The Relationship Between Leadership Styles of Nurse Managers and Staff Nurse Job Satisfaction in Hospital Settings

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between leadership styles of nurse managers and job satisfaction of registered staff nurses in hospital settings in an Appalachian state. Names and addresses of 7,190 registered staff nurses were obtained from the state Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses and 200 subjects were selected using simple random sampling. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire was used to measure leadership style of nurse managers as perceived by staff nurses. The Work Quality Index was used to measure job satisfaction of registered staff nurses. A positive, moderate correlation was found between job satisfaction of registered staff nurses and transformational leadership of nurse managers (r = .38, p = .001). An inverse, weak relationship was found between job satisfaction of registered staff nurses and transactional leadership of nurse managers (r = -.25, p = .03). The findings supported a positive relationship between transformational leadership styles and registered staff nurse job satisfaction