Abstract
In nursing, a profession facing constant challenges such as increasing pressure, complexity of healthcare services, and the need for increased efficiency, leadership practices are becoming crucial to staff retention and delivery of quality nursing care. This study aimed to examine the concept of nursing leadership and to highlight its significance to job satisfaction and the quality of the provided care in times of healthcare crises. Extensive literature search has been conducted through MEDLINE, Scopus, and EBSCO. “Nursing leadership”, “nurses”, “quality of care”, “job satisfaction” and “pandemic” were used as key words, along with the Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT. Inclusion criteria involved papers written in English, published between 2020 and 2023 in order to investigate the healthcare crisis that the CoViD-19 pandemic introduced in 2020, and focusing exclusively on leadership and the nursing profession. The 6-stage framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley was implemented.
Results indicated that effective nursing leadership, especially during healthcare crises, can contribute to improved levels of nurses’ job satisfaction, their long-term retention and enhancement of the quality of nursing care provided. Leaders’ preparedness to confront contemporary challenges is essential for supporting and motivating nursing staff. The findings clearly indicate that through consecutive research, development, and adjustment of inspiring leadership practices, it can be ensured that nurses will receive the support and guidance they need for increasing job satisfaction levels and enhancing quality care practices.
