On 2015 Nov 13, University of Kansas School of Nursing Journal Club commented:

Reviewers: (Team 10) Lucy Bush, Sydney Jordan, Elijah Penny, Alex Noller, Parwana Noori, Cassidy Playter, Brittany Winter (Senior Nursing Students – Class of 2016)

Background:

This article was chosen based on how it directly correlates with the transformational leadership section we recently covered in lecture. This study explores how transformational leadership effects nursing innovation and the role of an organizational climate. This article bridges the gap in knowledge present between transformational leadership of management and the behavior of employees subjected to this leadership style. As discussed by Marquis and Huston (2015), transformational leadership by definition is designed to encourage nurses to be innovative, compassionate, and caring; however, this definition does not cover what kinds of innovative behaviors nurses under transformational management exhibit. The purpose of us analyzing this article was to discover what specific behaviors that could be evoked by the consistent support of a manager with a transformational leadership style. The authors of the article conducted the study in three regional hospitals in Taiwan that yielded a different cultural perspective of nursing and leadership, (Weng, Huang, Chen, & Chang, 2013, p. 427). Much effort and resources are focused on nurses’ performance in the clinical setting, and transformational leadership has its proper place in the drive to improve nursing innovation.

Methods:

The databases used to retrieve this article were The Biosemantics Group, CINAHL, and PubMed. The article we choose was originally not found when using the following Boolean search: “transformational leadership” AND “nursing.” Even though the subject heading being searched was adjusted from title to abstract, CINAHL revealed no articles of interest. When PubMed was searched for: “the impact of transformational leadership,” the article we decided upon was found. The study employed a cross-sectional research design that used personal reporting from nursing professionals. Data was collected using a questionnaire survey consisting of a 5-point Likert scale sent out to 150 selected nurses from three separate Taiwan hospitals (Weng et al., 2013, p. 431). The questionnaires were sent out anonymously to nurses in the selected hospitals. A total of 450 questionnaires were sent out from 11 April to 15 May 2011 and the research team obtained a total of 439 questionnaires with viable data (Weng et al., 2013, p. 431). The target population of nurses was selected primarily based upon their age, educational background, role in the clinical ladder, marital status, department of employment, and hospital experience in order to eliminate extraneous factors that could have affected the implication of the results on nursing practice (Weng et al., 2013, p. 431). The study also recognized that inspirational motivation, idealized influence, and a patient safety climate could also positively influence the innovation of staff nurses in Taiwan hospitals. After removing all potentially compromising variables, the research team analyzed the impact of transformational leadership on nurse innovation.

Findings:

The key findings of this study showed that their initial hypothesis one was correct: transformational leadership has a significantly positive influence on nurse innovation behavior. The questionnaires would go on to reveal that nurse managers can indirectly, positively influence nurse innovative behaviors through the establishment of a culture of patient safety and innovation (Weng et al., 2013). In other words, organizational climate directed by transformational leadership could impacts innovative behavior. A large limitation is that the study was only carried out in three Taiwanese hospitals; therefore, it would be hard to say that the results are externally valid or applicable to all nursing care across the world. Further research will need to be carried out in U.S. hospital settings to determine if the effects seen in Taiwanese hospitals were not influenced by other factors such as geography, culture or traditions not evident in the U.S. care settings. Another difference noted in this study was the time frame of data collection. The questionnaires were only sent out for a little over a month-long period in 2011; therefore, the data collected only represents a time-limited analysis of the effects of transformational leadership on nurse innovative behaviors. In the future, it would be recommended that the study be carried out over a considerably longer time frame to ensure data collection evidenced sustained nursing innovative behaviors. On a macro-system level, this problem impacts nearly all nursing units across the world because nursing innovations in patient care could be applicable to all scenarios in which nursing care is needed. From a microsystem perspective, nurse managers interested in boosting creativity and innovation among their unit staff should understand the indirect influence transformation leadership and organizational climate can have on nursing innovative behaviors. The importance of innovation is highly applicable to all hospital development and especially nursing care development, as nurses are deeply involved in direct patient care and the practice of healthcare.

Implications:

The study reports the significance of transformational leadership. This implies that hospitals should develop and encourage transformational leadership approach by designing and implementing leadership training programs aimed at developing cultures of patient safety and innovation. On the microsystems level, the findings of this study demonstrate that nurse managers can foster innovation by involving nurses in team projects to develop and implement creative ideas. Throughout the implementation and evaluation phases of nurse innovative projects, nurse manager should recognize success and encourage behaviors attributed to the success in an effort to sustain such innovation. Weng (2013) also stated the importance of establishing a culture of patient safety through development of a patient safety problem-reporting network. Not only does patient safety reporting make nurse managers aware of threats to patient safety, but it also supports development of innovations through staff involvement. This literature is important to our group because it allows us to explore what transformational leadership can look like at the microsystems level. Only through continual reflection on our own practices, can we accomplish changes in our leadership behaviors in the clinical setting. This article models the important affects that we as future nurse leaders can have on the safety of the patients we are caring for. Personal empowerment exercises like the discovery of these cultures of innovation have proved to be inspirational to us throughout our learning process.

References

Weng, R. H., Huang, C. Y., Chen, L. M., & Chang, L. Y. (2013). Exploring the impact of transformational leadership on nurse innovation behavior: a cross‐sectional study. Journal of nursing management. 23,4. doi:10.1111/jonm.12149

Marquis, B., & Huston, C. (2015). Leadership Roles and Management functions in Nursing: Theory and Application. (8th ed). Wolster & Kluwer. Philadelphia. Chapter 3: Twenty-First Century Thinking about Leadership and Management, pp. 60-61.

