exploring the impact of nurse leadership styles on quality of work life and efficiency in shiraz hospitals, iran, 2024

Introduction:to examine the impact of nurse leadership styles on the quality of work life(qwl) and efficiency at shiraz university hospitals.methods:in this cross sectional study, 40 head nurses and 180 nurses from 20 inpatientwards were surveyed. data were collected using walton’s standard qwl questionnaire, thehersey blanchard leadership style questionnaire, and data envelopment analysis (dea).results:transformational leadership (45%) was the most common style associated withhigher qwl and efficiency. regression analysis showed that transformational leadershiphad a significant positive effect on qwl (b= p<0.001) and efficiency (b= p<0.001).laissez faire leadership was associated with lower qwl and efficiency scores. path analysisconfirmed the mediating role of qwl in the impact of transformational leadership onefficiency. an ova and post hoc tests further validated that transformational leadershipsignificantly outperforms all other styles regarding efficiency. transactional leadership alsoshowed a moderate positive effect on efficiency (p=0.03), but its impact on qwl was notstatistically significant.conclusion:transformational leadership improves qwl and efficiency in hospitals. trainingin transformational leadership is recommended for head nurses to enhance staff well beingand operational performance. the study’s limitations include its cross sectional design,reliance on self reported data, and potential lack of generalizability beyond shiraz universityhospitals. further research is suggested to explore the long term impacts of leadership styles.it includes pati ent outcomes and care quality metrics to understand leadership effectivenessin healthcare settings better.