the role of leadership competence and organizational culture in enhancing healthcare service quality

Background: hospital culture significantly influences healthcare delivery. effective teamwork among healthcare professionals, along with strong leadership and management, is crucial for providing high-quality services. this study explores the impact of leadership competence and organizational culture on the quality of healthcare services. methods: we employed a rigorous methodology in this cross-sectional analytical study, conducted in 2024 at velayat hospital in damghan. data were collected from 100 randomly selected nurses using denison's organizational culture questionnaire, the standard leadership competency questionnaire based on the stroud model (2009), and the servqual scale by parasuraman et al. (1988). the analysis was conducted using advanced techniques such as structural equation modeling (sem) and pearson correlation, facilitated by spss 26 and eqs 6.2 software, ensuring the reliability and validity of our findings. results: among the participants, 68% were women. the overall average scores were 115.56 ± 18.8 for organizational culture, 74.84 ± 23.12 for leadership competence, and 194 ± 16.17 for healthcare service quality. a significant positive correlation was found between organizational culture and leadership competence (p < 0.05, r = 0.633). the relationships between healthcare service quality and both organizational culture (r = 0.274, p > 0.05) and leadership competence (r = 0.304, p > 0.05) were positive, suggesting promising potential for future research. the structural equation model demonstrated a reasonably good fit (rmsea = 0.24). conclusions: the findings of this study are significant for healthcare professionals and hospital managers. they emphasize the importance of leadership competence, supported by a strong organizational culture, in enhancing the quality of nursing services. the study also highlights the urgent need to foster leadership skills and cultivate a positive organizational culture, as these factors are essential for improving healthcare outcomes. this call to action should inspire and motivate all stakeholders to work toward creating a more effective and positive healthcare environment.