Aug 16, 2023 · Implications for Nursing Management. The results of this review suggest that nursing work engagement can be improved by implementing relational leadership behaviours. The findings of this review will be useful for developing appropriate nurse leaders’ leadership styles, improving their workplace environments, and planning leadership training. ... The findings of this review make it clear that targeted educational interventions are an effective method of leadership development in nurses. However, due to equivocal results reported in many included studies and heterogeneity of leadership measurement tools, few conclusions can be drawn regarding … ... Aug 16, 2023 · Aims. This systematic review aimed to identify, evaluate, and synthesise the results of the studies that examine the relationship between nurse managers’ leadership practices and staff nurses ... ... Mar 1, 2021 · Search terms included leadership, evaluation, research, measurement and nurs* to locate relevant studies published between January 2007 and September 2020. The inclusion criteria were also re-applied to articles identified from a previous systematic review (Cummings et al., 2008), that included studies from ... Implications for nursing management: Efforts by organisations and individuals to develop transformational and relational leadership reinforces organisational strategies to improve patient outcomes. Keywords: nursing leadership; patient outcomes; systematic review. ... AIM: Our aim was to describe the findings of a systematic review of studies that examine the relationship between nursing leadership practices and patient outcomes. BACKGROUND: As healthcare faces an economic downturn, stressful work environments, upcoming retirements of leaders and projected workforce shortages, implementing strategies to ... ... 5 days ago · Aim To provide a comprehensive overview of situational leadership theory as applied to nursing management, outlining its relevant measurement tools, intervention modalities, and reporting gaps. Design A scoping review of the literature was conducted according to the JBI guidelines. Data sources Eight databases were used including PubMed, Embase, CINHAL, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang, Cqvip ... ... ">

The relationship between nursing leadership and patient outcomes: a systematic review update

Affiliation.

  • 1 Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Health Sciences Addition (HSA), The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. [email protected]
  • PMID: 23865924
  • DOI: 10.1111/jonm.12116

Aim: Our aim was to describe the findings of a systematic review of studies that examine the relationship between nursing leadership practices and patient outcomes.

Background: As healthcare faces an economic downturn, stressful work environments, upcoming retirements of leaders and projected workforce shortages, implementing strategies to ensure effective leadership and optimal patient outcomes are paramount. However, a gap still exists in what is known about the association between nursing leadership and patient outcomes.

Methods: Published English-only research articles that examined leadership practices of nurses in formal leadership positions and patient outcomes were selected from eight online bibliographic databases. Quality assessments, data extraction and analysis were completed on all included studies.

Results: A total of 20 studies satisfied our inclusion criteria and were retained. Current evidence suggests relationships between positive relational leadership styles and higher patient satisfaction and lower patient mortality, medication errors, restraint use and hospital-acquired infections.

Conclusions: The findings document evidence of a positive relationship between relational leadership and a variety of patient outcomes, although future testing of leadership models that examine the mechanisms of influence on outcomes is warranted.

Implications for nursing management: Efforts by organisations and individuals to develop transformational and relational leadership reinforces organisational strategies to improve patient outcomes.

Keywords: nursing leadership; patient outcomes; systematic review.

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Systematic Review
  • Health Facility Environment / organization & administration
  • Leadership*
  • Nurse Administrators / organization & administration*
  • Nursing / organization & administration*
  • Nursing Administration Research
  • Organizational Objectives
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care*
  • Patient Satisfaction
  • Workplace / organization & administration

U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it's official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

  • Publications
  • Account settings
  • Browse Titles

NCBI Bookshelf. A service of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE): Quality-assessed Reviews [Internet]. York (UK): Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (UK); 1995-.

Cover of Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE): Quality-assessed Reviews

Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE): Quality-assessed Reviews [Internet].

The relationship between nursing leadership and patient outcomes: a systematic review update.

Review published: 2013 .

Bibliographic details: Wong CA, Cummings GG, Ducharme L.  The relationship between nursing leadership and patient outcomes: a systematic review update. Journal of Nursing Management 2013; 21(5): 709-724. [ PubMed : 23865924 ]

AIM: Our aim was to describe the findings of a systematic review of studies that examine the relationship between nursing leadership practices and patient outcomes.

BACKGROUND: As healthcare faces an economic downturn, stressful work environments, upcoming retirements of leaders and projected workforce shortages, implementing strategies to ensure effective leadership and optimal patient outcomes are paramount. However, a gap still exists in what is known about the association between nursing leadership and patient outcomes.

METHODS: Published English-only research articles that examined leadership practices of nurses in formal leadership positions and patient outcomes were selected from eight online bibliographic databases. Quality assessments, data extraction and analysis were completed on all included studies.

RESULTS: A total of 20 studies satisfied our inclusion criteria and were retained. Current evidence suggests relationships between positive relational leadership styles and higher patient satisfaction and lower patient mortality, medication errors, restraint use and hospital-acquired infections.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings document evidence of a positive relationship between relational leadership and a variety of patient outcomes, although future testing of leadership models that examine the mechanisms of influence on outcomes is warranted.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Efforts by organisations and individuals to develop transformational and relational leadership reinforces organisational strategies to improve patient outcomes.

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  • Cite this Page Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE): Quality-assessed Reviews [Internet]. York (UK): Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (UK); 1995-. The relationship between nursing leadership and patient outcomes: a systematic review update. 2013.

Recent Activity

  • The relationship between nursing leadership and patient outcomes: a systematic r... The relationship between nursing leadership and patient outcomes: a systematic review update - Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE): Quality-assessed Reviews

Your browsing activity is empty.

Activity recording is turned off.

Turn recording back on

Connect with NLM

National Library of Medicine 8600 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20894

Web Policies FOIA HHS Vulnerability Disclosure

Help Accessibility Careers

statistics

  • Open access
  • Published: 19 December 2024

Situational leadership theory in nursing management: a scoping review

  • Xin Wang 1 ,
  • Yachen Liu 1 ,
  • Zhongyan Peng 1 ,
  • Bowen Li 1 ,
  • Qingqing Liang 1 ,
  • Shuting Liao 1 &
  • Ming Liu 2  

BMC Nursing volume  23 , Article number:  930 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

110 Accesses

Metrics details

To provide a comprehensive overview of situational leadership theory as applied to nursing management, outlining its relevant measurement tools, intervention modalities, and reporting gaps.

A scoping review of the literature was conducted according to the JBI guidelines.

Data sources

Eight databases were used including PubMed, Embase, CINHAL, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang, Cqvip, SinoMed. References of included studies were also searched. All literature published up to 9 September 2024 was included.

Review methods

According to the PCC framework, the search formula was developed and a three-stage integrated search strategy was employed to search the literature. The titles, abstracts, and full texts were assessed by the reviewers followed by the data extraction and synthetization of results.

