Investigation Of The Correlation Between Leadership And Team Performance Of Nursing Teams

To meet the people’s increasing demand of medical and health service, in recent years the health care reform has been actively promoting, and the ―High Quality Nursing Service Demonstration Project‖ has been developed. In the project, improved the level of nursing management based on performance management is of a great importance. Since using a team as a unit nursing work is carried out, the team leadership is one of critical factors influencing team performance. Transformational leadership is widely respected, because it can achieve positive interaction between leaders and subordinates, and stimulate members’ intrinsic motivation to work with their heats and soul for the common objective through morale modeling, vision inspiration, personalized care and charm guidance, and so on. A study of the effect and mechanism of action of transformational leadership on team performance has an important theoretical and practical significance for building a high-efficiency nursing team. Researching aim:From the perspective of the individual, the effect of team members’ demographic characteristics on their perceived transformational leadership, team cohesive and team performance was investigated. From the perspective of the team, an invesitigation of the correlation of the team’s characteristic and transformational leadship with team cohesive and team performance, an analysis of the effect and role of the nursing team’s transformational leadership on the team cohesive and a clarification of the mediation effect of the team cohesive therein were conducted, which can act as a reference for the hospital to build and develop a high-efficiency nursing team. Researching method1. 1147 nurses from 65 endemic areas in a First-class Hospital at Grade 3 of Xi’an were chosen by using cluster random sampling method for the present investigation. Transformational leadership scale, team cohesive scale and team performance scale were used to do the questionnaire.2. Using SPSS 17.0 software the sampled data of the individual was analyzed by Independent-Samples T test and one-way of variance.3. Aggregation index test was conducted, when the individual data arrives at the team level. Using SPSS 17.0 software Pearson correction analysis was carried out on the generated 65-team data.4. Using SPSS 17.0 software the team data was studied by multiple stepwise regression analysis. Using Amos 17.0 software the team data was investigated by path analysis. Researching results:Firstly, at an individual level the demographic characteristics had different effects on transformational leadership perceived by nurses, team cohesive, and team performance.1. The score difference of nurses having different posts upon two dimensions of morale modeling and leader charm in transformational leadership was statistically significant(P < 0.01). The evaluation of morale modeling by head nurse was higher than that of the nurses, while the assessment of leader charm by head nurse was lower than that of the nurses.2. On the overall perception of team cohesive, the score differences of different posts, different professional titles, different years of service and different years of joining the department exhibited a statistical significance(P < 0.05). Upon the dimension of emotional consistency, the score differences of different posts, different ages, different years of service, different years of joining the department and different working intensities of the department had a statistical significance(P < 0.05). Upon the dimension of behavioral consistency, the score differences of different posts, different ages, different years of service, and different years of joining the department showed a statistical significance(P < 0.05). Upon the dimension of cognitive consistency, the score differences of different marital statuses, different children statuses and different years of joining the department was statistically significant(P < 0.05).3. Upon the dimension of task performance in team performance, the score differences of nurses having different posts and academic credentials had a statistical significance(P < 0.05). Upon the dimension of cooperation satisfaction, the score differences of nurses having different posts was statistically significant(P < 0.01).Secondly, at a team level the scores of average working intensity of the team in the team characteristics upon the two dimensions of emotional consistency and behavioral consistency in team cohesive exhibited negative corrections. The correlation coefficients were -0.33 for the emotional consistency and -0.25 for the behavioral consistency, respectively(P < 0.05)..Thirdly, the total score of team transformational leadership positively correlated with that of the team cohesive(r = 0.52, P < 0.01). The scores of four dimensions of morale modeling, vision inspiration, personalized care and leader’s charm in transformational leadership showed positive correlation with those of three dimensions in team cohesive of emotional consistency, behavioral consistency, cognitive consistency. The correlations coefficients of them were larger than 0.33.Fourthly, the total score of team transformational leadership positively correlated with that of team performance(r = 0.68, P < 0.01). The scores of four dimensions of morale modeling, vision inspiration, personalized care and leader’s charm in transformational leadership demonstrated positive correlation with those of two dimensions of task performance and cooperation satisfaction in team performance. The correlations coefficients of them were larger than 0.50.Fifthly, the total score of team cohesive exhibited a positive correlation with that of team performance(r = 0.72, P < 0.01). The scores of three dimensions in team cohesive of emotional consistency, behavioral consistency, cognitive consistency showed positive correlation with those of two dimensions of task performance and cooperation satisfaction in team performance. The correlations coefficients of them were larger than 0.46.Sixthly, the three dimentions in team cohesive of emotional consistency, behavioral consistency, cognitive consistency showed a part of the mediating effect on the influence of team transformational leadership on task performance and cooperation satisfaction in team performance. Researching conclusions:1. At an individual level, the nurses’ demographic characteristics had different effects on their perception of transformational leadership, team cohesive and team performance.2. At a team level, transformational leadership of nursing teams positively influenced on team performance. In other words, a higher degree of transformational leadership of nursing teams results in a better task performance and a higher cooperation satisfaction of nursing teams.3. Nursing teams’ transformational leadership can not only directly influence team performance, but also indirectly enhance the performance level of nursing teams by strengthening team cohesive.