Attributes of clinical leadership in contemporary nursing: an integrative review

Abstract

Effective clinical leadership is offered as the key to healthy, functional and supportive work environments for nurses and other health professionals. However, as a concept it lacks a standard definition and is poorly understood. This paper reports on an integrative review undertaken to uncover current understandings of defining attributes of contemporary clinical leadership in nursing. Data collection involved a search of relevant electronic databases for a 10-year period. Keywords for the search were 'clinical leadership' and 'nursing'. Ten research papers met the inclusion criteria for the integrative review. Analysis of these studies indicated clinical leadership attributes had a clinical focus, a follower/team focus or a personal qualities focus; attributes necessary to sustain supportive workplaces and build the capacity and resilience of nursing workforces. The small number of research-based studies yielded for the review indicates the need for further research in the area of clinical leadership.