Nineteen articles were included in this study, including five cross-sectional studies, thirteen quasi-experimental studies, and one mixed study. The research identified that situational leadership theory has multiple applications in nursing management and plays an important role in the development of nurses’ leadership and maturity. However, the studies were reported with low transparency and did not adhere to the relevant reporting guidelines. In addition, further validation of the relevant measuring instruments is needed.

Situational leadership is a follower-centred leadership skill that enables leaders to adapt their leadership style to achieve optimal management results, facilitate the achievement of organizational goals, and increase follower satisfaction and growth. Further research is needed to develop standardized intervention protocols to apply this theory effectively and enhance the reporting quality of relevant studies.

The situational leadership theory emphasizes the necessity for nursing managers to use different leadership styles depending on their nurses’ maturity. However, the study suggests that it is necessary to further differentiate between different situational leadership models and to explore relevant research tools and interventions further. This could lead to a more standardized and effective clinical application of the theory.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

The proliferation of international public health problems in recent years means a growing need for carers and a growing carer community [ 1 ]. Nursing teams can only be built with the nurse manager and nurses working together. The role of the nurse manager is to transform the organization’s culture and strategy into practical action at an operational level and to manage resources, coordinate care, plan and facilitate nursing care, and provide assessment services and support [ 2 ]. Leadership is the inner force that determines a leader’s leadership behavior and is the driving force that achieves group or organizational goals and ensures that the leading process runs smoothly [ 3 ]. Nursing leadership is the drive of nursing leaders to effectively bring followers together to establish and achieve their goals [ 4 ]. However, using a single leadership model may limit outcomes when faced with different aptitudes of nurses. To sustainably enable nurses to make progress and to improve the quality of nursing care and the efficiency of nursing management, more and more nurse managers use situational leadership theory as a guide. Using situational leadership theory helps nursing managers do this; management skills must also be involved. Situational leadership theory is valued in nursing management as a global applied leadership theory. It can provide a specific theoretical reference for nursing managers to explore practical ways to solve problems and construct evaluation standards for nurses. Situational leadership theory advocates that different leadership styles should be used when dealing with nurses with varying maturity levels to make management more effective [ 5 ]. However, with the gradual growth of the nursing team and the evolution of the theory, situational leadership theory has a variety of applications, approaches, and content in nursing management. Taking into account the problems and improvements in existing implementations can provide useful information for the future construction of intervention programs and facilitate further optimization. It is important to identify currently available nursing interventions and research gaps that need to be addressed.

Situational leadership theory was proposed and developed by Paul Hersey, a renowned psychologist and organizational behaviorist, and Kenneth Blanchard, a managerial scientist [ 5 ]. It is also known as the leadership life cycle theory, a theory of change that values subordinates. The theory suggests that leaders should adopt a leadership style appropriate to their team members’ abilities and willingness [ 6 ]. The situational leadership model reduces the factors that influence the effectiveness of leadership behavior to three: employee maturity, the leader’s task behavior, and the leader’s relationship behavior. The theory suggests that there is no single optimal leadership style, but rather that leaders should be flexible in adapting their leadership styles to the maturity (M) level (both in terms of ability and willingness) of their subordinates and the characteristics of the task. Ability is the knowledge, experience, skills, and abilities demonstrated by an individual or organization in a particular job or activity. Willingness is the confidence, commitment, and motivation of an individual or organization to perform a particular job or activity. This process of employee growth from immaturity to maturity was divided into four stages, named readiness (R) or development (D). The leader’s task behaviors and relationship behaviors comprise the leadership style (S) (shown in Fig.  1 ). Employees with a high level of maturity may require less guidance and more supportive behaviors, whereas employees with a low level may require more guidance and directive behaviors [ 5 ]. Situational Leadership Theory suggests that leaders must be able to differentiate and recognize the current state of the employees if they are to manage effectively.

figure 1

Situational Leadership Theory Model

For leaders, this theory requires leaders to have three skills: diagnosis, flexibility, and agreed-upon leadership styles [ 7 ]. Diagnosis refers to assessing the current readiness level of team members; it is the most critical part of situational leadership theory. Flexibility refers to the leader’s ability to apply different leadership styles to different readiness levels of subordinates or to treat the same person with different leadership styles when the situation changes. Agreed-upon leadership style refers to partnering with the person to agree on his or her desired leadership style [ 8 ]. In addition, for employees, two dimensions can be used to define the different stages of an employee’s development: work maturity (ability) and psychological maturity (willingness). Work maturity, which includes a person’s knowledge and skills. Subordinates with high work maturity are well educated and trained, have sufficient knowledge and abilities, and are experienced enough to perform their work tasks independently without guidance from others. Psychological maturity refers to a person’s willingness and motivation to do something. Subordinates with high psychological maturity have high self-confidence and are motivated to work. They do not need external incentives but rely mainly on internal motivation [ 9 ]. That is, a subordinate’s stage of development is viewed from two perspectives: Ability to work, the relevant knowledge and skills demonstrated by the subordinate when engaged in a particular goal or task; willingness to work, the motivation and confidence of the subordinate when working on a specific goal or task. Accordingly, Hesse and Blanchard categorized the employee growth process into four types (or stages) from low to high [ 10 ].

As situational leadership theory continues to evolve and spread, the two founders of the theory have each refined and differentiated the application model of situational leadership theory based on their own perspectives. Paul Hersey [ 11 ] registered for Situational Leadership Model, and Ken Blanchard registered for Situational Leadership Model II. With regard to these two situational leadership models, their core advocates a flexible leadership style, whereby leaders should utilize different leadership styles in accordance with the differences in their subordinates’ ability and willingness to perform, as well as the differences in the work tasks and work environments. Whether it is Situational Leadership Model or Situational Leadership Model II, the steps are the same for leaders when utilizing the situational leadership approach. The first step is to define specific work tasks and goals. The second step is to diagnose the ability and willingness of the subordinates in the context of the specific job tasks and goals. The third step is to apply a matching leadership style [ 10 ]. Nevertheless, they are different. In Situational Leadership Model, Paul Hersey categorizes it into four different performance readiness according to their ability and willingness, R1-R4 (R1: unable and insecure or unwilling; R2: unable but confident or willing; R3 able but insecure or unwilling; R4: able and confident and willing), S1-S4 (telling, selling, participating, delegating). In Situational Leadership Model II, the Ken Blanchard divides it into four different developmental stages according to their ability and willingness, D1-D4 (D1: low competence, high commitment; D2: low to some competence, low commitment; D3: moderate to high competence, variable commitment; D4: high competence, high commitment), S1-S4 (directing, coaching, supporting, delegating). It is worth noting that the difference between the two models is mainly in the classification of employees, and there is no difference in the connotation of leadership style.

