Sustainable Approaches to Leadership in Nursing and Patient Care in a Selected Hospital in Slovenia: A Case Study

Background Leadership is a crucial factor for success and achieving goals in organizations and companies. The oscillation between established ways and active leadership, which is focused on people, the environment, and sustainable economy, needs to be overcome with a view to improving lives and the future of nursing and patient care. Methods In December 2022, non-experimental research was conducted using a structured questionnaire (SLQ) sent online to examine sustainable leadership practices in a selected hospital environment in Slovenia. The present case study, which included a convenience sample of 102 individuals employed at various management levels in nursing and patient care, was conducted to illustrate the use of sustainable leadership approaches in the organization. Results The research findings confirmed that leadership practices in the researched environment tend to align with the "Honeybee" leadership model (4-5), but more than half of the approaches fall in the neutral zone (3). These approaches need to be shifted towards the sustainable zones through the implementation of sustainable leadership practices. It should be emphasized that no approach or practice falls into the "unsustainable" zone. It has been demonstrated that the organization's performance is reflected in patient satisfaction, the organization's reputation, and long-term value for stakeholders. This can be achieved by focus on employee engagement, knowledge retention and sharing, team orientation, ethical behaviour of employees, shared goals and vision, staff recruiting and retention. Conclusion The research findings show that an understanding of the "Honeybee" leadership principles is present in the selected clinical environment. Gaps in the implementation of sustainable leadership approaches are highlighted, especially in the areas of leadership culture, environmental responsibility, established trust, self-management, innovation, and financial performance of the organization. These results can serve as a basis for further research into leadership in nursing and patient care in different hospital environments with the aim of measuring organization performance in a national and global context.