Power Distance Orientation and Empowering Leadership: its Relation to Staff Nurses Promotive and Prohibitive Voice

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Nursing Administration, Damanhur University, Damanhur, Egypt

2 administration department faculty of nursing benha university

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Nurses' power distance orientation shows how they accept inequality between levels and positions. It shapes their views of, and interactions with their managers and leaders  in work environment. Nurse leaders often try to empower  their staff  by sharing knowledge, responsibility and power with them to increase their energy, investment in their work and motives to speak up. Aim: The study aims to assess staff nurses' power distance orientation, empowering leadership and its relation to their promotive and prohibitive voice. Design: descriptive, correlational research design was used to conduct this study. Setting: study was conducted in four main critical care units at Benha University Hospital. Sample: A simple random sample consisted of 110 staff nurses. Instruments: Three instruments were used in this study; Power distance orientation scale, empowering leadership questionnaire, and promotive and prohibitive voice questionnaire. Results: About half of  staff nurses reported high power distance orientation and moderate empowering leadership, and the highest percentage  of  them  have both promotive and prohibitive voice. Conclusion: There is a positive significant correlation between staff nurses' power distance orientation and promotive and prohibitive voice. Also, empowering leadership especially its development category signifcantlly and positively correlated with both promotive and prohibitive voice. Recommendation: Based on study finding it is recommends that managers and leaders in health care organizations should provide staff nurses with: Right mix of knowledge, information, rewards and power for energizing them to participate in decision making. Training programs in how power distributed between different classes to be able to build identity adjustments and to promote respect, and loyalty to their supervisors.

Keywords