Abstract
The role of the leader of a medical unit has evolved over time to expand from simply a medical role to a more managerial one. This study aimed to explore how the behavior of a hospital-based emergency department's (ED's) leader might be related to ED unit performance and ED employees' work satisfaction. One hundred and twelve hospital-based EDs in Taiwan were studied: 10 in medical centers, 32 in regional hospitals, and 70 in district hospitals. Three instruments were designed to assess leader behaviors, unit performance and employee satisfaction in these hospital-based EDs. A mail survey revealed that task-oriented leader behavior was positively related to ED unit performance. Both task- and employee-oriented leader behaviors were found to be positively related to ED nurses' work satisfaction. However, leader behaviors were not shown to be related to ED physicians' work satisfaction at a statistically significant level. Some ED organizational characteristics, however, namely departmentalization and hospital accreditation level, were found to be related to ED physicians' work satisfaction.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 238-246 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Social Science and Medicine |
| Volume | 72 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 01 2011 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Emergency nurse
- Emergency physician
- Employee-oriented leadership
- Health care leader
- Hospital-based emergency department
- Leader behavior
- Taiwan
- Task-oriented leadership