The Relationship Between Authentic Leadership and Nurses’ Resilience: A Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy

INTRODUCTION: Authentic leadership has been identified as a style needed to promote quality patient care and nurses’ retention. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between the authentic leadership exhibited by nurse managers and the levels of resilience and self-efficacy among nurses. METHODS: A descriptive correlational study was conducted in an Egyptian hospital. A sample of convenience nurses (N = 285) completed the Authentic Leadership Inventory, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. The data were analyzed with correlation and structural equation modeling. RESULTS: The highest percentages of nurses (53.33% and 45.96%) perceived their nurse managers as having either moderate or high levels of authentic leadership. The majority of nurses rated themselves as moderately resilient (63.98%, 25.59 ± 6.56) and highly efficacious (76.70%, 30.68 ± 4.95). Furthermore, the analysis conducted using SPSS-AMOS reveals a significant positive association between the variables. Specifically, authentic leadership, along with its constituent components, accounts for approximately 22% of the overall variance observed in nurses’ resilience. Additionally, it is shown that these same factors explain approximately 34% of the variance in nurses’ self-efficacy. Moreover, the mediating role of self-efficacy was found to explain 49.3% of the variability in nurses’ resilience. CONCLUSION: Nurse leaders should be aware of and implement effective and authentic leadership behaviors and apply tailored strategies for fostering nurses’ resilience and self-efficacy to deal with the challenging healthcare environment.