4 Ways Nurse Leaders Can Change Workplace Culture
Nurse leaders play a critical role in shaping a positive workplace culture, directly influencing nurse performance, job satisfaction, and patient outcomes. A comprehensive review by PubMed, CINAHL, and Embase found that 88% of studies showed a correlation between leadership style and job satisfaction among nurses—indicating that strong nurse leaders have the power to foster teamwork, boost morale, and drive meaningful change in patient care.
As the healthcare profession continues transitioning toward a value-based care model—where quality patient outcomes and an organization’s financial goals go hand-in-hand—effective leadership is more essential than ever. This shift also creates new opportunities for nurses to advance their careers by implementing change and stepping into leadership roles. Earning an advanced degree can play a pivotal role in achieving the type of impact nurse leaders have on their staff. A master's degree in health leadership, for example, equips nurses with communication and management skills that prepare them for leadership roles where they can create improvements in both workplace culture and patient outcomes.
If you're a nurse who wants to build a career legacy marked by innovation and cultural transformation, here are four ways that an advanced degree in leadership can help you reach your goals.
1. Become a Transformational Leader
Modern Leadership Approaches
Today’s nurse leaders use a variety of leadership styles to inspire and empower their teams. Common nurse leadership styles include transformational, servant, democratic, autocratic, transactional, laissez-faire, and situational. Each of these approaches allows nurse leaders to create supportive and effective workplace environments that match their personality and leadership style while being a change agent and driving successful outcomes for their nursing staff, healthcare organization, and patients. Transformational leaders, for example, focus on mentoring and helping nurses develop their strengths. Autocratic nurse leaders are capable of making quick decisions and delegating tasks for maximum efficiency. Nurses with a situational leadership style bring flexibility and adaptability to every situation.
Real-World Examples
Nurse Leader A follows a transformational leadership style. She mentors nursing students to help them build confidence and grow their clinical skills. This type of leadership helps new nurses align with the healthcare organization’s goals.
Nurse Leader B is a situational leader. Depending on the circumstances, she takes a collaborative leadership approach for more routine days, but can seamlessly switch to a directive approach during an emergency. Her adaptable style in urgent situations ensures that tasks are delegated quickly, and quality of care is prioritized.
Through a variety of leadership styles, nurse leaders can elevate workplace culture, foster teamwork, and deliver high-quality care even in challenging situations. An advanced degree program such as a master’s in healthcare administration can equip students with the knowledge and skills to excel in transformational leadership roles.
2. Lead the Transition to Value-Based Care
In today’s healthcare system, many organizations are shifting away from the traditional fee-for-service model, which pays providers based on the quantity of services they deliver. Instead, they are adopting a value-based care model that prioritizes quality, patient outcomes, and overall efficiency. One of the benefits of the value-based -care model is the focus on preventative care, which can lead to better patient outcomes and lower healthcare costs over time.
Transitioning to the value-based model doesn't just require implementing new strategies—it’s a complete shift in the organization's culture. This change process requires adapting how everyone within the healthcare facility thinks, works, and collaborates to support the new care model. For providers, a value-based model means providing holistic patient care and increasing coordination across services, departments, and locations. Digital transformation also plays a role, as technologies such as electronic health records (EHRs) and telehealth solutions improve access to care.
A degree in health leadership teaches the skills needed to shift workplace attitudes and manage teams of providers through the transition to value-based care. Courses in financial management can prepare healthcare organization leaders to apply data analysis and strategic change management principles to move from a fee-for-service culture to a value-based model. Additionally, courses exploring integrated leadership prepare CEOs, directors, and other healthcare leaders to manage change in a way that helps staff members realize that cutting costs does not mean sacrificing quality care. With these tools, healthcare leaders can confidently transition their organizations to a value-based care model that balances efficiency with quality outcomes.
3. Use Disruptive Strategies
Some healthcare organizations are changing how they deliver care by taking services out of traditional settings like hospitals and medical offices and bringing them directly to the community through technology integration and services like telehealth, mobile health clinics, and community health programs. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, these types of community-based programs can aid patients in building healthier habits while also helping organizations improve their patient care strategies. This disruption in care models aligns with the transition to value-based care and the idea that individuals can experience improved health outcomes through a personalized care approach.
