Humble leadership and nurses' turnover intention: The moderating effect of leader expertise

Aim: This study was designed to examine the relationship between humble leadership and nurses' turnover intention and investigate the moderating role of leader expertise in this relationship. Background: Leader humility and expertise are two key dimensions of professional spirit in competitive magnet organizations. Many organizational factors could make nurses take a decision to leave their organization; however, leader humility and expertise could help nurses retract from this decision. Method: This is a multisite cross-sectional study that was conducted at all medical-surgical units of four university hospitals. Using scales for assessing leader humility, nurses' turnover intention, and leader expertise, 385 nurses were surveyed. Data were investigated via descriptive and inferential statistics, where correlation, path analysis, and structured equation modeling were used to test the hypothetical relationship among study variables. Results: There is a statistically significant negative relationship between humble leadership and nurses' turnover intention. Humble leadership and leader expertise were significant predictors of nurses' turnover intention. The moderating effect of leader expertise on the relationship between humble leadership and nurses' turnover intention was statistically significant, making it more negative, implying that leader expertise amplifies the effect of leader humility on reducing nurses’ turnover. Conclusion: Incorporating leader expertise with humility could provide an efficient panacea for reducing turnover intentions among nurses in different healthcare organizations. Implications for nursing and health policy: Healthcare organizations could develop an efficient retention plan for nurses by cultivating humility among both leaders and nurses. In addition, building nurse leaders' expertise through opening avenues for professional development is a good strategy in the face of nurses' shortage and high turnover. Furthermore, succession planning in healthcare organizations must consider humility as a vital skill among anticipated leaders.