Abstract
Background: The global nursing workforce crisis, marked by high turnover, threatens patient safety. While nurse manager leadership is a key determinant of nurses' job satisfaction and professional commitment, robust interventional evidence on how to improve these outcomes is scarce. The causal impact of coaching leadership, a promising approach, remains underexplored. Aim: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a coaching leadership training program for nurse managers on the job satisfaction and professional commitment of their staff nurses. Methods: A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design was conducted in two Iranian hospitals (n=132 nurses). Managers in the intervention group received a 12-hour, skills-based coaching program. Job satisfaction and professional commitment were measured at baseline and three months post-intervention. Data were analyzed using ANCOVA, controlling for pre-test scores. Results: The intervention group demonstrated significantly higher post-test scores for both job satisfaction and professional commitment compared to the control group (p < .001), with large effect sizes. Notably, the intervention had no significant effect on the 'self-sacrifice' subscale. Conclusion: A targeted coaching leadership program for nurse managers is a highly effective, evidence-based strategy for enhancing nurses' job satisfaction and professional commitment. These findings support integrating coaching into leadership curricula to foster a resilient workforce and suggest that it cultivates a healthier form of commitment not based on self-sacrifice.