Leadership and management in mental health nursing

Abstract

Background: Mental health nurses are agents of change, and their leadership, management role and characteristics exist at many levels in health care. Previous research presents a picture of mental health nurses as subordinate and passive recipients of the leader's influence and regard leadership and management as distinct from the nurses' practical work.

Aim: The aim was to provide a synthesis of the studies conducted and to discuss the relationship between nursing leadership and nursing management in the context of mental health nursing.

Method: A literature search was conducted using EBSCO-host, Academic Search Premier, Science Direct, CINAHL and PubMed for the period January 1995-July 2010.

Results: Leadership and management in the context of mental health nursing are human activities that imply entering into mutual relationships.

Conclusion: Mental health nurses' leadership, management and transformational leadership are positively related in terms of effectiveness and nurses' skills.

Implication for nursing management: It is important to consider mental health nurses' management as a form of leadership similar to or as a natural consequence of transformational leadership (TL) and that ethical concerns must be constantly prioritized throughout every level of the organization.