Dimensions of Clinical Leadership Behaviours Among Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Cross-Sectional Study Between Two Countries.

Abstract

Background: Effective leadership has been associated with high-quality and compassionate care provision in health and social care contexts. This has led to a common acceptance that the teaching of leadership in nursing education is essential if students are to develop competencies in this area. To date, there is limited research on nursing students’ perception of clinical leadership behaviours worldwide. Objectives: To explore a) pre-registration students’ self-perceptions of clinical leadership behaviours and b) differences in students’ self-perceptions of leadership behaviours between countries (UK and Israel). Design and Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used among two convenience samples of UK and Israeli pre-registration nursing students. Closed questionnaires were uploaded in the format of a commercial internet survey provider (Qualtrics.com) and distributed through the virtual learning platforms in both universities. Results: Overall 138 students completed the questionnaires. Significant differences were found between the two sites in the leadership dimensions “Emotional Intelligence” and “Impact and Influence” (p<.05), with UK students scoring higher than Israeli students. Among the Israeli sample, significant differences were found in leadership dimensions according to years of study, with the presence of higher scores in the 3rd year and 4th year students when compared with the 1st and 2nd Year students in the referred dimensions (p<.05). Conclusions: Differences in students’ clinical leadership perception exist between the two cohorts examined and between study years within the Israeli sample. Nurse educators should continue and expand the international research on this subject, in order to identify possible antecedents in the development of clinical leadership behaviours. At the same time, there is a need to continue efforts in enhancing the development of clinical leadership behaviours during all study years, through curricula updating in order to better prepare future nurses to provide quality, safe and person-centred care.