Impact of self-efficacy on the self-leadership of nursing preceptors: The mediating effect of job embeddedness

Aim To test the impact of self-efficacy and job embeddedness on self-leadership among nursing preceptors. Background Self-leadership refers to an idea and action strategy that employees use to influence themselves. Job embeddedness is the degree to which a member seeks to remain employed in an organization. Self-leadership positively affects individual and team performance through self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Nursing preceptors need strong self-leadership to develop confidence in the role. Methods This is a cross-sectional correlational study comprising 199 nursing preceptors with more than one year of preceptor experience at two general hospitals in Korea. Results Self-efficacy had direct and indirect effects on self-leadership, while job embeddedness had significant direct effects explaining 69.9% of self-leadership. Conclusions A self-efficacy improvement programme may enhance nursing preceptors' self-leadership. In addition, manpower management considering job satisfaction may contribute to preceptorship programmes through enhanced self-leadership. Implications for Nursing Management The issues identified in this related to self-leadership and human resource factors may be used to guide the efficient management of nurse preceptors. In particular, efforts to increase connectivity to the workplace and a sense of belonging are indicated to optimize job embeddedness given that embeddedness may promote positive self-leadership behaviors in nursing preceptors.