Situational leadership theory has been extensively studied and applied in the context of nursing management for many years. With the continuous development of the medical market and the continuous improvement of the public’s medical needs, the comprehensive quality of the nursing team, especially the head nurse, has been subjected to higher requirements. It is especially important to improve the leadership of nurse leaders and construct effective nursing teams through the use of situational leadership theory [ 12 ]. The nurse manager’s leadership behavior directly affects the nurses’ enthusiasm and the improvement of nursing quality [ 13 ]. The challenge of building a nursing team with efficient execution to provide patients with high-quality care to meet the demands of modern clinical nursing is a significant problem that every nurse manager must address. Applying situational leadership theory can assist nursing managers in motivating nurses to enhance management efficiency. Studies have shown that nurse managers use different leadership styles to manage nurses based on maturity levels, effectively avoiding resistance from nurses to their managers, inspiring nurses’ work enthusiasm, and improving nurses’ performance appraisals [ 14 ]. Zhang et al. [ 15 ] report that applying situational leadership theory improved overall clinical quality, including medical document writing quality, accidental injury prevention, medication safety, patient satisfaction, and the quality of clinical teaching. Additionally, the nurse manager is relieved of the burden of overseeing the entire unit and can delegate tasks to highly prepared nurses who are able and willing to assume responsibility [ 15 ]. The nurse manager can dedicate more time to managing the work, which improves efficiency and contributes to the quality of nursing care. To practically implement situational leadership theory into the specific work of nurse managers and nurses, managers should assess nurses’ readiness dynamically and use various management techniques to help nurses progress along the R1-R4 or D1-D4 as quickly as possible. That is to facilitate the development of the nursing team [ 7 ].

Although situational leadership theory has been widely used in nursing management, the research has many different types of research designs and tools and variations in the methodology used to apply the theory. Therefore, to identify how situational leadership theory has been applied in the field of nursing management, we synthesized the existing literature using a scoping review [ 16 ]. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic review of situational leadership theory has been published. In addition, we found that the transparency of the relevant studies was an apparent absence deficiency through our previous review of the studies on situational leadership theory in nursing management. Given that, our objective was to know how situational leadership theory works in nursing management and how the interventions were carried out. Therefore, the transparency of the study plays an important role in the overview of this study and provides some guidance for the referencing as well as reporting of future related studies. In summary, we reviewed studies using reporting guidelines relevant to the study design of the included studies.

Research questions

How to use situational leadership theory in nursing management?

What interventions does situational leadership theory provide for nursing management? /How do the intervention programs work?

What are the measurement tools and measures related to situational leadership theory?

How transparent is the reporting of existing studies?

This scoping review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of situational leadership theory as applied to nursing management and reporting, and to explore the research gap regarding situational leadership theory in nursing.

The study used a scoping review, which is a methodological amalgamation of summaries, explanations, and interpretations of existing qualitative and quantitative studies [ 17 ]. The review was conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Scoping Review Guidelines [ 18 ], which were based on a framework derived from the concepts of Arksey and O’Malley [ 19 ] and subsequent enhancements proposed by Levac et al. [ 20 ] The research protocol was not registered and was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) [ 21 ], as shown in Appendix S1 .

Literature selection

This review question was assigned to this study based on the PCC (Population, Concept, Context) framework. (1) Population: nurses; (2) Concept: use of Situational Leadership Theory; (3) Context: clinical nursing management. The primary question of this review is how to use situational leadership theory in nursing management. The inclusion criteria for this study were limited to peer-reviewed original journal articles, theses, and dissertations published in Chinese or English that describe the use of situational leadership theory in nursing management. No time limit for inclusion in the included literature. Exclusion criteria: We excluded letters to the editor, reviews, guidelines, and conference abstracts as they did not provide the necessary information on using the theory in nursing management. In addition, literature without full text and duplicate publications were excluded.

Search strategy

A three-stage integrated search strategy was applied to search articles both published and unpublished literature in English and Chinese, as well as gray literature. Initially, two reviewers (PZY & LBW) searched PubMed and CNKI to identify synonyms and index terms, determining the number of potentially relevant studies to develop a final search strategy for all databases. The search strategy was finalized with the assistance of a librarian, approved by all authors, and employed MeSH terms, keywords, and Boolean operators across all databases. In the second stage, the librarian performed a comprehensive search using databases such as PubMed, Embase, CINHAL, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang, Cqvip, SinoMed, with the last search date of September 9, 2024. Finally, two authors (PZY & LBW) conducted additional searches by manually examining the reference lists of all eligible papers. The English search terms for this study included ‘nurs*,’ ‘situational leadership,’ ‘leadership life cycle theory,’ and ‘manage*.’ The search strategy and results for all databases are shown in Appendix S2 .

All retrieved articles were imported into Endnote X9. After excluding duplicates, two reviewers (PZY & LBW) independently assessed the titles, abstracts, and full texts based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Any discrepancies were resolved through discussion between the two reviewers. Reasons for exclusion during the full-text screening stage were documented. In our review, we didn’t assess the quality of the literature [ 22 ].

Data synthesis and analysis

Two reviewers (WX & LST) performed iterative readings and multiple reviews of the retrieved literature [ 20 ]. The data extraction form was determined through iterative inductive review and consultation among the research team in order to provide a logical and descriptive summary of results consistent with the objectives and questions of the scoping review. Microsoft Excel was ultimately used to extract the following information: authors, year, country, study population, sample size, study aims, study design, methodology, and study conclusions. All analyses were resolved by consensus.

The TREND (Transparent Reporting of Evaluations of quasi-experimental studies) Statement was used to check the reporting of the included quasi-experimental study articles, and the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) checklist was used to examine the reporting of the included cross-sectional study articles [ 23 , 24 ].

Database search

A search of eight databases and a manual search yielded 657 articles. After excluding 196 duplicates, the titles and abstracts of 461 studies were screened against the eligibility criteria, resulting in the exclusion of 366 studies. Subsequently, 95 studies were screened for eligibility in the full text and 19 were included in the review (Fig.  2 ).

figure 2

The PRISMA flow diagram

Characteristics of included articles

The characteristics of 19 included articles are shown in Table  1 , and Table  2 presents the categorical statistics that 13 (68.4%) in Chinese, and 6 (68.4%) in English; thirteen (68.4%) articles were quasi-experimental studies, and 5 (26.3%) were cross-sectional studies; the majority of articles (12, 63.2%) were published between 2011 and 2020. More than half of the included studies (13, 68.4%) were conducted in Asian countries.

Situational leadership model assessment tools

The included studies identified methodologies and tools for the assessment of nursing leadership styles and nurse maturity.

