Investigating Nursing Leadership in Intensive Care Units of Hospitals of Northern Greece and Its Relationship to the Working Environment

Introduction: The relationship between leadership and the work environment has been studied by many authors at the organization level, but not specifically in intensive care units (ICUs). The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between the work environment and nursing leadership in intensive care units. Methodology: This is a correlation study. The study population consisted of nurses and nursing assistants with at least 6 months of experience in ICUs of Northern Greece hospitals. Data were collected using the Greek version of the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). Statistical analysis of data was done with IBM SPSS v. 22.0. Results: A total of 64 nurses aged 43.6 +/- 6.4 years were included. In the work environment, the dimensions of nursing staff competence (2.4 +/- 0.6) and relationships between nursing staff and physicians (2.4 +/- 0.6) were higher, and the dimensions of nursing staff involvement in decision-making in hospital (2.3 +/- 0.6), nursing authorities on the quality of healthcare (2.2 +/- 0.6), and supervisor abilities and support to nursing staff (2.2 +/- 0.6) had the lowest score. The highest scores on the leadership questionnaire were personalized interest (2.6 +/- 0.8), and exceptional management (passive) (2.6 +/- 0.9). Conclusions: The work environment was not related to nursing leadership. Nurses need individual development plans that include the type of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values required for leadership. In this context, continuing training centers play an important role because they are responsible for training and developing leaders who are fit for work in intensive care.