Authentic leadership and nurses' voice behaviour and perceptions of care quality.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to test a theoretical model linking authentic leadership with staff nurses' trust in their manager, work engagement, voice behaviour and perceived unit care quality.

Background: Authentic leadership is a guide for effective leadership needed to build trust and healthier work environments because there is special attention given to honesty, integrity and high ethical standards in the development of leader-follower relationships.

Methods: A non-experimental, predictive survey design was used to test the hypothesized model in a random sample of 280 (48% response rate) registered nurses working in acute care hospitals in Ontario.

Results: The final model fitted the data acceptably (χ(2)=17.24, d.f.=11, P=0.10, IFI=0.99, CFI=0.99, RMSEA=0.045). Authentic leadership significantly and positively influenced staff nurses' trust in their manager and work engagement which in turn predicted voice behaviour and perceived unit care quality.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that authentic leadership and trust in the manager play a role in fostering trust, work engagement, voice behaviour and perceived quality of care. Conclusions: Nursing leaders can improve care quality and workplace conditions by paying attention to facilitating genuine and positive relationships with their staff.