Experiences With Managing the Workplace Social Environment: A Qualitative Study

Factors Facilitating or Inhibiting the Capacity for Effective Leadership Among Front-Line Nurse Managers: A Scoping Review

AIMS

The purpose of this scoping review is to map and synthesize research studies addressing the factors that impact leadership behaviors of Front-Line Nurse Managers.

BACKGROUND

Leadership is a fundamental component of the role of Front-Line Nurse Managers. Ineffective leadership is associated with costly outcomes; thus, organizations seek effective strategies to facilitate consistent demonstration of leadership behaviors.

EVALUATION

Using a scoping review methodology, findings from 26 empirical studies were mapped to identify barriers and facilitators of leadership among Front-Line Nurse Managers. Major categories included personal and environmental factors with subthemes of personal characteristics, competencies, and social support.

KEY ISSUES

Available evidence captures the influence of personal characteristics, education, competency, and formal social support on leadership capacity. The role of informal social support was not captured.

CONCLUSIONS

Multiple personal and environmental factors influence the capacity for leadership behaviors among Front-Line Nurse Managers. Strategies such as leadership development programs, mentorship and peer support programs, and work environments that support relational and structural support may increase leadership capacity for Front-Line Nurse Managers IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Senior nurse leaders can use the results of this review to guide implementation of evidence-based strategies to recruit and retain Front-Line Nurse Managers.

Towards remote leadership in health care: Lessons learned from an integrative review

AIM

To gather and synthesize current empirical evidence on remote leadership and to provide knowledge that can be used to develop successful remote leadership in health care.

DESIGN

A integrative literature review with an integrated mixed methods design.

DATA SOURCES

The literature search was carried out between February and March 2019 in the CINAHL, Medline (Ovid), PsycInfo, Scopus, SocIndex, Web of Science and Business Source Elite (EBSCO) databases.

REVIEW METHODS

An integrative review was conducted to identify relevant studies published from 2010 to 2019. Of the 88 eligible studies, 21 studies met the inclusion criteria and were selected for the final review. The included studies were analysed using mixed methods synthesis, more specifically, data-based convergent synthesis.

RESULTS

The performed analysis identified three main themes: characteristics of successful remote leadership; enhancing the leader-member relationship; and challenges in remote leadership. The first theme included the following sub-themes: remote leader characteristics; trust; communication; and leading the team culture. The second theme covered the importance of organizing regular face-to-face meetings, clear communication policies and the connection between positive team spirit and good remote leader-member relationship, while the third theme emphasized leader- and member-related challenges for remote work.

CONCLUSIONS

As none of the identified studies had been conducted in a health care setting, future remote leadership research must also specifically consider the health care context. This will be pivotal to exploring how remote work can foster a safe workplace culture, empower health care workers, increase job satisfaction and improve patient outcomes.

IMPACT

Remote leadership has rarely been studied in the health care context. Trust, communication, team spirit and a leader's characteristics are central to remote leadership, a finding which is useful for re-evaluating and improving the current culture at health care organizations.

General phenomenon and communication experience of physician and nurse in night shift communication: A qualitative study

AIM

This paper explored the general phenomenon and psychological experience of the special background communication in night shift medical staff and provides better reference for night shift communication between doctors and nurses.

BACKGROUND

Physician-nurse communication has always been an important agenda for health care work and an important concept in nursing theory. During night shifts, effective doctor and nurse communication can enhance mutual trust, provide timely and appropriate medical services to patients, reduce adverse events and enhance patient safety.

DESIGN

A qualitative study was conducted.

METHODS

Husserl's descriptive phenomenology method and semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to collect data from 8 nurses and 5 doctors. Colaizzi's method was used to analyse data using MAXQDA 12. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist was followed (see Appendix S1).

RESULTS

Three themes were extracted after sorting out and refining: the need to achieve goals in night-time physician-nurse communication; obstacles in night-time physician-nurse communication; and relationship culture in night-time physician-nurse communication.

CONCLUSION

Attention should be paid to the particularity of night shift and efficiency of achieving the goal of communication between doctors and nurses on night shift, and the hidden obstacles behind communication between doctors and nurses. Managers should pay attention to the cultural construction of night shift communication in the system, form a good night shift communication process and regularly train doctors' and nurses' related communication skills. And they should also study relationship culture rationally to improve the communication efficiency of night shift.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

The experiences described in this study contribute to a better understanding of obstacles hidden behind night shift physician-nurse communication. This also provides valuable information to professional managers who develop good doctor-nurse relationship culture.