Abstract
One of the fastest growing job segments in the United States is nursing; in fact, United States’ three million nurses make up the largest segment of health care employment (Grant, 2016). Unfortunately, the future of nursing is in doubt, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that there will be a shortage of more than one million nurses by 2022, and that number will likely double by 2025 (Grant, 2016). The situation in nursing is so dire that between 2016 and 2026 employment opportunities for nurses will grow at a faster rate, 15%, than all other occupations (Haddad, L, Annamarju, P & Toney-Butler, T., 2020). There is tremendous concern that a health care crisis is looming specifically because the demand for quality nurses will greatly exceed the supply. With an aging population and quality nurses becoming scarce, something must be done to reverse the trend of this nursing shortage. That “something” begins with leadership.
Working conditions in nursing are on the decline, with 40%-60% of nurses skipping breaks to care for patients, which leads to increased stress, and almost 70% of nurses reporting low workplace morale (Goodin-Janiszewski, 2003). With almost 30% of recent nurse graduates in the United States and almost 50% in Canada predicted to quit their job within the first year, effective transformational leadership can help improve nursing retention in the midst of such a considerable and growing shortage (Tremblay et al., 2015). To enhance retention during this critical nursing shortage, administrative and nursing leaders who adopt a more transformational leadership style will improve nurse satisfaction, which will reduce turnover and lengthen nurses’ tenure in the workforce.
Keywords: transformational leadership, nursing, emotional intelligence