Leadership styles of Finnish nurse managers and factors influencing it

Aim  The purpose of the present study was to explore nurse managers’ perceptions of their leadership styles and factors influencing it. Background  It is a challenge for nurse managers to retain nurses in hospitals and to ensure a high quality of care in nursing practice. Leadership style is an important part of leadership. Knowledge concerning nurse managers’ resonant and non‐resonant leadership styles provides nurse managers with tools to reflect on their own leadership style. Method  Open‐ended, tape‐recorded interviews were conducted with 13 nurse managers from five Finnish hospitals and two long‐term care facilities. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results  Five categories of leadership style were discerned: visionary, coaching, affiliate, democratic, commanding. Factors that influence leadership style were identified: earlier superiors, values, information, cooperation, employees and education. Conclusions  The results of this study show that Finnish nurse managers use both resonant and non‐resonant leadership styles. Implications for nursing management  The findings of this study show that nurse managers use a variety of leadership styles. The study demonstrates the importance of knowledge about leadership styles and factors influencing it among nurse managers providing future leadership and management education.