When nurse emotional intelligence matters: How transformational leadership influences intent to stay

Aim The purpose of this study was to examine the role of staff nurse emotional intelligence between transformational leadership and nurse intent to stay. Background Nurse intent to stay and transformational leadership are widely recognized as vital components of nurse retention. Staff nurse emotional intelligence that has been confirmed improvable has been recently recognized in the nursing literature as correlated with retention. Yet, the nature of the relationships among these three variables is not known. Methods Cross‐sectional data for 535 Chinese nurses were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. Results Transformational leadership and staff nurse emotional intelligence were significant predictors of nurse intent to stay, accounting for 34.3% of the variance in nurse intent to stay. Staff nurse emotional intelligence partially mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and nurse intent to stay. Conclusion The findings of the study emphasized the importance of transformational leadership in enhancing nurse emotional intelligence and to provide a deeper understanding of the mediating role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between nurse manager's transformational leadership and nurse's intent to stay. Implications for Nursing Management Nurse leaders should develop training programmes to improve nursing manager transformational leadership and staff nurse emotional intelligence in the workplace.