Relationship between ethical leadership and organisational commitment of nurses with perception of patient safety culture.

AIM: To determine the relationship between ethical leadership, organisational commitment of nurses and their perception of patient safety culture.

BACKGROUND: Patient safety, organisational commitment and ethical leadership styles are very important for improving the quality of nursing care.

METHODS: In this descriptive-correlational study, 340 nurses were selected using random sampling from the hospitals in Tehran in 2016. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS v.20.

RESULTS: There was a significant positive relationship between the ethical leadership of nursing managers, perception of patient safety culture and organisational commitment. The regression analysis showed that nursing managers' ethical leadership and nurses' organisational commitment is a predictor of patient safety culture and confirms the relationship between the variables.

CONCLUSION: Regarding the relationship between the nurses' safety performance, ethical leadership and organisational commitment, it seems that the optimisation of the organisational commitment and adherence to ethical leadership by administrators and managers in hospitals could improve the nurses' performance in terms of patient safety.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Implementing ethical leadership seems to be one feasible strategy to improve nurses' organisational commitment and perception of patient safety culture. Efforts by nurse managers to develop ethical leadership reinforce organisational commitment to improve patient outcomes. Nurse managers' engagement and performance in this process is vital for a successful result.