Nursing leadership

The review found that overall there are 5 validated tools for measuring and assessing leadership in the context of situational leadership management models. Leadership Effectiveness and Adaptability Description (LEAD) focuses on assessing the leadership style of nursing leaders in terms of style preference, style range, and style adaptability [ 5 ]. Leadership Behaviour Analysis II Scale (LBAII) consists of two sections: LBAII-Self and LBAII-Other. The LBAII-Self was used for the leader’s self-assessment and the LBAII-Other was used for the subordinate’s evaluation of the leader. This scale assesses the flexibility and effectiveness of a leader’s leadership style [ 43 ]. In order to explore nurse leadership styles, Cardoso et al. [ 27 ] developed a self-administered questionnaire to assess the nurse Coaching leaders’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Leadership Style Assessment Tool (LSAT) is designed to examine the characteristics of leadership styles in diverse contexts. The objective of the scale is to assess the consistency between the self-rated and subordinate-rated leadership styles of nursing managers [ 44 ]. Leadership Style Self-Questionnaire (LSSQ) also measures the effectiveness of nursing leadership styles and the flexibility of leadership styles through different contexts, but only for nursing leaders [ 45 ].

Nursing maturity

There was no mention of specific measurement tools for nurse maturity in the included studies. Three studies focused on assessing the maturity level of nurses in terms of their productivity, management and innovation [ 25 , 35 , 40 ]. Five studies assessed the level of maturity of nursing staff based on education, professional title, and years of work experience [ 15 , 26 , 34 , 39 , 42 ].

Application of situational leadership theory

Intervention studies.

Given the heterogeneity of interventions and the lack of transparency, it is difficult to categorize them by intervention program. In addition, the included studies did not describe the types of situational leadership theory models used. Situational leadership theory guides an intervention program that focuses on identifying subordinates’ maturity, and the leader selects a matching leadership style based on the subordinates’ maturity. Besides being applied to clinical nursing management, situational leadership theory has also been applied to clinical nurse training [ 36 ] and nursing internship supervisor [ 29 ]. Due to differences in the purpose of the included studies, there were differences in the identification of nurse maturity and the leadership style/teaching style/training content used by the leaders (preceptors). At the same time, individual studies [ 37 , 41 ] reported on how to train leaders in the use of situational leadership theory. Although there are many differences, we identified and summarized the following areas based on the main concerns: model choice, nurse management intervention, nurse training intervention, and theory training programs.

Model choice

Included studies did not describe the type of situational leadership theory model that was used. By defining the concepts in the articles, the researcher determined that 7 of the articles used the SL model [ 15 , 25 , 26 , 29 , 34 , 39 , 42 ] and 4 used the SLII model [ 30 , 35 , 37 , 40 ]. Furthermore, there was a conceptual confusion in one article, which used the word “development” from the SLII model, but defined it as “readiness” from the SL model [ 41 ].

Nurse management intervention

Eight studies [ 25 , 26 , 30 , 34 , 35 , 40 , 41 , 42 ] reported interventions in situational leadership theory for clinical nurse management, with components including identify and match. Identify the subordinates’ maturity (work ability and work willingness) and classify them into four types: R1-R4 (some studies used M instead of R) or D1-D4. Leaders master different leadership styles (S1-S4) based on task and relationship behaviors, matching the appropriate leadership style to the maturity level of the subordinate, where R1 or D1 is for S1, R2 or D2 is for S2, R3 or D3 is for S3, and R4 or D4 is for S4. Among these studies, Chen et al.’s [ 30 ] study added an intervention to improve nurses’ maturity was added to the intervention, which included assigning individual training programs to nurses at different maturity levels, providing psycho-material incentives, and so on. Li & Li’s [ 35 ] study divided the intervention into three steps: identify, adapt, and match. Adapting emphasizes the need for leaders to continue learning to master different leadership styles within this theoretical leadership model. Xue’s [ 41 ] study adds to what leaders need to be trained in within this theoretical model.

Nurse training intervention

Five studies [ 15 , 29 , 30 , 36 , 39 ] reported intervention programs in which situational leadership theory guided the training of nurses. Based on this theory, nurses and practical nurses were grouped into four categories according to their maturity level, and different teaching methods and leadership styles were used to train nurses. Liu & Zhang [ 36 ] classified nurses into three mastery levels (M1 low, M2 medium, M3 high) based on their mastery of manipulative skills. M1 nurses used command health promotion to start demonstration teaching to nurses, M2 nurses used persuasive participatory teaching methods to instruct nurses in small groups and conduct manipulative training, and M3 nurses used empowerment teaching to allow nurses to practice manipulative skills and instruction. Zhang et al.’s [ 15 ] study details the training content for nurses at different maturity levels, including four parts: leadership model, training objectives, training priorities, and training methods.

Theory training programs

In addition, two studies [ 37 , 41 ] reported on how leaders were trained in situational leadership theory. Liu et al. [ 37 ] trained nurse leaders in a theory course that included four sections: goals, foundations, and skills of situational leadership theory; nurse development needs; characteristics of different leadership styles; and rules of situational leadership. Meanwhile, Xue’s [ 41 ] study reported that the training included an overview of situational leadership theory, the basics of situational leadership theory, the leadership styles that leaders need to have, how to assess the nursing readiness of the led, and so on.

Observational studies

There are two different research designs for situational leadership theory in observational research. One was to analyze the leadership profile of hospital nurses with the tools of situational leadership theory [ 27 , 31 ]. The other was to investigate the leadership behavior of nurse managers (self-evaluated) and the comparison of nurses’ perceptions of their leaders’ leadership [ 33 ], leadership style [ 28 , 38 ] (subordinated evaluated) to explore the differences between nurse managers and nurses’ perceptions of leadership.

Intervention outcome indicators

The applications of situational leadership theory used a considerable number of outcome indicators. Overall these studies reported positive outcomes for nurses, nursing managers, nursing students, and patients.

Effects on nurses

Situational leadership management model has multiple effects on nurses. Improved quality of clinical care for nurses, according to the findings of five research [ 15 , 26 , 29 , 36 , 42 ]. Three studies reported an increase in nurses’ job satisfaction, as measured by their contentment with their employment, their relationships with coworkers, their possibilities for professional growth, and their perks [ 15 , 30 , 38 ]. At the same time, teaching nurses situational leadership theory enhanced their abilities and core competencies. Zhang’s study [ 15 ] found that nurses’ scores on the operational skills test improved, Peng [ 39 ] reported that nurses’ scores on the theoretical test improved, and Liu [ 36 ] showed an increase in confidence and nursing skills. In addition, according to Huang’s [ 34 ] research, the performance (salary) of nurses has also been significantly improved under the contextual leadership management model.

Effects on nurses managers

Eight studies reported that by training nurse managers in situational leadership theory, the managerial competencies of nurse managers improved compared to the pre-training period [ 25 , 27 , 28 , 32 , 35 , 37 , 33 , 41 ]. Two reports indicated that applying situational leadership theory affected the leadership styles of nursing managers, including increased flexibility, adaptability, and effectiveness of leadership styles [ 31 , 37 ]. Furthermore, the followers are more satisfied with their management after nurse managers apply situational leadership theory to manage their followers [ 38 , 41 ]. Cai [ 25 ] reported that nurse managers had increased maturity, the degree of people’s willingness and ability to accomplish specific tasks, including increased levels of business qualities, management skills, creativity, and job titles.

