Desirable Leadership Characteristics in the Digital Era for Charge Nurses in the General Hospitals of Health Region 2

Abstract

This descriptive research, using exploratory factor analysis, aimed to study and analyze the components of desirable leadership characteristics in the digital age for charge nurses in the general hospitals in Health Region 2. The sample consisted of 350 charge nurses recruited into the study by cluster sampling and simple random sampling. The research instrument was a questionnaire on desirable leadership characteristics in the digital age for charge nurses in the general hospitals in Health Region 2. The instrument’s content validity was assessed using the index of consistency between the questionnaire’s items and the objectives, which ranges from 0.6-0.1 and the reliability was assesses using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, which was 0.86. Data were analyzed by content analysis and exploratory factor analysis using factor extraction or finding the principal components.

The results revealed two major findings as follows: 1) The desirable leadership traits in the digital age according to experts are comprised of 10 dimensions: personality; digital technology utilization, team leadership, personal and professional development, effective communication, behavioral flexibility, management, vision; problem solving and ethical decision-making and morality, ethics and professional code of conduct and law,  and 2) desired leadership characteristics of charge nurses in the digital age, which consists of 7 components and 70 variables, specifically: 1) digital leadership; 2) digital agility; 3) positive personality; 4) digital literacy; 5) communication intelligence; 6) professional responsibility and data protection; and 7) building a successful team. The total component weight was 0.50-0.78. The total variance of the variables was 73.40 percent. Nursing administrators and professional nurses can use the research results as a guideline for developing desirable leadership characteristics for charge nurses in order for them to be able to perform their duties efficiently in the future.