# Effects of authentic leadership on the experiences of burnout and Turnover Intention among healthcare professionals

## TL;DR

This study explores how authentic leadership affects burnout and turnover intentions in healthcare professionals in Saudi Arabia.

## Contribution

It empirically demonstrates the positive impact of authentic leadership on burnout and its negative effect on turnover intention in healthcare settings.

## Key findings

- Authentic leadership is positively linked to burnout (β = 0.0374, p = 0.006).
- Authentic leadership has a strong negative impact on turnover intention (β = −0.2805, p < 0.001).
- The model explains 10.35% of the variation in turnover intention (R2 = 0.1035).

## Abstract

To consider empirically how authentic leadership (AL) effects burnout experience (BE) and the employee turnover intention (TI) in healthcare settings.

This study followed a cross-sectional design. Furthermore, a close-ended, online survey was conducted between March to May, 2025. It concludes with the data collection from 318 healthcare professionals. The participants mainly include doctors, and nurses at leadings hospitals in Ha’il region of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Finally, the analysis of data includes descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlation matrices, regression analysis and diagnostic tests. All of these analyses were performed using SPSS 27 version.

The descriptive summary volunteer participants showed that majority of them are predominantly female (e.g., nurses). Most of these participants were aged between 31-40 years and holding bachelor’s qualifications. Moreover, empirical results from regression analysis revealed some interesting relationships. For example, the results indicate that AL is positively linked with BE (β = 0.0374, p = 0.006). However, a negative impact was also found for TI (β = −0.2805, p < 0.001). The model was statistically fit and provide a reasonable explained variations for BE (R2 = 0.0241, F = 7.81, p = 0.006). and TI (R2 = 0.1035, F = 36.51, p < 0.001).

The study concludes a strong positive impact of AL on BE while a strong negative impact of AL with TI. These results suggested a strong effort from the leadership is necessary to enhance the retention and wellbeing of employees in healthcare setting. Finally, studies can be made to further examine the cultural and organizational factors that may moderate these impacts.