Effects on others

From the findings of one study, student nurses’ satisfaction with their internships was enhanced when the nurse teacher applied situational leadership theory to managing the student nurses. This satisfaction included the student nurses’ satisfaction with the training method, their satisfaction with the learning environment, their satisfaction with the organizational management, their satisfaction with their gains, and their overall satisfaction [ 40 ]. According to a different study, intern nursing students’ performance on the skills and basic theory of nursing tests increased, and they performed better on assessments of the nurse leader’s nursing care, teaching design, and relationship with the teacher [ 29 ]. In addition, two studies found that patient satisfaction with care improved after nursing managers applied a contextual leadership management model [ 29 , 42 ].

Reporting status of included literature

This review included 13 quasi-experimental and 5 cross-sectional studies (one mixed study not reviewed for reporting guidelines). Table  3 summarizes adherence to reporting guidelines, using the TREND (for quasi-experimental studies) and STROBE (for cross-sectional studies) guidelines. Introduced in 2004, TREND provides checklists for quasi-experimental studies [ 23 ]. This guideline emphasizes reporting on theoretical frameworks, intervention and comparison details, study design, and bias-adjustment methods [ 46 ]. STROBE, an international collaboration, aims to enhance the transparency, accuracy, and completeness of cross-sectional studies [ 24 ]. There were significant gaps in adherence to these two guidelines in all included studies. Adherence to both guidelines will be judged using a cut-off value of 50% in all included studies, regardless of whether they are classified as experimental or cross-sectional.

TREND for evaluation of quasi-experimental studies

Based on the TREND reporting guidelines, a relatively low percentage of entries reported studies in the “Method” and “Result” Sect. (39.3% and 75.0%, respectively), shown in Table  3 . Methodology included “sample size” (item 7, 3/13), “assignment method” (item 8, 0/13 − 7/13), and “blinding” (item 9, 0/13). In the results section, “participant flow” (item 12, 0/13 ~ 9/13), there were significant gaps in the specific ratings of participants. Additionally, “baseline data” (item 14, 0/13 ~ 11/13) had poor coverage of the baseline and target populations and was not reported in any of the included articles. Similarly, the reporting rates for “numbers analyzed” (item 16, 0/13), “ancillary analyses” (item 18, 0/13), and “adverse events” (item 19, 0/13) were absent. However, there were articles that met the criteria for this item, although the results were not favorable.

STROBE for evaluation of cross-sectional studies

According to the STROBE reporting guidelines, only two of the five studies addressed potential sources of “bias” (item 9, 2/5). One-fifth of the studies mentioned “study size” (item 10, 1/5), “analytical methods considering sampling strategy” (item 12d, 1/5), and “sensitivity analysis” (item 12e, 1/5). Notably, none of the studies explained how missing data were handled (item 12c, 0/5). There were gaps in the results section, as many cross-sectional studies had to explicitly report the number of participants with missing data (item 13b, 1/5). In addition, none of the included articles used flow charts (item 13c, 0/5) and reported “funding sources or grants” (item 22, 0/5). Details are shown in Table  3 .

This scoping review identifies how situational leadership theory can be utilized in nursing management with respect to theory-related tools, application contexts, roles, and the quality of reporting. The findings highlight the impact of situational leadership theory on nursing management, which theory fully uses the nursing manager’s leadership skills, including the ability to identify and effectively utilize the talents of team members. Situational leadership management is beneficial because of its capacity to optimize leadership effectiveness by adaptively adjusting leadership behaviors based on the growth needs of team members and the complexity of the task [ 10 ]. In fact, nursing managers need to exercise effective leadership, which can guide team members to enhance organizational cohesion and core competencies [ 4 ]. Consequently, we recommend that situational leadership management be employed to enhance the leadership of managers and the maturity of nurses, thereby further improving the quality and efficiency of care. However, as the included articles report, although empirical research supports the validity of situational leadership theory, the specific application of practice in the nursing field remains inadequate. We found that the SL model and SLII model were not defined in all included studies, that there is a difference between the two theories in distinguishing the levels of employees, and that this difference affects the application of the theories and the implementation of the intervention. We suggest that the SL model or SLII model should be clearly defined in future studies to avoid conceptual confusion and misapplication.

Regarding leadership assessment tools in the situational leadership management model, there are some differences and limitations between the tools. First of all, in terms of assessment criteria, the questionnaire developed by Cardoso [ 27 ] used a 6-point Likert scale to assess the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of nurses, while the other tools used situational tests to assess leadership styles. Furthermore, in terms of the content of the assessment, Hersey and Blanchard’s leadership style assessment tool and LEAD were used to determine the type of leadership style, while LBAII and LSSQ were used to examine the flexibility of the leadership style and the effectiveness of the style; in terms of the study population, only Hersey and Blanchard’s leadership style assessment tool and LBAII were used for leaders’ self-evaluation and subordinates’ evaluation of leaders. Although there are multiple well-established situational leadership theory measurement tools, not all studies have validated and reported the reliability and validity of their research tools. Most of the studies from China reported on nurse maturity, but none of them measured nurse maturity using specific measurement tools [ 15 , 25 , 26 , 34 , 35 , 39 , 40 , 42 ]. This would lead to biases in the assessment results, erroneous findings, and insufficient credibility of the research conclusions. Therefore, scholars need to strengthen the reporting of measurement tools in future research on situational leadership management. In addition, situational leadership theory may have different leadership dynamics in different cultural healthcare settings, and scholars should enhance the development of assessment instruments appropriate for different cultural contexts and utilize modern technological tools to support the practice of situational leadership theory, such as the development of employee maturity assessment systems and leadership development platforms to improve the accuracy of the measurement of leadership styles and maturity in this leadership model [ 47 ].

