The Mediating Role of Teamwork in the Relationship between Authentic Leadership and Work Engagement among Japanese Nurses

Authentic leadership has attracted increasing attention in healthcare settings as a leadership style that fosters trust, transparency, and ethical behavior among healthcare professionals. While previous studies have demonstrated its positive impact on staff motivation and team performance, the pathways through which authentic leadership influences work engagement among nurses remain insufficiently understood, particularly regarding team-level factors such as teamwork. This study aimed to investigate whether teamwork mediates the relationship between authentic leadership and work engagement among hospital nurses in Japan.A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 47 nurses working at hospitals in Japan. Participants completed validated scales measuring authentic leadership, teamwork, and work engagement. Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation analysis and mediation analysis with the PROCESS macro in SPSS.The correlation analysis revealed significant positive associations among authentic leadership, teamwork, and work engagement at the 1% significance level. The mediation analysis further indicated that authentic leadership had a significant positive effect on teamwork, and teamwork had a significant positive effect on work engagement. The direct effect of authentic leadership on work engagement was not significant when teamwork was included as a mediator, while the indirect effect through teamwork was statistically significant.These findings suggest that authentic leadership enhances nurses’ work engagement primarily by promoting teamwork rather than through a direct effect. The study highlights the critical role of teamwork in translating authentic leadership into higher engagement among nurses. These results have important implications for leadership development and team-building strategies within healthcare organizations. Further research is needed to explore these relationships in diverse healthcare settings and with larger samples.