Date of Conferral

8-17-2026

Date of Award

August 2026

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Nursing

Advisor

Patricia Senk

Abstract

Employee engagement among hospital-based nurse case managers is important because these nurses support discharge planning, utilization management, care coordination, and safe patient transitions. Although leadership style has been studied in nursing, limited research has examined its relationship to engagement among nurse case managers. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental, correlational study, using House’s path-goal theory, was to examine the relationship between transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles and employee engagement among hospital-based nurse case managers. Data were collected from 89 registered nurse case managers in acute care settings in the United States, who completed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, Short Form, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. A multiple regression was used to examine relationships between leadership styles and employee engagement. The overall model was significant, explaining 33.9% of the variance in engagement. Transformational leadership was significantly related to employee engagement (β = .582, p < .001). Transactional and laissez-faire leadership were not significant. A one-way MANOVA was used to examine differences in engagement dimensions by leadership style. Leadership style exhibited a significant multivariate effect on engagement, Pillai’s Trace .216, F(6, 170) = 3.432, p = .003, partial η2 = .108. Univariate analysis found significant differences in vigor and dedication, but not for absorption. The implications for positive social change include strengthening leadership practices that promote nurse case manager engagement, and improving care coordination for patients, families, and healthcare organizations.

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