Coaching in Healthcare and Nursing: Does Gender Make a Difference?

Abstract

Professional nurse coaching engages with the whole person and uses principles and modalities that consider the body, spirit, mind, and environment. In this article, the authors explore coaching from this wholistic perspective and investigate the literature to see if gender makes a difference. Nurse coaching has been used in various countries to engage and motivate people to make changes toward greater wellness, and it has been used by nurse managers to facilitate staff development, as well as improve the organization and quality of healthcare. It is unclear if the gender of the person doing the coaching makes a difference. A review of the literature on coaching strongly supports the use of nurse coaching, but only one study found that gender made a significant difference in the outcomes of nurse coaching interventions. The conclusion was that further studies that follow an integrative nurse coach model for practice are required. Implications for practice are discussed.