peramental factors mentioned by Cummings et
al (2008), such as extroversion and openness, may not be
readily affected by education, there are undoubtedly other
communication and relationship building skills that can be
developed in training and placement. For instance, emotional
intelligence, the ability to integrate and manage emotions and
reason, could be developed through training. A recent review
exploring the relationship between ‘emotional intelligence’
and nursing leadership cautiously suggests a central role for this
ability (Akerjordet and Severinsson, 2010).
While the impact of each of these factors provides some
insight into how leadership in nursing can be promoted, it
is generally understood that a more holistic analysis of their
combined impact and how they interact is needed to predict
the prevalence and effectiveness of such leadership.In particular,
the interaction between personal and workplace factors needs
to be examined. Wagner et al’s (2010)