Staff turnover and leadership style: a narrative review of their relationship in health sciences

Staff turnover represents a critical challenge in the health and management sciences, impacting team stability, quality of care, and organizational costs. This article explores the relationship between leadership styles and staff retention through a narrative review of the literature published between 2018 and 2022 in the Scopus database. The analysis focused on 21 documents selected under criteria of pertinence, relevance, and academic quality. Through a semi-systematic methodology, thematic patterns and key theoretical perspectives were identified that underline how leadership can mitigate factors associated with staff turnover. The results showed that leadership styles play a crucial role in creating a positive work environment, where well-being, trust, and inclusion are priority categories. These approaches promote job satisfaction, reduce stress, and strengthen employee engagement, which contributes to minimizing the intention to leave. The importance of adapting strategies to generational expectations was also highlighted, particularly in relation to work flexibility, professional development and individual recognition. It is concluded that the implementation of adaptive and people-centred leadership styles, together with comprehensive organisational policies, is essential to meet the challenges of staff turnover in the health sector