On 2015 Nov 13, University of Kansas School of Nursing Journal Club commented:

Reviewers: (Team 10) Lucy Bush, Sydney Jordan, Elijah Penny, Alex Noller, Parwana Noori, Cassidy Playter, Brittany Winter (Senior Nursing Students – Class of 2016)

Background:

This article was chosen based on how it directly correlates with the transformational leadership section we recently covered in lecture. This study explores how transformational leadership effects nursing innovation and the role of an organizational climate. This article bridges the gap in knowledge present between transformational leadership of management and the behavior of employees subjected to this leadership style. As discussed by Marquis and Huston (2015), transformational leadership by definition is designed to encourage nurses to be innovative, compassionate, and caring; however, this definition does not cover what kinds of innovative behaviors nurses under transformational management exhibit. The purpose of us analyzing this article was to discover what specific behaviors that could be evoked by the consistent support of a manager with a transformational leadership style. The authors of the article conducted the study in three regional hospitals in Taiwan that yielded a different cultural perspective of nursing and leadership, (Weng, Huang, Chen, & Chang, 2013, p. 427). Much effort and resources are focused on nurses’ performance in the clinical setting, and transformational leadership has its proper place in the drive to improve nursing innovation.

Methods:

The databases used to retrieve this article were The Biosemantics Group, CINAHL, and PubMed. The article we choose was originally not found when using the following Boolean search: “transformational leadership” AND “nursing.” Even though the subject heading being searched was adjusted from title to abstract, CINAHL revealed no articles of interest. When PubMed was searched for: “the impact of transformational leadership,” the article we decided upon was found. The study employed a cross-sectional research design that used personal reporting from nursing professionals. Data was collected using a questionnaire survey consisting of a 5-point Likert scale sent out to 150 selected nurses from three separate Taiwan hospitals (Weng et al., 2013, p. 431). The questionnaires were sent out anonymously to nurses in the selected hospitals. A total of 450 questionnaires were sent out from 11 April to 15 May 2011 and the research team obtained a total of 439 questionnaires with viable data (Weng et al., 2013, p. 431). The target population of nurses was selected primarily based upon their age, educational background, role in the clinical ladder, marital status, department of employment, and hospital experience in order to eliminate extraneous factors that could have affected the implication of the results on nursing practice (Weng et al., 2013, p. 431). The study also recognized that inspirational motivation, idealized influence, and a patient safety climate could also positively influence the innovation of staff nurses in Taiwan hospitals. After removing all potentially compromising variables, the research team analyzed the impact of transformational leadership on nurse innovation.

Findings:

The key findings of this study showed that their initial hypothesis one was correct: transformational leadership has a significantly positive influence on nurse innovation behavior. The questionnaires would go on to reveal that nurse managers can indirectly, positively influence nurse innovative behaviors through the establishment of a culture of patient safety and innovation (Weng et al., 2013). In other words, organizational climate directed by transformational leadership could impacts innovative behavior. A large limitation is that the study was only carried out in three Taiwanese hospitals; therefore, it would be hard to say that the results are externally valid or applicable to all nursing care across the world. Further research will need to be carried out in U.S. hospital settings to determine if the effects seen in Taiwanese hospitals were not influenced by other factors such as geography, culture or traditions not evident in the U.S. care settings. Another difference noted in this study was the time frame of data collection. The questionnaires were only sent out for a little over a month-long period in 2011; therefore, the data collected only represents a time-limited analysis of the effects of transformational leadership on nurse innovative behaviors. In the future, it would be recommended that the study be carried out over a considerably longer time frame to ensure data collection evidenced sustained nursing innovative behaviors. On a macro-system level, this problem impacts nearly all nursing units across the world because nursing innovations in patient care could be applicable to all scenarios in which nursing care is needed. From a microsystem perspective, nurse managers interested in boosting creativity and innovation among their unit staff should understand the indirect influence transformation leadership and organizational climate can have on nursing innovative behaviors. The importance of innovation is highly applicable to all hospital development and especially nursing care development, as nurses are deeply involved in direct patient care and the practice of healthcare.

Implications:

The study reports the significance of transformational leadership. This implies that hospitals should develop and encourage transformational leadership approach by designing and implementing leadership training programs aimed at developing cultures of patient safety and innovation. On the microsystems level, the findings of this study demonstrate that nurse managers can foster innovation by involving nurses in team projects to develop and implement creative ideas. Throughout the implementation and evaluation phases of nurse innovative projects, nurse manager should recognize success and encourage behaviors attributed to the success in an effort to sustain such innovation. Weng (2013) also stated the importance of establishing a culture of patient safety through development of a patient safety problem-reporting network. Not only does patient safety reporting make nurse managers aware of threats to patient safety, but it also supports development of innovations through staff involvement. This literature is important to our group because it allows us to explore what transformational leadership can look like at the microsystems level. Only through continual reflection on our own practices, can we accomplish changes in our leadership behaviors in the clinical setting. This article models the important affects that we as future nurse leaders can have on the safety of the patients we are caring for. Personal empowerment exercises like the discovery of these cultures of innovation have proved to be inspirational to us throughout our learning process.

References

Weng, R. H., Huang, C. Y., Chen, L. M., & Chang, L. Y. (2013). Exploring the impact of transformational leadership on nurse innovation behavior: a cross‐sectional study. Journal of nursing management. 23,4. doi:10.1111/jonm.12149

Marquis, B., & Huston, C. (2015). Leadership Roles and Management functions in Nursing: Theory and Application. (8th ed). Wolster & Kluwer. Philadelphia. Chapter 3: Twenty-First Century Thinking about Leadership and Management, pp. 60-61.