Staff Nurses ’Perception Regarding Toxic Leadership Behavior of Head Nurses and it’s Relation to their Work Engagement

Background: Toxic leadership is ineffective behavior that reflects leadership's negative/dark side and can negatively affect not only the followers but also the whole organization. Aim: This study aimed at identifying staff nurses' perception regarding toxic leadership behavior of head nurses and it's relation to their work engagement. Design: A descriptive correlational design was used. Settings: This study was conducted at Medical Hospital affiliated to El-Fayuom University Hospitals in El-Fayuom governorate. Subjects: 132staff nurses out of 200 staff nurses. Data collection tools: Data were collected by using two tools namely: Toxic leadership scale and Utrecht work engagement scale. Results: Analysis revealed that more than two-thirds (68.9%) of the studied staff nurses had low perception level for self - promotion dimension, while less than two-thirds (63.6%) of the studied staff nurses had low perception level toward total toxic leadership. Also, more than half (53.8%) of studied staff nurses had high level of work engagement toward dimension of dedication, while half (50.0%) of them had moderate level regarding total work engagement. Conclusion: There was a statistically significant negative correlation between total staff nurses’ perception of toxic leadership and total work engagement among staff nurses. Recommendations: The study recommended that hospital administrators could conduct training programs for supervisors to improve their leadership skills and behaviors.