88 https://oamjms.eu/index.php/mjms/index Scientifc Foundation SPIROSKI, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. 2021 Sep 13; 9(G):88-93. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2021.6666 eISSN: 1857-9655 Category: G - Nursing Section: Nursing in Internal Medicine Nurse Perceived of Caring Leadership: A Qualitative Descriptive Study Ni Made Nopita Wati 1 * , R. Tri Rahyuning Lestari 2 , Gita Ayuningtyas 2 , Ni Bodro Ardi 2 , I Gede Juanamasta 1 1 Department of Nursing, STIKes Wira Medika Bali, Denpasar, Indonesia; 2 Department of Nursing, STIKes Widya Dharma Husada Tanggerang, Banten 15417, Indonesia Abstract BACKGROUND: The leader’s attitude or behavior to staf or subordinates greatly determined a conducive working atmosphere in a hospital. Decrease in performance and job dissatisfaction will impact work productivity, attendance (absenteeism), the quality of services provided, and the exit of the workforce itself (turn-over). This is why the importance of a harmonious relationship between a leader and his staf or subordinates. AIM: This study aims to determine nurses’ views regarding caring leadership of the head of the room. METHODS: The research method used in this study is descriptive qualitative with a face-to-face interview. Fifteen registered nurses were involved in this study that interacts directly to the patient and nurse manager. The data were analyzed by content analysis. RESULTS: Nurse perceived caring leadership, including giving positive feelings, listening, encouraging, infuencing, experience, proactive, and struggling for the subordinates. CONCLUSION: A deep understanding of caring leadership could bring the curricula with the new course of caring leadership. The student can learn and practice from the early time. It would bring a caring attitude as a part of their own life. Edited by: Mirko Spiroski Citation: Wati NMN, Lestari RTR, Ayuningtyas G, Ardi NB, Juanamasta IG. Nurse Perceived of Caring Leadership: A Qualitative Descriptive Study. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2021 Sep 13; 9(G):88-93. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2021.6666 Keywords: Caring; Leadership; Nurse; Descriptive qualitative *Correspondence: Ni Made Nopita Wati, Department of Nursing, STIKes Wira Medika Bali, Denpasar, Indonesia.E-mail: ners.pita@gmail.com Received: 19-Jun-2021 Revised: 20-Aug-2021 Accepted: 03-Sep-2021 Copyright: © 2021 Ni Made Nopita Wati, R. Tri Rahyuning Lestari, Gita Ayuningtyas, Ni Bodro Ardi, I Gede Juanamasta Funding: This research did not receive any fnancial support Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist Open Access: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) Introduction As one of the health-care providers in hospitals, nurses play a critical role in accomplishing health development goals. The success of health services depends on the participation of nurses in providing quality care for patients [1], [2]. This is due to the presence of nurses on duty 24 h to serve patients, as well as the number of nurses who dominate health workers in hospitals, which ranges from 40 to 60%, thus hospitals need to manage human resources (HR), especially nurses appropriately [3]. It takes the existence of a leader who is able to manage HR in accordance with the changes and existing demands [4], [5]. A leader uses his authority and leadership to direct others and is responsible for that person’s work in achieving a goal [6]. Leaders have a responsibility both physically and spiritually for the success of the work activities of those they lead, so being a leader is not easy, and not everyone has the same in carrying out their leadership (Milkhatum, 2016). Leaders who are aware of their strengths and weaknesses and know how their behavior will afect their staf [7]. The research results conducted by Laschinger stated that emotional exhaustion, which is considered a core component of burnout, is infuenced by leadership. Similar research results were also expressed by Pinchover, Attar- Schwartz [8], where the closer the relationship between the leader and the staf and the higher the level of trust the leader has on the staf, the lower the burnout level. Leaders who have the ability to empower their staf well will indirectly reduce the level of emotional exhaustion of their staf [9]. Leadership style is a signifcant predictor to increase job satisfaction. The higher the perception of the leadership style, the higher the job satisfaction of employees [10]. The study conducted by Ayalew and Kibwana [11] showed a signifcant relationship between motivation and job satisfaction of nurses to increase the motivation of nurses at work further. Nurse’s motivation can pursue by giving awards to nurses from their leaders or superiors in achieving job satisfaction. In addition, a person’s leadership style has a great infuence on climate and group work outcomes [12]. One leadership style is caring leadership. Caring behavior of leaders to implementers or staf is called caring leadership. Based on the importance of the leadership above, this study purposed to explore how nurses perceived of caring leadership. The caring leadership style would give a positive impact on the nurse staf,