Aim: This paper highlights integrity as a central tenet in the journey of ethical leadership among nurse leaders and dialogue as a way of working within integrity.
Background: Nurse leaders play a critical role in ensuring ethically sound, safe patient care by supporting staff and fostering positive working environments. Although there is an abundance of literature on leadership, no universally accepted leadership theory exists. Hence, it can be difficult to apply leadership theory and principals to real-life clinical practice.
Evaluation: From the literature, it is evident that integrity is a crucial aspect of leadership. This paper proposes suggestions for nurturing integrity and fostering open and honest dialogue.
Key issues: Globally, public health care is complex and evolving and effective nursing leadership is paramount to meet public health needs and support health care systems.
Conclusion: This paper explores integrity with leadership, re-envisaging personal and professional integrity as a portal to authentic leadership, which has human relationships and dialogue at its core.
Implications for nursing management: Nurse leaders need support in guiding the nursing profession and promoting ethically sound patient care. The true nature of leadership is dialogue, and nurturing a culture of listening and openness at different levels within an organisation is crucial.
Keywords: courage; dialogue; honest; integrity; nurse leadership.
© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Nursing Management published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.