Situational leadership theory is a theoretical perspective suitable for studying team functioning in large inter professional events. In the context of the current complexity of diseases and the growing health needs of patients and families, there is a need to provide comprehensive medical care based on interdisciplinary teams and the full integration of various resources [ 4 ]. Leadership is contextual and influenced by situational factors. It suggests that leaders should adjust the degree to which they direct or support their subordinates based on the context [ 48 ]. Leaders should adapt their leadership style based on the maturities of their team members and respond to situational demands [ 49 ]. Situational leadership requires individuals to be flexible, adapt to the situation, and adopt a leadership style that best suits the needs of their team members to achieve organizational goals, motivate employees, and increase productivity [ 50 ]. Leaders can increase employee job satisfaction by using different leadership styles with employees at different maturity levels [ 51 ]. It is useful for managers to use situational leadership theory to manage followers. The right management style will enable employees to build on their strengths and complement their weaknesses to improve their work efficiency [ 10 ]. Nevertheless, while situational leadership theory emphasizes adjusting leadership styles in response to changes in follower maturity, there may be a degree of continuity and stability in the leadership behavior itself. Leaders need to consider this when adjusting their leadership style and avoid changing it too frequently, which may affect team stability and follower trust [ 51 ]. There is also the fact that the implementation of situational leadership theory relies on the leader’s judgment of the employee’s maturity and analysis of the situation. However, these judgments and analyses may be influenced by the leader’s subjective factors, leading to a biased choice of leadership style [ 28 ]. Therefore, management should organize leadership theory training and require leaders to participate actively in the training. Participation in training develops flexibility and recognition of leaders’ leadership styles [ 52 ]. Encouraging followers to provide feedback to leaders actively will encourage leaders to manage the organization with a more appropriate leadership style, promoting organizational goals [ 53 ]. It is worth noting that the review identified major shortcomings in the current reporting of interventions. Specifically, most of the intervention descriptions in the trials are limited in their lack of detail and transparency regarding allocation settings, the timing of the intervention, duration, incentives, and measures taken to reduce potential bias from non-randomization and non-blinding. Moreover, these studies did not provide recommendations for further developing their interventions. This lack of transparency and under-reporting of interventions may be barriers to developing standardized intervention programs [ 54 , 55 ]. We suggest that future research needs to further improve the reporting of intervention protocols and develop standardized intervention protocols. This will support of the application of situational leadership theory in care management and increase the replicability and quality of research in this area.

Five of the nineteen articles included in this review used observational studies. After a one-by-one check, none of the articles fully met the STROBE review criteria, and a notable deficiency was noted in the methodology. The remaining 13 articles used a non-randomized controlled trial approach, and none of the study designs fully followed the TREND guidelines. These 13 non-randomized controlled trials have deficiencies in the completeness of reporting of methods and results. The TREND reporting guidelines were developed to improve the transparency and accuracy of reporting behavioral and public health evaluations of non-randomized designs [ 56 ]. The frequent use of STROBE for reporting observational studies also aims for the same purpose [ 57 ]. The early emergence of this type of research and discussion on applying situational leadership theory in nursing management resulted in a low level of transparency and accuracy in the literature in this area.

Situational leadership theory was used in observational studies to assess the leadership of nurse managers. The results of the STROBE statement show that these observational studies have shown a lack of reporting of rigorous study design and funding, with the least reported part of the study design section being the reporting of the study sample size. This means that the representation of these sample sizes to the population was called into question, which could lead to measurement errors in these studies. Consequently, the findings of these observational studies should be referred with caution [ 27 ]. At the same time, situational leadership theory explores the relationship between nurse managers’ leadership and the judgments of nurses’ maturity and the match between them. Several quasi-experimental studies have indicated its usefulness in nursing leadership contexts. However, according to a TREND assessment, these studies were found to have poor reporting of study methodology and results. The lack of methodological reporting will similarly affect other scholars’ difficulties to refer to such literature to apply situational leadership to nursing management. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that less than half of the studies reported on the validity of the tools, which puts the reliability of the findings in doubt. In conclusion, the lack of transparency in reporting has resulted in the absence of a referenceable, standardized intervention program and situational leadership theory intervention process in nursing management. Future research may benefit from using STROBE and TREND as a guiding tool to conduct research related to applying situational leadership theory in nursing management. This may increase the transparency and quality of research in this area.

Limitations

We acknowledge that this review may be subject to certain limitations. Most of the studies included in this review were conducted in Asian countries, which may limit the application of the findings in other regions, especially in Western healthcare settings. Additionally, we excluded literature in languages other than Chinese and English, meaning relevant studies from other regions may not have been included, potentially leading to incomplete global coverage. Several of the included studies were reported with less transparency and did not report validated assessment instruments, which limits the information available in this review. This also highlights the need for future research to increase the transparency of relevant research reports and to develop and validate relevant measurement tools.

Nurse leadership is essential in the current healthcare environment, and it is key to facilitating nurse professional development and achieving organizational objectives. Situational leadership theory promotes the development of nurse leadership and maturity by identifying and matching nursing managers’ leadership styles and nurses’ maturity to promote improved organizational outcomes. This review provides a comprehensive overview of how situational leadership theory can be used in nursing management, outlining measurement tools, research designs, intervention methods and indicators, and reporting gaps. The extant literature emphasizes the role of situational leadership theory in nursing management. However, some of the applied tools need to be validated, model types and concepts need to be further defined, and the articles report poor transparency, which reduces the credibility of the research and hinders further improvement of the applied methodology. Therefore, in future research, further development of research tools, standardizing application protocols, and adherence of reporting guidelines are strongly recommended.

Data availability

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

Abbreviations

Development

Leadership behaviour analysis II scale

Leadership effectiveness and adaptability description

Leadership style assessment tool

Leadership style self-questionnaire

Leadership style

Strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology

Transparent reporting of evaluations of quasi-experimental studies

World Health Organization. 2020. State of the world’s nursing 2020: investing in education, jobs and leadership, https://www.who.int/china/publications-detail/9789240003279 . Accessed 13 August 2024.

International Council of Nurses. Initiative contributes to construction of healthy China. 2021; http://icn.ch/news/icn-leadership-changetm-nursing-training-initiative-contributes-construction-healthy-china . Accessed 11 August 2024.

Miao J, Huo G. A study of the five forces model of leadership. Leadersh Sci. 2006;9:20–3.

Google Scholar  

Jiang X. Nursing leadership: key element of professional development. Int J Nurs Sci. 2024;11(1):1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2023.12.015 .

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Hersey P, Blanchard KH. Life cycle theory of leadership. Train Dev J. 1969;23(5):26–34.

Hersey P, Blanchard KH. Management of organizational behavior: Utilizing human resources. 1969.

Lynch BM, McCormack B, McCance T. Development of a model of situational leadership in residential care for older people. J Nurs Manage. 2011;19(8):1058–69. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2834.2011.01275.x .

Article   Google Scholar  

Fernandez CF, Vecchio RP. Situational leadership theory revisited: a test of an across-jobs perspective. Leadersh Q. 1997;8(1):67–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(97)90031-X .

Fossas A. Psychological maturity predicts different forms of happiness. J Happiness Stud. 2019;20(6):1933–52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-0033-9 .

Hersey P, Blanchard KH. Situational leadership. In Dean’s Forum. 1997; (Vol. 12, No. 2, p. 5).

The Center of Leadership Studies. Dr.Paul Hersay: The Legacy of a True Leader Lives On. 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20140202092728/http://situational.com/news/dr-paul-hersey-2012/ . Accessed 11 August 2024.

