THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND JOB EMBEDDEDNESS AMONG NURSES IN GLOBAL HEALTH CRISIS

Abstract

Background: The recent global health crisis has placed unprecedented stress on healthcare workers, particularly nurses. Ethical leadership has been shown to enhance job embeddedness by fostering support, reducing stress, and improving retention during this challenging time. Aim: To assess the relationship between ethical leadership and job embeddedness among nurses during a major healthcare crisis. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive correlational study was conducted in accordance with the STROBE guidelines. A total of 221 registered nurses participated by completing both self-administered and online questionnaires. Data were collected using ethical leadership and job embeddedness scales. Results: Findings revealed that higher ethical leadership was strongly correlated with greater job embeddedness. Additionally, ethical leadership showed positive correlations with fit community, fit organization, sacrifice community, and sacrifice organization. The linear regression analysis confirmed a significant impact of ethical leadership on job embeddedness. Conclusion: The findings indicate that ethical leadership is vital for increasing employee job embeddedness. When leaders act ethically, employees feel more connected and committed to their workplace. This connection is especially evident in how well employees feel they fit into the community and the sacrifices they are willing to make for the organization. The linear regression analysis supports this, showing that as leaders' ethical behavior increases, so does employees' sense of belonging and desire to stay with the organization. Hence, encouraging ethical leadership is crucial for building a dedicated and engaged workforce.