Regulatory focus and burnout in nurses: The mediating effect of perception of transformational leadership

Abstract

This correlation study investigated the relationship between nurses' regulatory focus and burnout, as mediated by their perceptions of transformational leadership, using a cross-sectional research design with anonymous questionnaires. In July-August 2012, data were collected from 378 nurses from three hospitals in Shaanxi Province, China, using self-report questionnaires for measuring the nurses' regulatory focus, their level of burnout and their perception of whether the leadership of their supervisor was transformational. Structural equation modelling and bootstrapping procedures were used to identify the mediating effect of their perceptions of transformational leadership. The results supported our hypothesized model. The type of regulatory focus emerged as a significant predictor of burnout. Having a perception of transformational leadership partially mediated the relationship between regulatory focus and burnout. Having a promotion focus reduced burnout when the participants perceived transformational leadership, whereas having a prevention focus exhibited the opposite pattern. The mediating effect of the perception of transformational leadership suggests that a promotion focus may help diminish burnout, directly and indirectly. Nurse managers must be aware of the role of a regulatory focus and cultivate promotion focus in their followers.

The organisational context of nursing practice in hospitals in China and its relationship with quality of care, and patient and nurse outcomes: A mixed‐methods review

“…Ten studies examined the association between organisational context and nurse burnout (Guo et al., 2016; Liu et al., 2018, 2019; Lu et al., 2015; Meng, Jin, & Guo, 2016; Shao et al., 2018; Shi et al., 2015; Yu, Jiang, & Shen, 2016; Zhang et al., 2014; Zhou et al., 2015). Six reported that the average prevalence of high burnout was 42.79% (range, 34.9%–57.1%) (Guo et al., 2016; Liu et al., 2018, 2019; Lu et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2014; Zhou et al., 2015), which was similar to U.S. hospital nurses (Aiken et al., 2001).…”

“…Other factors related to organisational context have been shown to influence patient and nurse outcomes, for example, the value fit between nurses and hospitals, structural empowerment, transformational leadership and patient–nurse ratios (Guo et al., 2016; Shao et al., 2018; Shi, Zhang, Xu, Liu, & Miao, 2015). Additionally, findings from qualitative studies (Tao, Ellenbecker, Wang, & Li, 2015; Zhu, Rodgers, & Melia, 2014) have provided insight about what influences organisational context such as a blame culture, inadequate nursing staff and a lack of risk management.…”

Nurses’ perceptions about the transformational leadership in psychiatric hospitals in Cyprus

“…In one study, the results showed that transformational leadership has a positive impact on nurses' safety performance [13]. Also, this type of leadership style was positively related to staff nurse job satisfaction [14] and lead to diminished burnout [15]. Moreover, there are conflicting findings about the relationship between transformational leader-ship and staff commitment to patients and their organizations.…”

‘Accentuate the positive’: Taking advice from a 1940s song

“…The result is a defensive spiral, with fear of punishment producing preventive and avoidance strategies. Little surprise that this is linked with stress and burnout, with patients' poor experiences translating into damaging work environments for nurses and with knock‐on effects into the care delivered. Safety, then, becomes something we only notice in its absence, and preoccupation with things that go wrong means that good practice, even excellent practice, passes unremarked.…”

“…Things go right almost all the time; by understanding this and how we achieve this in the complex, dynamic and highly charged healthcare environment, we can learn what we need to promote in order to grow this. For example, perceiving transformational characteristics amongst leaders is linked with staff reporting ‘organizational citizenship behaviour, innovative performance, work engagement, job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment’, all characteristics likely to accompany greater nurse–patient engagement. When nurses spend more time with their patients, adverse events may be less likely, as lack of contact time with patients is blamed .…”