Transformational leadership, psychological empowerment, work engagement and intensive care nurses’ job performance: a cross-sectional study using structural equation modeling

作者：Qian Huang, L P Wang, Haitao Huang, Haishan Tang, Jie Liu, Chaoran Chen · 发表于：BMC Nursing · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s12912-025-03685-7 · 被引用次数：23 · 研究领域：Nursing education and management、Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout、Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior

BACKGROUND: The global nursing shortage has intensified the need for effective leadership strategies to enhance nurse performance and retain skilled staff, particularly in high-stress environments like intensive care units Transformational leadership has been recognized as a critical factor in improving nurses'job performance. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain underexplored. This study investigates the direct impact of transformational leadership on ICU nurses'job performance and examines the mediating roles of psychological empowerment and work engagement. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. Between October to November 2024, a total of 584 intensive care nurses from China completed the survey, which included standard assessments on transformational leadership, psychological empowerment, work engagement, and job performance. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the direct and indirect effects of transformational leadership on job performance, with psychological empowerment and work engagement as mediators. RESULTS: The results indicated significant positive correlations among transformational leadership, psychological empowerment, work engagement, and job performance (all P < 0.01). Transformational leadership not only directly affected the job performance of intensive care nurses but also influenced it through the partial mediating roles of psychological empowerment and work engagement, with the mediating effects accounti...