How nursing leaders serve as role models for new and future nurses

AS HEALTHCARE leadership evolves, particularly post-COVID, the nursing profession faces several challenges, including increased stress, burnout, and incidents of workplace bullying and incivility. In the face of these challenges, healthcare systems continue to work for better patient and provider outcomes.

Embree and Leibig highlight the significance of professional identity in nursing, a global movement that encourages nurses to embrace core values of the profession, such as empathy, compassion, and integrity. However, current nursing culture—including issues of bullying and incivility—remains a significant barrier to fostering a healthy, professional work environment.

We believe nursing leaders can help address these challenges by emphasizing the need for emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and supportive communication. Authentic leadership, empowerment, professional development, and work–life balance can serve as essential strategies for reducing burnout and promoting a positive, inclusive, and collaborative work environment. Simultaneously, mentorship and ethical practice can empower future generations of nurses. In addition to advocating for their teams, nursing leaders can model the behaviors that encourage resilience, growth, and mutual respect, thereby transforming the profession for the better.

In high-stress, technologically advanced, and often short-staffed healthcare environments, leaders play a critical role in promoting the physical and mental well-being of both patients and staff. Although individuals are ultimately responsible for their own health behaviors, leaders and educators can foster workplace cultures that support well-being by modeling healthy behaviors, encouraging work–life balance, and addressing organizational challenges. Leadership also influences workforce retention. For example, Graber and colleagues found that many female nurse educators leave academia because of ineffective leadership, feelings of not belonging, and workplace incivility. Addressing these issues can improve both staff well-being and organizational stability.

What is healthy nursing leadership?

Several perspectives exist regarding healthy nursing leadership. One influential perspective is Watson’s Theory of Human Caring, which identifies caring as a fundamental component of professional nursing practice. Watson’s Clinical Caritas Processes emphasize caring behaviors such as cultivating sensitivity to oneself and others, recognizing that self-awareness is essential for developing meaningful relationships with patients and colleagues. Potter and colleagues note that self-actualization occurs when individuals accept themselves and others while striving to achieve their full potential. This emphasis on self-awareness, personal growth, and authentic relationships aligns with healthy nursing leadership by fostering supportive environments that benefit both nurses and the patients they serve.

Authentic leadership

Abdelwahid describes how authentic leadership and its four components (self-awareness, relational transparency, balanced processing, and an internalized moral perspective) cultivate trust among employees.

Self-awareness

Self-awareness involves acknowledging one’s strengths and weaknesses, understanding how others see us, and recognizing how we influence others. Nurse leaders demonstrate self-awareness by asking hard questions related to their leadership and performance. Using an anonymous format for constructive feedback allows staff to raise concerns without fear of retaliation.

Relational transparency

Some leaders may avoid transparency because they fear being vulnerable. However, transparency allows leaders to demonstrate their authentic selves, including their true thoughts and feelings, which can foster psychological safety, mutual trust, and staff engagement.

Balanced processing

When nurse leaders practice balanced processing, they analyze all relevant information objectively—without bias or hasty judgments—before making decisions. For example, authentic leaders obtain information from all relevant colleagues, avoid nepotism, and facilitate an objective resolution that aligns with the well-being of the staff and the overall culture of the department or organization.

Internalized moral perspective

Being guided by an internal moral perspective can result in decisions consistent with one’s values. Taking the time to reflect on their core values as well as those of the organization and incorporating them in a manner that supports the staff helps nursing leaders uphold the requirements of administration and displays an inclusive and equitable healthcare culture.

Bullying and incivility

Rao and Tootell note that bullying behaviors seem embedded in the culture of nursing and that the profession isn’t doing enough to address the issue. Blizzard, citing Clark and Springer, defines academic incivility as behavior that substantially or repeatedly disrupts teaching and learning.

According to Blizzard, incivility and social bullying in nursing academic settings aren’t well studied. For example, nurse faculty may remain silent out of fear of retribution by colleagues and superiors. Beitz and Beckmann state that the impact of bullying behavior on the nursing profession exceeds incivility due to physical and emotional harm.

Rao and Tootell describe systems that support covering-up bullying behavior. They note how bullying in front of other nurses, colleagues, or patients can leave the target feeling belittled and ashamed. Rao and Tootell also note the need to address the issue of race and ethnicity. In their semi-structured interviews with 19 New Zealand nurses working in various settings, nurses described how being a member of an ethnic group exacerbated bullying, which increased levels of mistrust toward the administration team.