Sjølie BM, Hartviksen TA, Bondas T. Navigation to prioritizing the patient–first-line nurse managers’ experiences of participating in a quality improvement collaborative. BMC Health Serv Res. 2020;20:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-4918-z .

Duffield CM, Roche MA, Blay N, Stasa H. Nursing unit managers, staff retention and the work environment. J Clin Nurs. 2011;20(1–2):23–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2010.03478.x .

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Aiken LH, Sermeus W, Van den Heede K, Sloane DM, Busse R, McKee M, et al. Patient safety, satisfaction, and quality of hospital care: cross sectional surveys of nurses and patients in 12 countries in Europe and the United States. BMJ. 2012;344. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e1717 .

Zhang X, Su S, Chen Q, Huang X. Application of leadership life cycle theory in hierarchical training of neonatology nurses. Health Vocat Educ. 2019;37(20):127–30.

Munn Z, Peters MD, Stern C, Tufanaru C, McArthur A, Aromataris E. Systematic review or scoping review? Guidance for authors when choosing between a systematic or scoping review approach. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2018;18:1–7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-018-0611-x .

Grant MJ, Booth A. A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Inform Libr J. 2009;26(2):91–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x .

Peters MD, Godfrey C, McInerney P, Munn Z, Tricco AC, Khalil H. Chapter 11: scoping reviews. JBI Man Evid Synthesis. 2020;169(7):467–73.

Arksey H, O’Malley L. Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Methodol. 2005;8(1):19–32.

Levac D, Colquhoun H, O’Brien KK. Scoping studies: advancing the methodology. Implement Sci. 2010;5(69). https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-5-69 .

Tricco AC, Lillie E, Zarin W, O’Brien KK, Colquhoun H, Levac D, et al. PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR): checklist and explanation. Ann Intern Med. 2018;169(7):467–73. https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-0850 .

Pham MT, Rajić A, Greig JD, Sargeant JM, Papadopoulos A, McEwen SA. A scoping review of scoping reviews: advancing the approach and enhancing the consistency. Res Synthesis Methods. 2014;5(4):371–85. https://doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1123 .

Des Jarlais DC, Lyles C, Crepaz N, Trend Group. Improving the reporting quality of nonrandomized evaluations of behavioral and public health interventions: the TREND statement. Am J Public Health. 2004;94(3):361–6. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.94.3.361 .

von Elm E, Altman DG, Egger M, Pocock SJ, Gotzsche PC, Vandenbroucke JP, et al. The strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies. J Clin Epidemiol. 2008;61(4):344–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2007.11.008 .

Cai D, Gui H, Chen J, Li J. Management and effectiveness of head nurses competing for posts. J Nurs Adm. 2002;(04):41–3.

Cao Y, Zhou H. The use of situational leadership theory in ward nursing management. J Traditional Chin Med Manage. 2019;27(01):113–5.

Cardoso ML, Ramos LH, D’Innocenzo M. Coaching: a reference model for the practice of nurse-leaders in the hospital context. Original Article. 2011;45(3):730–7. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0080-62342011000300026 .

Castillo ALR, Padilla MER, Hernández DG. Self-evaluation and evaluation of nursing leaders’ Leadership styles. Rev Latinoam Enferm. 2021;29:e3393. https://doi.org/10.1590/1518-8345.3435.3393 .

Chen H, Wang S, Tong Y, Mao Y, Huang J. The use of situational Leadership theory in nursing clinical teaching and Learning Management. Chin Rural Health Service Adm. 2010;30(06):422–4.

Chen Y, Xie Y, Zhong Y, Ye M. Effects of a situational Leadership Work Model on nurses’ job satisfaction. Nurs Pract Res. 2016;13(14):85–7.

de Oliveira D, de Pauli ME, Sedrez Celich KL, Remião Luzardo A, Gaffuri da Silva T. Monteiro Da Conceição V. NURSING LEADERS PROFILE IN a HOSPITAL SERVICE. Revista De Pesquisa: Cuidado é Fundamental. 2021;13(1):1095–101. https://doi.org/10.9789/2175-5361.rpcfo.v13.9985 .

Foster D. The management of professionals: the preferences of hospital sisters and charge nurses. J Nurs Manag. 1995;3(3):121–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2834.1995.tb00093.x .

Furtado LC, Batista Mda G, Silva FJ. Leadership and job satisfaction among azorean hospital nurses: an application of the situational leadership model. J Nurs Manag. 2011;19(8):1047–57. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2834.2011.01281.x .

Huang W, Zhou Q, Xu Z, Liang X, Qian J, Bi Y. el al. Situational leadership theory in improving nurse performance. Home Medicine. 2017;000(009):227–228.

Li Y, Li B. The role of situational leadership theory in the eight-one management of nurse leaders. Jilin Med J. 2011;32(17):3549–51.

Liu C, Zhang R. Effect of training based on situational leadership theory on the core competencies of operating room nurses. J Clin Nurs. 2020;0456–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-023-01442-2 .

Liu Z, Ni B, Hu X. Effect of situational leadership theory training on head nurses’ leadership style in nursing management. J Evidence-Based Med. 2017;32(12):1910–3.

McElhaney RF. Perceptions of nurse managers’ leadership style by nurse managers and RN staff: Job satisfaction as perceived by RN staff. Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing; 2003.

Peng S, Xu L, Li Y. Application of situational Leadership Theory to Teaching and Learning in Emergency Medicine Refresher Programs. Mod Clin Nurs. 2012;11(10):55–6. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1671-8283.2012.10.024 .

Wang W, Wang X. Application of situational leadership theory to nursing lead teacher training efforts. Chin Gen Pract Nurs. 2016;14(29):3113–4.

Xue M. Exploring the effectiveness of situational leadership theory training for head nurses in improving their nursing management capabilities. Contemporary Medical Symposium. 2019;(03):275–277.

Yan X. Application of situational Leadership theory to outpatient nursing management. Prac J Med Pharm. 2010;27(3):244–5. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1671-4008.2010.03.034 .

Zigarmi D, Edeburn C, Blanchard KH. Blanchard. Getting to know the LBAII: research, validity and reliability of the self and other forms. 4th ed. Training and Development, Inc.; 1997.

Contreras CCT. Situational leadership in nursing in a health institution in Bucaramanga. Colombia Enfermería Clínica. 2013;23(4):140–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enfcli.2013.04.004 .

Dong L, Wang X, Ma Y, Xin A, Zhang X. Influence of standardized training on leadership style of head nurses. Chin Nurs Res. 2013;27(5):1303–4.

Donner A, Klar N. Pitfalls of and controversies in cluster randomization trials. Am J Public Health. 2004;94(3):416–22.

Gao F. An empirical analysis of situational leadership theory and leadership styles. Leadersh Sci. 2013;1134–5. https://doi.org/10.19572/j.cnki.ldkx.2013.11.011 .

