Bridging Leadership Competency Gaps to Enhance Nurse Retention: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Nurse-manager competencies shape workforce stability, yet role-based perception gaps between managers and staff may influence staff nurses’ turnover cognitions. Objectives: To compare nurse managers’ self-ratings versus staff nurses’ ratings of the same managers on the Nurse Manager Competency Inventory (NMCI); to compare both groups’ perceptions of staff nurses’ turnover intention (EMTIS); and to examine domain-specific links between perceived competencies and perceived turnover intention. Methods: Cross-sectional dual-rater study with 225 staff nurses and 171 nurse managers in two tertiary hospitals (Saudi Arabia). Managers completed NMCI self-ratings, and staff nurses rated their managers on NMCI; both groups evaluated the same outcome lens—staff nurses’ turnover intention (EMTIS). Between-group differences and bivariate associations were analyzed using standard parametric tests. Findings: Managers consistently rated themselves higher than staff rated them across all NMCI domains; the largest descriptive gaps were in human- and development-focused areas (retention supports, day-to-day supervision, staff development), with comparatively smaller divergence for safety/quality leadership. Managers and staff converged in their perceptions of staff nurses’ turnover intention (no meaningful between-group differences). Specific competency domains—retention supports, supervision quality, staff development, safety/quality leadership, and quality improvement—showed small but consistent inverse associations with perceived turnover intention, whereas the global NMCI–EMTIS association was not informative. Overall, effects were modest yet patterned, indicating that an actionable signal resides at the domain (micro-competency) level rather than in aggregate leadership scores. Conclusions: Targeted, continuous, unit-embedded development in human- and development-focused competencies—tracked with dual-lens (manager–staff) measurement and tied to retention KPIs—offers a pragmatic pathway to nudge turnover cognitions downward and strengthen workforce stability.