Exploring the impacts of personal factors on clinical leadership in a university hospital

Abstract

Background: Clinical leadership is one of the important issues that should be carefully discussed with clinicians in the health sector. Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical leadership qualities of physicians and nurses and to examine effect variables such as age, gender, marital status, total working time, educational level, profession, working unit, formal education on management, leadership and clinical leadership on the subdimensions of clinical leadership. Methods: Participants included physicians and nurses working in a university hospital in Ankara, Turkey, and 261 participants responded to the research instrument. Data were collected from January to March 2016. Descriptive statistics, the significance test of difference between two means, and one-way analysis of variance were used in the data analysis. Results: The findings revealed that total working time in the health sector and in the current working unit affect all subdimensions of clinical leadership (p < 0.05). Whereas the subdimension of managing services has the highest mean score, the subdimension of personal qualities has the lowest mean score in clinical leadership. Conclusion: Clinicians must aspire to achieve professional and managerial levels, which can improve their clinical expertise and clinical leadership skills.