Relationship between leadership and job satisfaction in nurses: a meta-analysis and moderator analysis

The leadership styles of nurse managers directly impact nurses’ job satisfaction, which in turn affects stress, burnout, turnover, care quality, patient safety, and nursing shortage outcomes. Understanding this relationship is essential for developing evidence-based practices and policies that improve healthcare delivery. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to synthesize and evaluate the association between job satisfaction and leadership in nurses and investigate potential moderators in this relationship. This systematic review and meta-analysis was reported in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 reporting guideline. The methodological processes were guided by the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Seven databases—PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science, Springer Link, EBSCOhost CINAHL Complete, and Cochrane—were searched on January 1, 2025. The risk of bias was independently assessed by two researchers using The Quality Assessment and Validity Tool for Correlational Studies. Data were analyzed using the Jamovi (Version 2.3.26.2021) MAJOR Meta-Analysis module. To explore potential sources of heterogeneity, moderator and subgroup analyses were performed, and sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of the findings. 57 studies meet the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis results revealed that the effect size of the relationship between leadership and job satisfaction was r̂ = 0.39 (95% CI 0.31, 0.49, p < .001). The moderator analysis revealed that leadership style, level of national development, data collection year, study setting, and study quality significantly influenced the relationship between leadership and job satisfaction, whereas the country in which the study was conducted did not. Among leadership styles, transformational and authentic leadership demonstrated the strongest positive correlations with job satisfaction, while toxic and task-oriented leadership styles were negatively associated with it. There was a moderate positive relationship between leadership and job satisfaction in nurses. The development of relational and people-oriented leadership styles may increase nurse’ job satisfaction. Future research examining the effects of organizational and nursing cultures on these dynamics may contribute to guiding policies aimed at improving nurse satisfaction and overall healthcare quality. Policymakers, institutions, and nurse leaders need to promote and develop relational and humanistic leadership styles focused on relationships and people increase the job satisfaction of nurses. CRD42022302502.