Experiences With Managing the Workplace Social Environment: A Qualitative Study

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to examine 1st-line managers' (FLMs') experiences in managing the workplace social environment (WSE).

BACKGROUND

FLMs are responsible for the establishment and maintenance of supportive WSE essential for effective teamwork. Poorly managed WSE and dysfunctional teams hold negative implications for patients, teams, and organizations.

METHODS

This was a qualitative descriptive study, using content analysis of individual and focus group interviews with FLMs and directors.

RESULTS

FLMs play a critical role in the management of the WSE; however, the task is fraught with constraints and challenges including competing demands, lack of support, and insufficient training. Findings explicate how competing demands and communication challenges impede the successful management of the WSE.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the importance of a healthy WSE to patient, professional, and organizational outcomes, FLMs need support, training, and resources to assist them in managing the social environment alongside other competing priorities.

Make the most of the AHP workforce

Sam Foster, Chief Nurse, Oxford University Hospitals, suggests that nurse leaders need to be looking at how allied health professional roles fit into workforce strategies.

Measuring the Value of Academic Nurse Educator Certification: Perceptions of Administrators and Educators

BACKGROUND

Certification is one option for validating the professional competence of academic nurse educators. The relative value associated with such certification has not yet been established.

METHOD

Psychometric analysis of a new Perceived Value of Certification Tool for Academic Nurse Educators (PVCT-ANE) was conducted. Certified nurse educators (CNE) and noncertified nurse educators and nursing program administrators responded to an online survey using the PVCT-ANE.

RESULTS

A sample of 718 nurse faculty members and administrators from 48 states in the United States participated. Academic nurse educator certification was valued by nurse educators and administrators as representing specialized knowledge, attainment of a professional standard, educator competence, and professional credibility. Value statements associated with satisfaction and professional accomplishments were rated higher than statements associated with professional recognition and marketing.

CONCLUSION

The PVCT-ANE is useful for assessing how different groups perceive the value associated with academic nurse educator certification. [J Nurs Educ. 2019;58(9):502-509.].

How do first-line managers in elderly care experience their work situation from a structural and psychological empowerment perspective? An interview study

BACKGROUND

The work situation for first-line managers in elderly care is complex and challenging. Little is known about these managers' work situation from a structural and psychological empowerment perspective.

AIM

To describe first-line managers' experiences of their work situation in elderly care from a structural and psychological empowerment perspective.

METHOD

Interviews from 14 female first-line managers were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS

The theme described the managers' work situation as "It's not easy, but it's worth it." In the four subthemes, the managers described their work in terms of "Enjoying a meaningful job," "A complex and demanding responsibility that allows great authority within set boundaries," "Supported by other persons, organisational preconditions and confidence in their own abilities" and "Lacking organisational preconditions, but developing strategies for dealing with the situations."

CONCLUSION

The managers described having various amounts of access to structural empowerment and experienced a feeling of meaning, competence, self-determination and impact, that is, psychological empowerment in their work.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

It is vital that first-line managers have access to organisational support. Therefore, upper management and first-line managers need to engage in continuous dialogue to customize the support given to each first-line manager.

Leaders in health for everyone

The chief nursing officers for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales celebrate nurses' essential role in ensuring high-quality care for all.

Nurse manager self-reported competency levels

The impact of a leadership development program.

Support for present and future leaders

Sam Foster, Chief Nurse, Oxford University Hospitals, considers how clinical leaders in the NHS can best be empowered to lead, in light of the recent Kerr report.

Creativity and Innovation: An Essential Competency for the Nurse Leader

Innovation keeps an organization competitive and adaptive to change. Nurse leaders are looking for new ways to innovate and transform, being challenged to influence quality, design new care delivery models, and create workplaces that empower nurses to advance new ideas that lead to innovation. Innovation involves risk as well as new ways of thinking. The workforce must feel confident that a creative approach to problem-solving is valued and supported. The nurse leader must role model use of creative approaches to problem-solving and promote a spirit of innovation among today's workforce. The nurse leader can learn to be more creative and can use education to empower staff to use creative thinking techniques to solve problems in practice. The transformational nurse leader can use any one or more of the tools and techniques offered in this article to inspire and educate the workforce on creative approaches to problem-solving and ultimately to generate innovative solutions to real practice problems.