Last update:

   23-Jul-2020
 

Arch Hellen Med, 37(4), July-August 2020, 464-470

ORIGINAL PAPER

Emotional intelligence, self-esteem and transformational leadership in nurses in Cyprus

G. Frixou,1 G. Charalambous,2,3 P. Galanis,4 D. Kaitelidou,4 D. Sapountzi-Krepia2
1General Hospital of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus
2Frederick University, Nicosia, Cyprus
3Emergency Department, "Hippocratio" General Hospital, Athens, Greece
4Center for Health Services Management and Evaluation, Department of Nursing, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

OBJECTIVE To explore the relationship between transformational leadership, self-esteem and emotional intelligence of nurses who work in the public hospitals in Cyprus, and to identify possible predictors of the transformational leadership style.

METHOD The study population consisted of 1,093 nurses (permanent and non-permanent staff) working in the state hospitals in Nicosia, Larnaca, Limassol, Paphos and Paralimni in Cyprus. Socio-demographic data on the participants were recorded, and they completed three questionnaires: the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Transformational Leadership Scale and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale.

RESULTS The mean age of the participants was 37.1 years and 67.3% were females. The mean transformational leadership score was 3.47; the mean score for the factor "nursing director" was the lowest (3.27), and for the factor "appreciation" the highest (3.68). Transformational leadership was correlated with emotional intelligence and self-esteem, and emotional intelligence was correlated with self-esteem. On multiple regression analysis, higher emotional intelligence and self-esteem and greater age were shown to be associated with a higher transformational leadership score.

CONCLUSIONS High emotional intelligence and self-esteem scores of nurses are associated with higher scores on the transformational leadership scale. Training of nursing staff in techniques for enhancing emotional intelligence and self-esteem could be a strategy to achieve transformational leadership style.

Key words: Cyprus, Emotional intelligence, Nurses, Self-esteem, Transformational leadership.


© Archives of Hellenic Medicine