Leadership of Primary Health Care nurses in confronting the COVID-19 health crisis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36517/2175-6783.20252695518Keywords:
Leadership; Primary Health Care; Nursing; COVID-19.Abstract
Objective: to analyze the leadership practices expressed by Primary Health Care nurses in confronting the COVID-19 health crisis. Methods: cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational study conducted with 69 nurses from the Family Health Strategy. Data collection was carried out through a structured questionnaire on socio-educational profile and the leadership assessment tool, Leadership Practices Inventory, validated for use in Brazil. Statistical analysis utilized Mann-Whitney tests and Spearman correlation. Results: exemplary leadership practices were applied by the nurses in the five domains: Model the Way (1); Inspire a Shared Vision (2); Challenge the Process (3); Enable Others to Act (4); Encourage the Heart (5), with a predominance of domains 4 and 5, respectively. A significant positive correlation (p<0.001) was observed between the use of these practices and factors such as time working in public health, age, length of residence in the municipality, and participation in leadership courses. Conclusion: the results of this research show that nurses utilized leadership practices within Primary Health Care to confront COVID-19 in the five domains. Contributions to practice: prior training in leadership was associated with higher performance in the evaluated practices, indicating the importance of investing in the development of management skills for nurses.
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