Decision-Making Styles and Managerial Creativity of Nursing Managers in Saudi Arabia: A Multi-Center Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

(1) Background: Nursing managers as responsible personnel are required to think outside the box in order to make useful decisions using an appropriate style in a creative manner. This study aims to investigate the relationship between nursing managers’ decision-making styles and managerial creativity. (2) Methods: A multi-center cross-sectional design was used to collect data from 245 managers in five large government hospitals using self-administered questionnaires on managerial creativity and general decision-making styles. (3) Results: A significant relationship was found between rational, avoidant, and dependent styles and total managerial creativity. A positive correlation was present between the rational style and total managerial creativity and a negative correlation was found between avoidant, dependent, and spontaneous styles and total managerial creativity. According to a regression analysis, the rational style has a positive effect on managerial creativity, whereas the dependent and avoidant styles have a negative effect. (4) Conclusions: The majority of nursing managers in various hospitals throughout the kingdom are creative and almost all use rational and dependent decision-making styles, which are significantly related to managerial creativity. Thus, it is important to continue to conduct training programs on decision-making styles, especially the rational, dependent, and avoidant styles, for the top-, middle-, and low-level managers.