Theories Underpinning Leadership and Management Preparation for Nursing Students: A Scoping Review

Background: A nursing leader must be holistic, addressing both patient care and the well-being of the nursing team. Such skills require diligent awareness and understanding. Theories exist to guide and define different approaches to leadership, ensuring work efficiency and quality patient care in clinical settings. Understanding existing leadership and management theories can help nursing students adapt and grasp how leadership can be flexible and dynamic in clinical settings. This paper aims to review existing theories on leadership and management, assessing their applicability to student nurses in clinical wards to better prepare them for leadership and managerial roles. Methods: This scoping review delves into classical and modern leadership and management theories using various research databases. The research team would examine their relevance, effectiveness, and challenges in real-world implementation, particularly in nursing practice for students and professionals. Results: Transactional and transformational styles of leadership have shown a positive influence on nurses, job performances, however, the effectiveness of every theory is dependent on many factors, such as culture, work environment, and resources available. Conclusion: Different intrinsic and external factors may influence the effectiveness of the existing leadership and management theory. It is however important and relevant to nursing students to be aware to better prepare themselves for leadership and management roles before their transition into becoming registered nurses or leaders.