Nurse Leaders’ Perceptions of Followership Development Needs: A Descriptive Qualitative Study

Introduction: Followership is a critical aspect of leadership because, without followers, there can be no leaders. To be successful, organizations must develop high-performance, self-developed, and self-led followers with specific values. However, organizations have traditionally prioritized developing leaders, leaving out followers in the development equation. Followership development allows nurses to learn how to work effectively in teams, fostering teamwork skills.

Aim: To explore nurse leaders’ perceptions of followership development needs.

Materials and Methods: A descriptive qualitative design was used. Data were collected via face-to-face, semistructured, in-depth interviews with 10 purposively selected nurse leaders (middle and top management). The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed via Braun and Clarke’s approach.

Findings: Participants emphasized the need for followership education for nurses. Followership should be incorporated into undergraduate nursing curricula and in-service training. Additionally, participants verbalized the need for a followership development program that should train nurse followers in communication, interprofessional collaboration, decision-making, team building, teamwork, and leadership. The participants suggested that followership could be developed by providing incentives for good followership behavior and conducting periodic performance appraisals.

Conclusion: The participants emphasized the importance of a followership development program, which may enhance the relationship between nurse leaders and followers and contribute to positive patient outcomes. Future research needs to develop programs to develop nurses who are followers.

Implications for Nursing Management: Developing followers in a hospital setting is critical. Understanding needs and what a followership program should include assists nurse leaders in planning and implementing relevant programs.