MANAGER LEADERSHIP AND RETENTION OF HOSPITAL STAFF NURSES

This study used causal modeling to trace the effects of manager leader ship characteristics on staff registered nurse (RN) retention in 4 urb an hospitals. Unique to the study were the all-RN sample, using Leavit t's (1958) model of behavior within an organization to group variables , manager characteristics and unit structure variables as predictors, and focus on the work unit rather than the hospital. Effects of manage r characteristics were traced to retention through work characteristic s job stress, job satisfaction, commitment and intent to stay. Theoret ical variables explained 22% of the retention variance. Manager consid eration of staff and RN intent to remain directly affected retention; other variable effects passed through intent to stay. Different predic tors were important to retention, unit separation, and turnover.