Aim and background: this study investigates faculty members’ perceptions of the impact of Impact of the leadership styles of nursing deans on the job satisfaction of faculty members working in nursing education in Oman. Nursing education in Oman currently is going through a major transformation, with the appointment of new deans, the introduction of an accreditation process, and the upgrading of the nursing diploma to a Bachelor’s degree program in all governmental nursing institutions. These reform require significant development work in a short period of time; various taskforces have been established with specific tasks such as curriculum restructure, improving the range and number of research activities, the merging of institutes, introducing new policies, and establishing a quality assurance approach. This reform programme demands effective leadership to lead faculty, build the vision and respond to a range of external demands. In Oman, there is a lack of research on the role of leadership in higher education and its importance to staff professional development and job satisfaction, which in turn reflects on the level of organizational performance. The significance of this study is that it explores the perceptions of both teaching staff and their deans in a comparable set of organizations to determine which leadership styles have the greatest potential to improve their organizations. This was an insider research project with the researcher being a nursing dean; however certain measures were taken to ensure validity and reliability of the study. Method and conclusion: The study involved 147 lecturers and 7 leaders from various nursing institutes in Oman. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires: the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (Weiss 1967) and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Avolio & Bass 2004). Qualitative data were analysed for recurring themes and coded accordingly. Coding categories were constructed from the concepts and themes that emerged during the interview process and from the review of the literature. The overall findings indicate that most faculty members are satisfied with the leadership style of their deans. The transformational leadership style emerged as the preferred style to ensure faculty satisfaction and maintain productivity levels in demanding times; however, the deans also used a transactional leadership style for specific tasks.

Aim and background: this study investigates faculty members’ perceptions of the impact of Impact of the leadership styles of nursing deans on the job satisfaction of faculty members working in nursing education in Oman. Nursing education in Oman currently is going through a major transformation, wit...