Nursing, leadership and power relationships, a qualitative perspective

Abstract

Objective: Knowing the nursing leadership perception from power relationships, based on nurses, recently graduated nurses and the healthcare team’s opinions. Methods: Qualitative research, case study type, with a phenomenological approach. It was developed in two phases, with the ethics committee’s approval. A conven-ience sample was used, considering nurses, newly qualified nurses and health care providers. Semi-structured interviews were applied. Content analysis and applica-tion of the COREQ-32 guideline were performed. Results: The power relationships category shows a historical evolution of nursing leadership and power dynamics within the healthcare team related to profession, gender, generational differences and administrative hierarchies. Conclusions: It reveals the existence of power rela-tionship that influence the exercise of nursing leadership, which has hindered the participation of nursing in managerial positions, requiring the strengthening of nurs-ing leadership capacities.