In 2023, Hosier reported significant success with the implementation of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Civility, Respect, and Engagement in the Workplace (CREW) program. The program includes three intervention levels targeting prevention, early intervention, and reaction to bullying incidents. CREW’s interventions aim to transform the workplace environment and culture to foster positive behaviors while decreasing negative ones.

After adoption of CREW interventions, according to Hosier, nurses noted enhanced coping abilities, a shift in their perception of the work environment, and, most importantly, a substantial reduction in workplace bullying. CREW communication strategies that enhance conflict resolution and mediation processes can provide the blueprint for addressing workplace disputes constructively and preventing escalation to bullying. Additionally, targeted counseling interventions for individuals identified as perpetrators of workplace bullying aim to address the underlying causes of their behavior, fostering a healthier and more respectful work environment.

Supportive communication and listening skills

Leclerc and colleagues suggest that focusing on transformational and business leadership may not serve today’s nurses. Instead, they recommend shifting toward more supportive communication in nursing leadership, including fostering understanding, offering encouragement, and improving listening skills, such as paying attention and providing feedback.

According to Prochnow and colleagues, 35% to 54% of U.S. nurses and providers show significant signs of burnout. Prochnow and colleagues note that moderate-to-severe levels of burnout include emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of reduced personal accomplishment. Nagle and colleagues describe burnout as significantly affecting the mental and physical well-being of healthcare workers, including factors such as lack of control and work–life imbalance.

Enhancing supportive communication and active listening skills of nurse leaders has the potential to reduce burnout. These skills can help foster a positive work environment in which concerns are addressed, emotional support is provided, and nurses feel valued, understood, and less overwhelmed.

Empowerment and professional development

Leaders who embrace opportunities for learning and professional development can help to empower nurses. According to Leclerc and colleagues, a wealth of leadership theories and styles have existed for decades, but only a limited number can be considered relational.

Leclerc and colleagues note that effective leaders prioritize growth, development, and mentorship strategies, which decrease burnout, job dissatisfaction, and emotional dissonance by focusing on skill enhancement and promoting career advancement for all employees. The strategy of objective empowerment includes delegating authority, allowing nurses to accept responsibilities that challenge and enhance their skills, and fostering leadership opportunities.

For example, delegating authority helps nurse educators gain confidence in their decision-making abilities and builds their reasoning skills. Fostering leadership opportunities allows nurse educators to develop communication, decision-making, and management skills. Just as nurse educators exemplify leadership behaviors, nurse leaders can model actions that empower and support the professional growth and development of their staff. By facilitating leadership opportunities, nursing leaders cultivate leadership within the team through support, rather than enforced restrictions of control. Offering leadership development and shared governance opportunities to all nurses, rather than limiting them to nurses in formal leadership roles, can provide avenues for accepting challenging responsibilities that enhance their skills.

Encouraging work–life balance

Embree and Leibig describe the need for nurse leaders to display self-nurturing behaviors and to advocate and promote well-being at work, at home, and in the community. Encouraging work–life balance can prove challenging, especially when nurses are asked to put their work email on their phones and check it frequently throughout the day.

Leaders have a role to play in helping their staff maintain boundaries between work and personal life, perhaps by setting clear expectations about after-hours communication and promoting time management strategies. Peykar and colleagues offer examples of time management strategies, including prioritizing and setting time limits for tasks and minimizing distractions.

Commitment to ethical and inclusive practice

Embree and Liebig challenge nurse leaders to adopt leadership qualities that include emotional intelligence, integrity, critical thinking and reasoning, communication skills, relationship management for reflective practice, innovation, personal and professional accountability, professional socialization, and respect. Making a commitment to ethical and inclusive practice involves creating an environment where all team members feel respected and valued, regardless of their background.

Leaders can actively work to eliminate biases and ensure that ethical standards are upheld in all aspects of care and professional interactions. For example, they can introduce clear, transparent guidelines for assessing staff performance to avoid decisions influenced by personal preference or unconscious bias. Integrating multiple reviewers into high-stakes decision making (hiring, performance evaluations) can help prevent a single person’s bias from dominating the process. When leaders address disrespectful or discriminatory behavior immediately and consistently, they reinforce that incivility or bias won’t be tolerated. In addition, when leaders openly discuss ethical dilemmas and explain how decisions align with professional codes of conduct, they reinforce transparency and accountability.

The American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses provides a framework for ethical nursing practice. Among its nine provisions, respect for human dignity, advocacy, accountability and responsibility, self-care and professional growth, and an ethical work environment offer valuable guidance to nurse leaders. (See An ethical framework.)

