Preferred leadership styles among nursing students preparing for clinical leadership roles

Abstract

Leadership style plays a crucial role in shaping the work climate, team motivation, and quality of nursing care. As future clinical leaders, nursing students need to recognize their preferred leadership styles early in their education. This study aims to describe the distribution of leadership style preferences among undergraduate nursing students. A quantitative descriptive study with a cross-sectional design was conducted involving 112 nursing students. Data were collected using a validated online questionnaire consisting of 15 items measuring five leadership dimensions. The instrument demonstrated good content validity (Content Validity Index = 0.93) and internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.87). Data were analyzed descriptively using frequencies, means, and standard deviations. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used for inferential analysis to examine score differences across dominant leadership groups. Most respondents (61.6%) exhibited a dominant preference for the democratic leadership style, followed by authoritarian (14.2%), laissez-faire (9%), transformational (9%), and transactional (6.2%). The highest mean total score was observed in the democratic dimension (M = 13.71; SD = 1.58), while the lowest was in laissez-faire (M = 10.59; SD = 2.86). Items such as "I will be a role model in discipline, service, and work ethics" (M = 4.68) and "I will motivate staff to work enthusiastically" (M = 4.65) received the highest agreement. The Kruskal-Wallis test revealed statistically significant differences in scores across all leadership dimensions based on dominant style (χ²(4) ≥ 9.86; p < 0.05), confirming meaningful differentiation in leadership preferences. Nursing students predominantly prefer democratic and transformational leadership styles, characterized by teamwork, empowerment, role modeling, and open communication. These findings support the integration of evidence-based leadership training into the nursing curriculum to prepare competent, humanistic, and adaptive future clinical leaders.