concluded
that “Despite the general consensus that leadership skills
are important for nursing home nurses, we found very
little evidence to support this claim.” (p. 189). Eight studies
met their inclusion criteria and linked leadership
characteristics and outcome measures; however, only two
of these studies included leadership behaviours. Anderson
et al. [1], referred to in the literature study by both
Wong and Cummings [9] and Harvath et al. [6], studied
164 nursing homes in Texas and found a significant
negative relation between relationship-oriented leadership
behaviours - as giving constructive feedback, helping
staff resolve conflicts, generating trust and being
approachable - and the prevalence of fractures and of
complications of immobility. However, the studies
showed no significant association between relationshiporiented
leadership style and the outcome measures such
as resident behaviour and restraint use. The task-oriented
leadership behaviour of formalization, defined as specifying
work procedures and rules and monitoring tasks,
showed insignificant relationships with all of the four
outcomes. McNeese-Smith [44], also included in Wong
and Cummings’ [9] literature review, interviewed 30
nurses working in a Los Angeles hospital and found that
when staff nurses perceived their superiors to employ the
typical relationship-oriented behaviours of support and
conflict solving, the nurses systematically reported higher
levels of productivity.