Health-specific leadership and healthcare employees’ well-being: the mediating role of vitality

Purpose Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study examines the resource-based process linking health-specific leadership to healthcare employees’ well-being. Specifically, we examine vitality as an energy-based personal resource that may link health-specific leadership to job satisfaction and life satisfaction. By considering these outcomes simultaneously, we examine the relevance of health-specific leadership to employee well-being across work and broader life domains. Design/methodology/approach A two-wave, time-lagged survey design was used to collect data from 280 registered nurses at a large medical center in Taiwan. The hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modeling. Findings Health-specific leadership was positively associated with employee vitality, which, in turn, was positively associated with both job satisfaction and life satisfaction. Health-specific leadership was indirectly associated with both job satisfaction and life satisfaction through vitality. Originality/value This study extends health-specific leadership research by examining employee well-being across both work and broader life domains and by identifying vitality as a personal energy resource linking health-specific leadership to these outcomes. In doing so, it integrates the breadth of well-being outcomes with an energy-based mechanism to explain how health-specific leadership may be associated with employee well-being within and beyond the workplace.