The relationship between ethical leadership and nurse well‐being: The mediating role of workplace mindfulness

Abstract

AbstractAimThe purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between nurses' well‐being and their ethical leadership, and the mediating role of workplace mindfulness in this relationship.DesignThis was a quantitative cross‐sectional study.MethodsThis cross‐sectional study was conducted in three tertiary hospitals in central China from May 2022 to July 2022, and the Nurses' Workplace Mindfulness, Ethical Leadership and Well‐Being Scale were distributed and collected via the Internet. A total of 1579 nurses volunteered to participate in this study. SPSS 26.0 statistical software was used to analyse the data by Z‐test and Spearman's rank correlation; the internal mechanism of workplace mindfulness and ethical leadership on nurses' well‐being was completed by AMOS 23.0 statistical software.ResultsThe scores of nurses' well‐being, workplace mindfulness and ethical leadership were 93.00 (81.00, 108.00), 96.00 (80.00, 112.00) and 73.00 (67.00, 81.00) respectively. The professional title, age and department atmosphere affect their well‐being. Spearman's analysis showed that nurses' well‐being was positively correlated with ethical leadership (r = .507, p < .01) and workplace mindfulness (r = .600, p < .01); workplace mindfulness partially mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and nurses' well‐being accounting for 38.5% of the total effect ratio [p < .001, 95% CI = (0.215, 0.316)].ConclusionNurses' well‐being was at a medium level, and had a higher score in ethical leadership and workplace mindfulness, and workplace mindfulness played a partial mediating role between ethical leadership and nurses' well‐being.ImpactThis suggests that nursing managers need to pay attention to clinical nurses' well‐being experience, actively focus on the relationship among ethical leadership, workplace mindfulness and well‐being and integrate core values such as positivity and morality into nurses' daily routines, so as to improve the work enthusiasm and well‐being experience of clinical nurses, enhancing the nursing quality and stabilizing the nursing team.