Quantitative systematic review of the transformational leadership style as a driver of nurses' organisational commitment

AIMS: To explore the association between nurses' perceptions of their nurse manager's transformational leadership style and nurses' organisational commitment. DESIGN: Narrative systematic review. DATA SOURCES: The CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, PubMed, Business Source Complete, Cochrane Library, along with OpenGrey t were systematically searched for observational studies written in English, between January 2009 and December 2020. REVIEW METHODS: This systematic review is based on the guidelines of the Cochrane Handbook, and PRISMA‐P. Two reviewers independently selected studies. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Tool for Cross‐Sectional Studies. RESULTS: Seven cross‐sectional studies with 2885 participants were included. Six studies reported that the transformational leadership style was positively related to nurses' organisational commitment, and the remaining study reported a negative association. CONCLUSIONS: Six studies were found that the transformational leadership style is a driver of nurses' organisational commitment. Only one study reported that transformational leadership style negatively associated with acute care nurses' organisational commitment. However, the negative finding is less valid, as the study data indicates that the nurse managers' ineffective transformational leadership style in the acute care unit or the culture influence, which may have influenced the results. IMPACTS: It provides the guideline, recommendation, and important evidence to support nursing managers adopting the transformational leadership style to promote nurse retention helping to alleviate the nursing shortage. This is beneficial to the well‐being of the nurse. Meanwhile, this can help the health organisation reducing the cost of nurses' turnover and recruiting new nurses. It is also good for address future ageing population healthcare problem in the long term.