Methods. All nurses (n = 2488, 80Æ3% response rate) on the selected wards were asked to complete a survey that included
the 49-item Nursing Work Index-Revised [NWI-R] together with measures of job satisfaction, satisfaction with nursing
and intention to leave. Subscales of the NWI-R were calculated. Leadership, the domain of interest, consisted of 12 items.
Wards were divided into those reporting either positive or negative leadership. Data were analysed at the nurse level using SPSS
version 16.