marital status, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">p</span>&lt;.01; functional status, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">p</span>&lt;.004; and years in current position, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">p</span>&lt;.004.</p> <p>Self reported leadership styles of the CNS and ACNS differed on four of the seven leadership scales. The perceptions of the CNS and ACNS by their leadership subordinates differed on all seven leadership styles.</p> <p>All three outcome criteria of the ACNSs based on the perceived CNSs' leadership style were significant for all seven leadership styles. Charismatic leadership explained most of the variance for Job Satisfaction and Effectiveness. Inspiration explained most of the variance for the outcome criteria of Extra Effort.</p> <p>Similarly the outcome criteria of the Subordinate Nurses based on the perceived leadership styles of the ACNSs were significant for all seven leadership styles. As with the ACNSs, Charismatic and Inspirational leadership explained most of the variance.</p> <p>ANOVA summaries revealed that the independent variable of position was consistently significant at the p&lt;.001 for all leadership styles except Management by Exception.</p> <p>Recommendations for future research include: examination of the work environment of Department of Veterans' Affairs Medical Centers, examination of patient care outcomes based on the transformational leadership style and a longitudinal study of the Associate Chief Nurses to monitor their leadership styles and determine if they become more transformational.</p>