A brief scale for investigating followership in nursing.

Introduction Followership is a pervasive but understudied phenomenon in organizations. The topic is relevant for nurses, as not only can followership behaviors be essential in achieving goals and improving organizational wellbeing in general, but also because leaders’ and followers’ working styles can influence each other. Having a brief scale for measuring followership behaviors could contribute to further research in nursing management. This study evaluates the principal psychometric properties of a brief followership scale based on Kelley's model. Methods A brief followership scale (8 items) was administered to 559 nurses in Northern Italy. Data analysis was performed using PASW 18 and Lisrel 8.72. Results The EFA results show a two factor solution (active engagement and independent critical thinking), confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. Both subscales show adequate reliability. Conclusions This brief scale seems to be a useful tool for training and organizational research in the nursing profession.