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. 2025 Jul 18;24(1):939.
doi: 10.1186/s12912-025-03573-0.

Relationship between different leadership styles of nursing managers and nurses' turnover intention in hospitals: an integrative review

Alicia Jimenez-Caceres  1 , Anna Agusti-Boada  1 , Conxi Caro-Benito  2 , Olga Monistrol  3
Affiliations

Relationship between different leadership styles of nursing managers and nurses' turnover intention in hospitals: an integrative review

Alicia Jimenez-Caceres et al. BMC Nurs. .

Abstract

Objective: To synthesize the current evidence on the relationship between different management leadership styles and nurses' turnover intentions in hospital settings.

Background: A shortage of nurses is a common problem in healthcare institutions in many countries. In this context, retaining nurses has become a critical priority for healthcare organizations.

Methods: An integrative review was conducted. A comprehensive search strategy was implemented to retrieve articles from PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Articles were screened and evaluated using a pre-determined eligibility criteria and a quality assessment process.

Results: Out of 237 articles screened, 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. Sixteen management leadership styles were identified, five of which transformational, ethical, inclusive, servant and authentic- were found to have a negative influence on nurses' turnover, and four were associated with a positive impact. We identified fourteen different instruments for measuring turnover intention.

Conclusions: Healthcare managers should encourage the adoption of effective leadership styles to enhance nurse retention and embed this approach within the organizational culture of the healthcare facilities.

Clinical trial number: Not applicable.

Keywords: Intention to leave; Leadership; Management styles; Nursing staff hospital; Nursing turnover.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. This study is a theorical review based on existing literature and did not involve human participants or data collection, so ethical approval and informed consent were not required. Consent for publication: Not Applicable. Registration: The systematic integrative review was registered in PROSPERO with the code: CRD42024596638. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

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Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Associations between management leadership styles and turnover intention
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