Nurse leaders can directly impact a healthcare organization’s culture through these types of initiatives as they empower their teams to think about patient care as a shared responsibility. This shift in thinking promotes a more comprehensive approach to patient care, ultimately benefiting not just the patient but also the healthcare organization.
4. Empower Your Staff
A negative workplace culture in nursing is the biggest contributor to low morale, high turnover rates, and other significant healthcare personnel issues. A 2023 study titled “Impact of Nurse Leaders Behaviors on Nursing Staff Performance” found that the quality of nursing leadership has a significant impact on nurse performance, job satisfaction, and patient outcomes. Empowered nurses tend to feel more engaged and satisfied with their jobs—and higher levels of morale can positively transform the entire workplace culture over time. The study also emphasized how different leadership practices, like offering autonomy and cultivating strong team relationships, contribute to stronger team development, retention, and measurable improvements in job performance and overall patient care.
Current retention strategies in the nursing industry focus on improving work-life balance, offering flexible scheduling, and providing opportunities for career advancement and continuing education. But nurse leaders can't change an entire culture on their own. They must learn how to empower others to drive change as well. A health leadership degree program equips future leaders with the communication and leadership skills necessary to mentor other nurses who exhibit leadership potential while empowering them to drive change in the organization. The collaborative leadership strategies learned in this type of degree program prepare nurse leaders to confidently delegate management tasks while encouraging the growth of other emerging nurse leaders.
Developing Leadership Skills Through Education
Advanced education is one of the most effective ways to prepare for leadership roles in nursing. An RN-to-BSN or a master’s degree in health leadership degree equips nurses with the communication and management skills needed to lead teams, boost morale, and improve patient care. For nurses aspiring to become leaders, an advanced degree in healthcare leadership offers insights into how to navigate the challenges of modern healthcare, influence workplace culture, and implement value-based care strategies that benefit patients and staff members alike. Gaining additional knowledge in areas such as healthcare systems and patient outcome improvement are essential components for success in today's evolving healthcare environment.
Success Stories
Take a look at how WGU has helped nurse leaders achieve their career goals through accredited, competency-based degree programs that provide the skills and knowledge needed to make a real impact on their patients and their careers:
Hope Cummings exemplifies how determination and education can drive success. Working as a nurse during the day and caring for her twins at night, Hope managed to graduate with a master’s degree in health leadership in just 10 months. She now serves as the Director of Patient Care Services at Shriners Hospitals for Children, where she oversees radiology, rehabilitation, prosthetics, and other pediatric patient care services.
Nursing is Robbie Reno’s calling in life—and he finds inspiration in his patients who strive to get better under his care. As a nurse at a university hospital, Robbie managed many complex cases during the COVID-19 pandemic, while continuing to advance his leadership skills by earning a master’s degree in nursing and leadership management.
Rai Doty was unable to advance in her nursing career without a BSN. WGU’s self-paced, competency-based model allowed her to balance earning a degree while working and raising her family. Rai was able to leverage her 10 years of nursing experience to advance quickly through the coursework she already knew, and dedicate more time to learning new material. She hopes that her educational journey can serve as an inspiration.
Transforming the Healthcare Workplace Culture
If you’re ready to transform the healthcare workplace culture and leave a legacy of innovation, WGU’s online bachelor’s and master’s degree programs provide the foundation you need to make a lasting impact. These programs are developed with input from industry experts who understand what it takes for nursing graduates to be successful in the evolving healthcare field.
WGU’s RN-to-BSN degree is an ideal program for current registered nurses who are ready to improve patient outcomes by adding additional knowledge and skills to the practical experience they’ve gained as an RN. For those pursuing career advancement into a nursing leadership role, WGU’s master’s degree in healthcare administration equips graduates with the communication and management skills needed to thrive as leaders in a variety of healthcare organizations.
Designed for working nurses, WGU’s competency-based education model allows students to access coursework anytime, accelerate through material they already know, and complete their degree on their own schedule, while continuing to gain valuable hands-on nursing experience. Exclusive RN-to-BSN scholarships ranging from $2,500 to $11,050 are available to make a degree even more achievable.
Nurse leaders play a pivotal role in shaping workplace culture and creating environments where nurses feel supported and empowered. A degree from WGU provides the tools to drive these changes and empowers you to launch a career in an executive nursing role that achieves great things for patients, the community, and you.
