Abstract
The aim was to understand the meanings attributed by nurses to leadership in the exercise of hospital management in a military hospital. This was an exploratory qualitative study, conducted with nine nurses in management positions at a military hospital in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the IRAMUTEQ software, through Word Cloud and Descending Hierarchical Classification, and subsequently subjected to Bardin's thematic content analysis. Three analytical categories were identified: conceptions of leadership, challenges of exercising leadership, and professional leadership training. Leadership was understood as a relational practice based on communication, respect, decision-making, and conflict mediation, influenced by the institutional context, hierarchical relationships, and training gaps. It is concluded that the leadership of the nurse manager is configured as a relational and organizational practice constructed in the daily work routine and influenced by institutional, formative, and interpersonal factors.
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