Burns JM. Leadership. Open Road Integrated Media. 2012; New York, NY.

Blanchard KH, Johnson DE. Management of organizational behavior: leading human resources. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall; 2008.

Nonaillada J, Martin RA. Applying situational leadership to redeployment duties during COVID-19: lessons learned. Qual Manage Healthc. 2022;31(4):274–7.

Pasaribu SB, Goestjahjanti FS, Srinita S, Novitasari D, Haryanto B. The role of situational leadership on job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and employee performance. Front Psychol. 2022;13:896539. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.896539 .

van Diggele C, Roberts C, Lane S. Leadership behaviours in interprofessional student teamwork. BMC Med Educ. 2022;22(1):834. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03923-5 .

Lambert L. Leadership redefined: an evocative context for teacher leadership. School Leadersh Manage. 2003;23(4):421–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/1363243032000150953 .

Hoffmann TC, Glasziou PP, Boutron I, Milne R, Perera R, Moher D, et al. Better reporting of interventions: template for intervention description and replication (TIDieR) checklist and guide. Gesundheitswesen (Bundesverband Der Arzte Des Offentlichen Gesundheitsdienstes (Germany)). 2016;78(3):175–88. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0041-111066 .

Tricco AC, Ashoor HM, Cardoso R, MacDonald H, Cogo E, Kastner M, et al. Sustainability of knowledge translation interventions in healthcare decision-making: a scoping review. Implement Sci. 2016;IS. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-016-0421-7 . :11,55.

Fuller T, Pearson M, Peters JL, Anderson R. Evaluating the impact and use of transparent reporting of evaluations with non-randomised designs (TREND) reporting guidelines. BMJ open. 2012;2(6):e002073. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002073 .

Vandenbroucke JP, von Elm E, Altman DG, Gøtzsche PC, Mulrow CD, Pocock SJ, et al. Strengthening the reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE): explanation and elaboration. Int J Surg (London England). 2014;12(12):1500–24. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-147-8-200710160-00010-w1 .

Download references

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Faculty of Health Sciences and Sports, Macao Polytechnic University, Macao, China

Xin Wang, Yachen Liu, Zhongyan Peng, Bowen Li, Qingqing Liang & Shuting Liao

Peking University Health Science Center - Macao Polytechnic University Nursing Academy, Polytechnic University, Macao, China

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

X, W; M, L; YC, L; ZY, P; BW, L; QQ, L and ST, L were involved in the conceptualization, methodology, validation, and manuscript draft preparation. ZY, P and BW, L were involved in the literature selection and search strategy. X, W and ST, L were involved in data synthesis and analysis. M, L and X, W performed critical revisions for important intellectual content. All authors were involved in the conduct of the study, and all approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ming Liu .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate.

The study is a scoping review of published material; therefore, ethics approval was not required.

Consent for publication

Competing interests.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary Material 1

Supplementary material 2, supplementary material 3, rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Wang, X., Liu, Y., Peng, Z. et al. Situational leadership theory in nursing management: a scoping review. BMC Nurs 23 , 930 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02582-9

Download citation

Received : 10 September 2024

Accepted : 06 December 2024

Published : 19 December 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02582-9

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

  • Scoping review
  • Situational leadership theory

BMC Nursing

ISSN: 1472-6955

systematic review nursing management

IMAGES

  1. systematic literature review steps

    systematic review nursing management

  2. Nursing Management Courses

    systematic review nursing management

  3. What is a Systematic Review

    systematic review nursing management

  4. 4 components of a systematic review

    systematic review nursing management

  5. Overview

    systematic review nursing management

  6. Essentials of Nursing Care in Randomized Controlled Trials of Nurse-Led Interventions in Somatic

    systematic review nursing management

COMMENTS

  1. Relationships between nursing leadership and organizational ...

    The search strategy was based on the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes and Study (PICOS) format; more specifically, P = Nurse leaders and managers, nurses, patients, I = Nursing leadership and management, C = Health and social care organizations, O = Organizational, staff and patient outcomes, S = Systematic or non‐systematic ...

  2. Leadership Styles and Nurses’ Job Satisfaction. Results of a ...

    A systematic review was performed following the PRISMA statement in order to summarise the existing literature about the correlation between leadership styles and nurses’ job satisfaction. 2.1. Search Strategy. The authors used the PICO model to describe all the components related to the identified problem and to structure the research question.

  3. Impact of Nurse Leaders Behaviors on Nursing Staff ...

    In this context, a systematic review on interventions to reduce occupational stress and burn-out, 56 observed that the interventions were effective when they focus at individual level and organization directed, implying the strategic and systematic approach adopted by the employers and led by nursing leaders, with an individualized focus ...

  4. Impact of Nurse Manager Leadership Styles on Work Engagement ...

    Aug 16, 2023 · Implications for Nursing Management. The results of this review suggest that nursing work engagement can be improved by implementing relational leadership behaviours. The findings of this review will be useful for developing appropriate nurse leaders’ leadership styles, improving their workplace environments, and planning leadership training.

  5. The essentials of nursing leadership: A systematic review of ...

    The findings of this review make it clear that targeted educational interventions are an effective method of leadership development in nurses. However, due to equivocal results reported in many included studies and heterogeneity of leadership measurement tools, few conclusions can be drawn regarding …

  6. (PDF) Impact of Nurse Manager Leadership Styles on Work ...

    Aug 16, 2023 · Aims. This systematic review aimed to identify, evaluate, and synthesise the results of the studies that examine the relationship between nurse managers’ leadership practices and staff nurses ...

  7. The essentials of nursing leadership: A systematic review of ...

    Mar 1, 2021 · Search terms included leadership, evaluation, research, measurement and nurs* to locate relevant studies published between January 2007 and September 2020. The inclusion criteria were also re-applied to articles identified from a previous systematic review (Cummings et al., 2008), that included studies from

  8. The relationship between nursing leadership and patient ...

    Implications for nursing management: Efforts by organisations and individuals to develop transformational and relational leadership reinforces organisational strategies to improve patient outcomes. Keywords: nursing leadership; patient outcomes; systematic review.

  9. The relationship between nursing leadership and patient ...

    AIM: Our aim was to describe the findings of a systematic review of studies that examine the relationship between nursing leadership practices and patient outcomes. BACKGROUND: As healthcare faces an economic downturn, stressful work environments, upcoming retirements of leaders and projected workforce shortages, implementing strategies to ...

  10. Situational leadership theory in nursing management: a ...

    5 days ago · Aim To provide a comprehensive overview of situational leadership theory as applied to nursing management, outlining its relevant measurement tools, intervention modalities, and reporting gaps. Design A scoping review of the literature was conducted according to the JBI guidelines. Data sources Eight databases were used including PubMed, Embase, CINHAL, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang, Cqvip ...