Clinical leadership style and hand hygiene compliance

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent an engaging or authentic leadership style is related to higher levels of patient safety performance. Design/methodology/approach – A survey and/or interview of 53 medical and dental staff on their perceptions of leadership style in their unit was conducted. Scores obtained from 51 responses were averaged for each question and overall performance was compared with unit specific hand hygiene (HH) compliance data. Interview material was transcribed and analysed independently by each member of the research team. Findings – A modest negative relationship between this leadership style and hand hygiene compliance rates (r=0.37) was found. Interview data revealed that environmental factors, role modelling by the leader and education to counter false beliefs about hand hygiene and infection control may be more important determinants of patient safety performance in this regard than actual overall leadership style. Research limitations/implications – The sample was relatively small, other attributes of leaders were not investigated. Practical implications – Leadership development for clinicians may need to focus on situational or adaptive capacity rather than a specific style. In the case of improving patient safety through increasing HH compliance, a more directive approach with clear statements backed up by role modelling appears likely to produce better rates. Originality/value – Little is known about patient safety and clinical leadership. Much of the current focus is on developing transformational, authentic or engaging style. This study provides some evidence that it should not be used exclusively.

Reflecting Leadership Effectiveness via Food-hygiene Practices

“…The survey results show that food handlers have a poor perception of their leaders' management of food-hygiene practices. It is similar to that found by Stevens et al (2014) and Sharma (2012), where leadership also has a negative impact on hygiene practices and even suggested that factors such as the environment, education, role modeling, and knowledge may be more important determinants. Leaders may not necessarily be professional practitioners, but can still be considered role models because of other management qualities or personality traits.…”

Reflecting leadership effectiveness via food-hygiene practices

“…It shows that professionals too can lack knowledge and awareness of correct hand-hygiene practices. Consistently, Stevens, Hemmings, Scott, Lawler, and White (2014) found a negative relationship between leadership style and hand hygiene compliance when they interviewed 53 medical and dental staff to unravel clinical leadership style and hand hygiene compliance. In this sense, leadership role modeling is effective in improving patient safety performance through increasing hand hygiene compliance.…”

“…Firstly, food handlers have a poor perception of their leaders' management of food-hygiene practices, which Stevens et al (2014) and Sharma (2012) also found. This negative outcome suggests that other factors like environment, education, role modeling, and knowledge may be more important determinants.…”

Factors of Leadership and Behaviour Towards Organisational Safety Performance: A Predictive Model for Small and Medium Manufacturing Industry

“…Safety leadership has been widely admitted to be critical, specifically when it comes to instilling a safe work culture [59,60]. Leaders have already been actively involved in safety and have been studied by previous scholars in various contexts [61][62][63][64][65][66][67]. These researchers applied leadership theories or models to establish variables in order to measure leadership in the context of workplace safety and health.…”