Sociotechnical Approach Toward Organizational Leaders Accepting Technology: A Conceptual Relationship

Organizational leaders role influencing clinical work environments has been widely reported in the literature. Nursing leaders have a significant impact on nurse performance (eg. emotional health, job satisfaction and job retention) and patient outcomes (eg. patient safety and patient satisfaction). As technological innovation continues to influence healthcare practice, it is naive to assume traditional leadership styles account for the use of new technology. Recent advancements in artificial intelligence, internet-of-things, and smart technology can no longer be conceptualized as a simple tool, rather, an interactive and responsive member of the care team that has influence on various professional relationships. The idea of delegating tasks to non human actors (robotics) has not been fully understood in the healthcare setting and organizations cannot assume traditional processes will maintain similar effectiveness when considering the sociotechnical interactions that develop. Ensuring that healthcare institutions have effective leaders who exhibit positive behaviours while interacting with new forms of technology is essential to ensure patient safety and enhance nurse performance.

There is value in promoting leadership styles that support clinical units while fostering successful integration of new technology. One such proposed model is the hybridization between Authentic Leadership and Technology Acceptance Model. Authentic Leadership is a leadership style that incorporates the four main characteristics of self-awareness, relationship transparency, internalized moral perspective, and balanced processing. Leaders who are deemed authentic act ethically, are role models for positive behaviour, engage in self-reflection, and help others develop and foster personal strengths. Authentic leaders assist followers in changing their attitudes and behaviours in a positive way through the mediators of hope and optimism. Similarly, technology acceptance model is a framework that considers individual’s willingness to accept new technology while accounting for personal perceptions and attitudes resulting in behavioural intent to use technology. It is reasonable to propose that increasing individuals feelings of hopefulness and optimism through authentic leaders can develop a clinical environment that is supportive and fosters the successful integration of new technology. As such, this research recommends future studies to examine whether and to what extent authentic leadership influences technology acceptance to expand on the interconnectedness between these two frameworks, as this has not been tested before. This research may produce findings that will inform future leadership education and training, as well as successful integration of technology into clinical settings.