Understanding Servant Leadership in Nursing: A Concept Analysis

Abstract

Despite the abundance of servant leadership literature, scholars recognize the need for a more precise conceptualization of the concept. Although the predominant literature emanates from organizational management and industry describing servant leadership as a theory, model, philosophy, or leadership style, less attention has focused on servant leadership in academia, and most notably in nursing. The purpose of this analysis is to clarify the concept of servant leadership and to provide further delineation of this highly relevant, but elusive concept in nursing. Findings of this concept analysis identify a linkage among servant leadership characteristics, caring theories, and the profession of nursing.

Servant Leadership in the Healthcare Literature: A Systematic Review

“…The sample population* was composed of seventeen conceptual papers and reviews (eg, Aij & Rapsaniotis, 20 Neville et al), 12 five qualitative (interview, case, and ethnographic) studies (eg, Sturm, 1 Vanderpyl), 38 thirty-two quantitative studies (eg, Hosseini et al), 39 and one study that employed a mixed methods design. 40 …”

“… 45 Review papers presented servant leadership as a prominent model in healthcare 46 that enables employees to become effective lean leaders. 20 Moreover, a few conceptual papers 10 , 12 noted that servant leadership is not widely taught in healthcare leadership education programs.…”

Leading as Servant in Times of Crisis

“…As external, internal, and organizational drivers became apparent to SON executive leaders, we worked collaboratively to identify strategies. Using core principles of servant leadership as a guide (Simon, 2021), we focused on believing in the best in others while helping those served reach full potential (Neville et al, 2021). These strategies provided opportunities to strengthen the SON community and build resilience through risk-taking and action steps (see Supplemental Content for Table 1, available at http://links.lww.com/NEP/A369).…”

Exploring the roles and challenges of the servant leadership: A critical examination of the Bangladesh police

“…It was first propounded as ‘servant leadership’ (SL) by Robert K. Greenleaf in the 1970s [ 6 , 7 ]. Since then, the concept of SLM has been used extensively in much academic literature, especially in professions in which the professionals—that is, teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers, sports coaches, and athletes—play the dual roles of like servant and leader [ 4 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. A plethora of studies on police officers can be found, with scholars arguing that the police play dual roles, depending on the situation; these roles include their positions as servants of the people and decision-making leaders [ 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”