Leadership styles and personal and professional profile of intensive care unit nurses

Objective: To verify the relation between leadership styles and personal and professional profile of a nurse facing another team member when performing ICU patient care. Methods: Samples were collected on seven nurses and seven practical nurses working as partners. Throughout three months, the nurses were inquired about the leadership style applied when the practical nurse, under their assessment, performed ICU patient care. Results: Persuasion style prevailed among other styles, followed by determining and sharing between leaders and their subordinated team member. Conclusion: In this ICU, nurses stand out due to their persuading situational leadership style where they explain their decisions and provide the opportunity for clarification to the subordinated team. No relation between the nurses' leadership style and their professional and personal profile was shown.