Analysis of leadership theory empathy types of nursing students

Abstract

Objectives As the importance of cultivating the leadership capabilities of nursing students who will perform nurs-ing duties as nurses in various practical sites is emphasized, this study investigates modern leadership theo-ries(transformational leadership, charismatic leadership, servant leadership, and genuine leadership) among nursing students. An attempt was made to identify and systematically understand types of empathy. Methods Through an open-ended questionnaire, fourth-year nursing students who had taken a nursing leader-ship course for one semester were asked to choose the theory they most resonate with among four modern lead-ership theories and write down the reasons for their choice. A total of 151 people were analyzed using content analysis. Results As a result, among the four modern leadership theories, the distribution of empathy was in the following order: servant leadership (41.1%), transformational leadership (27.1%), authentic leadership (16.6%), and char-ismatic leadership (15.2%). Servant leadership included three themes out of a total of seven: ‘Service and Dedication’, ‘Respect for Members’, and ‘Personal Values’ (41.1%). Transformational leadership included 4 themes out of a total of 12: ‘Leader characteristics’, ‘Organization-first thinking’, ‘Identification with self’, and ‘Internal rewards’ (27.1%). Authentic leadership included three themes out of a total of five: ‘Self-understanding,’ ‘Authenticity,’ and ‘Everyone’s growth’ (16.6%). Charismatic leadership included three themes out of a total of seven: ‘ideal leader’, ‘employee commitment’, and ‘performance-oriented thinking’ (15.2%). Conclusions Through analysis of nursing students' empathy types for leadership theory, it can be used as basic data to identify the nursing leadership capabilities that must be achieved in nursing education and to set the scope and level to smoothly perform nurses' work through education and training.