Collaboration and interprofessional teamwork

Collaboration and interprofessional teamwork aid effective healthcare delivery. For example, Leclerc and colleagues note that nurse educators have an opportunity to collaborate with nurse practice leaders to guide the future of nursing and healthcare leadership. This collaboration can enhance the quality of care and improve patient outcomes by leveraging the diverse skills and perspectives of different healthcare professionals.

In addition, rather than denigrating a skill deficit in a new nurse, experienced nurses can provide constructive feedback in a positive, supportive manner. Leaders and other experienced nurses have a responsibility to bridge gaps and foster a collaborative environment. This approach not only presents an opportunity to enhance the professional growth of new colleagues but also can contribute to a more cohesive and effective team dynamic.

Cultivate future nurses

To create a more positive and effective healthcare environment, nursing leaders can embrace relational leadership styles that prioritize the well-being and development of their staff. By fostering a culture of empowerment, ethical practice, and collaboration, leaders can help mitigate burnout and enhance job satisfaction, ultimately leading to better patient care and a more resilient global healthcare workforce.

As experienced nursing leaders, it’s our responsibility to cultivate the nurses of tomorrow. The way we treat our colleagues today could influence the care we receive as patients.

Sharon Jones is an associate professor at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega. Rebecca Coleman is an associate professor at the University of North Georgia. Barbora Snuggs is an associate professor at the University of North Georgia. Christopher Laird is associate vice president of nursing operations and patient care services at Northern Light Health Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

American Nurse Journal. 2026; 21(9). Doi: 10.51256/ANJ092659

References

Abdelwahid AEA. Workplace trust and authentic leadership as predictors of work-related bullying among staff nurses. Int J Nurs Educ. 2020;12(1):90-5. doi:10.37506/ijone.v12i1.3700

American Nurses Association. Code of Ethics for Nurses. 2025. Codeofethics.ana.org/home

Beitz JM, Beckmann CA. Psychometric development of an instrument measuring social bullying in nursing academia: Item development and content validation. Nurse Educ. 2021;46(3):E45-9. doi:10.1097/NNE.0000000000000907

Blizzard L. Incivility and bullying in nursing academia: What is the effect on the profession? New Mexico Nurse. 2023;68(1):6-7.

Clark CM, Springer PJ. Academic nurse leaders’ roles in fostering a culture of civility in nursing education. J Nurs Educ. 2010;49(6):319-25. doi:10.3928/01484834-20100224-01

Embree J, Leibig D. Nurse as leader, a pillar of professional identity. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2023;54(11):497-500. doi:10.3928/00220124-20231011-04

Graber J, Ivory R, Saylor J. Incivility and the faculty shortage in nursing academia. Nursing. 2024;54(8):58-60. doi:10.1097/NSG.0000000000000043

Hosier S. Evaluating the efficacy of a modified CREW program in mitigating workplace bullying in Singapore – A pilot quasi-experimental study. Singapore Nurs J. 2023;50(1):14-22.

Jepkosgei J, English M, Adam MB, Nzinga J. Understanding intra- and interprofessional team and teamwork processes by exploring facility-based neonatal care in Kenyan hospitals. BMC Health Serv Res. 2022;22(1):636. doi:10.1186/s12913-022-08039-6

Leclerc L, Bailey KD, Fitzpatrick JJ, Kennedy K, Raso R. Getting schooled in relational leadership. J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(11):599-600. doi:10.3928/01484834-20231010-02

Nagle E, Griskevica I, Rajevska O, Ivanovs A, Mihailova S, Skruzkalne I. Factors affecting healthcare workers burnout and their conceptual models: Scoping review. BMC Psychol. 2024;12(1):637. doi:10.1186/s40359-024-02130-9

Peykar S, Vahedparast H, Gharibi T, Bagherzadah R. Examining the impact of time management and resilience training on work-family conflict among Iranian female nurses: A randomized controlled trial. BMC Nurs. 2023;22(1):470. doi:10.1186/s12912-023-01634-w

Potter PA, Perry AG, Stockert PA, Hall AM. Fundamentals of Nursing. 12th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2025.

Prochnow JA, McGill RL, Pesut DJ, Deno FE, Becknell MD. Challenges and choices. Nurs Manage. 2021;52(10):32-40. doi:10.1097/01.NUMA.0000792012.90700.f2

Rao V, Tootell B. Bullying in the nursing profession: Can mentoring ameliorate the ill effects? Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand. 2024;41-50.

Watson J. Human Caring Science: A Theory of Nursing. 2nd ed. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2012.

Key words: Nursing leaders, authentic leadership, emotional intelligence