The Influence of Authentic Leadership on Perceived Readiness to Change Among Nurses in Healthcare Care Organizations: Hierarchical Regression

Abstract

B Background Healthcare systems are currently undergoing significant transformation as part of the evolving change process. Perceived nurse readiness for change is crucial in successfully implementing and sustaining change. Leaders play an important role in evaluating employees' readiness for change. However, limited studies link between authentic leadership and perceived nurses readiness for organizational change. Aim This study explores the relationship between authentic leadership and nurses' perceived readiness for organizational change within healthcare settings in Jordan after controlling sociodemographic variables. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional correlation study includes 140 registered nurses who work in healthcare settings. A self-administered questionnaire was used, including authentic leadership and perceived nurse readiness for change scales. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, a t-test, an ANOVA, a Pearson correlation coefficient, and hierarchical regression. Results strong positive relationship was found between Authentic leadership and perceived nurses' readiness for change (r=0.65, p<.01), and a negative significant moderate correlation was found between age (r=-.29, p < 0.01) total experiences in nursing (r=-.35, p < 0.01) and total experience in current floor/units (r=-.31, p < 0.01). Authentic leadership subscales found to correlate with perceived readiness to change; relational transparency and self-awareness have the highest strong positive correlations (r=.64, p < .01),  (r=.63, p < .01) respectively . Hierarchical regression was conducted to control for sociodemographic variables, the result revealed that the overall model explained 50% of the variance for the perceived nurses readiness for change, with authentic leadership has the only significant predictor for this model after controlling sociodemographic variables (t=8.02, p<.0001). Conclusion The relationship between authentic leadership and perceived readiness for change is crucial to facilitating the success of organizational change. The result underscores the unique contribution of authentic leadership in improving perceived readiness for change. The authentic leader fosters trust and enhances communication, which empowers the employees to embrace the change process.