Our study confirms the positive impact of leadership
development on the team. According to the nurses, the
CLP caused communication on the ward to become more
effective, created a more autonomous work environment
that cultivated a heightened sense of responsibility
towards the patient, encouraged nurses to solve clinical
problems and conflicts within the team, provided more
opportunities for nurses to develop personally and
professionally, and created more clarity and structure in
the work environment that enhanced their control over
nursing practice. These represent all the characteristics of
a magnet hospital environment, characteristics that are
often lacking in standard hospital wards, as reported by
Belgian nurses (Milisen et al. 2006, Siebens et al. 2006).
Developing transformational clinical leadership, therefore,
can be considered to be an important strategy
to improve the nurse work environment and to support
hospitals as they progress in establishing magnet
hospitals (Scott et al. 1999).
Although the positive effect of leadership development
on the care-giving process was supported by all the participants
conversations, we could not demonstrate this
effect in a direct way in this study. However, our findings
help us to better understand why an improved working
environment could contribute to better patient outcomes