Clinical leadership behaviors among critical care nurses in private and governmental hospital: A cross-sectional survey

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate clinical leadership behaviors among critical care nurses and compare the differences between nurses in private and public hospitals. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey including 365 critical care nurses with a bachelor’s degree in nursing science were recruited in two Egyptian hospitals (a government teaching hospital and one private hospital from January to March 2019. A socio-demographic characteristics form and the Clinical Leadership Behaviors Questionnaire (CLB-Q) were used to collect data. For comparison and analysis, the mean score was calculated and converted to a percentage value. RESULTS: Results showed that the overall mean score of nurses’ clinical leadership behaviors was 77.11 ± 11.87, the level was higher, and the highest score of the communication dimension was 91.84 ± 7.38. The mean score of nurses at a private hospital (90.48 ± 5.53) was higher than that at a government teaching hospital (68.29 ± 4.21) (P < 0.001). On nursing experience, nurses with 5–10 years had higher mean score in self-awareness, advocacy and empowerment, decision making, quality and safety, teamwork, and clinical excellence dimension of clinical leadership behavior than those who worked less than 5 years or more than 10 years (P < 0.01). Single nurses had higher mean score in advocacy and empowerment, decision making, quality and safety, and clinical excellence dimension of clinical leadership behavior than those who married (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Nurse managers should foster clinical leadership by enabling critical care nurses to practice clinical excellence and encouraging their attendance in training programs on quality and safety. Nurses in government hospitals need improvement in clinical leadership behaviors regarding all dimensions.