Management styles in outpatient nursing work: impacts on the worker’s health*

Abstract

Objective: To analyze management styles in outpatient clinics of university hospitals and their impacts on the nursing workers’ health. Method: Quantitative, cross-sectional study with 388 nursing professionals working in 11 outpatient clinics linked to public universities in Rio de Janeiro. The Management Styles Scale, the Pathogenic Suffering at Work Scale, and the Work-Related Physical and Psychosocial Harms Scale were used. Results: The managerial and collective management styles showed a moderate presence for the outpatient clinics nursing staff. The characteristics of the predominantly managerial management style, evidenced by the lack of participation in decision-making, the strongly hierarchical work, focused on norms and control, acted as predictors of the experiences of suffering and of the physical, psychological, and social damages presented by the professionals working in this context. Conclusion: The analysis of management styles allowed elucidating characteristics that have the potential to negatively impact the workers’ health, highlighting the need to review the management models currently adopted for the outpatient nursing team.