Alternative careers at the first level of management

Abstract

Purpose First-line nurse managers are frequently torn between conflicting demands from management and employees, and previous research suggests that nurse managers use a variety of responses to cope with these demands. The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of social support on nurse managers’ responses to role-conflict. Design/methodology/approach Two focused ethnographic studies involving participant observation and interviews with seven first-line nurse managers were completed. One study included first-line nurse managers from four units in two municipalities (2005), while the second included three first-line nurse managers from a hospital in Norway (2015-2016). Findings Three types of responses were identified: the embracing managerialism career, the emphasising managerialism career and the emphasising professionalism career. Emphasising managerialism was associated with role distance from the role of nurse, whereas emphasising professionalism involved role distance from the managerial role. Originality/value This study provides insights into first-line nurse managers’ responses to role conflict, by identifying the mechanisms involved and an opportunity to develop a theoretical framework for future studies among nurse managers.

Relationships between nurse managers’ work activities, nurses’ job satisfaction, patient satisfaction, and medication errors at the unit level: a correlational study

“…The subarea of Communication includes preparing for and participating in meetings, managing unit meetings, and conversations with personnel. These findings were similar to the results reported by Kirchhoff & Karlsson (2019), more specifically, nurse managers who frequently engage in meetings with management, such as networking with other managers and involvement in managementlevel projects, were less visible in the organizational unit [31]. Several studies have reported that nurse managers need to be visible, accessible, and provide regular feedback to their staff [26,34,35].…”

“…Furthermore, Chen et al (2020) found that nurse managers frequently participate in information management on a daily basis. However, increased workloads among nurse managers have reduced the time they can share with nurses [23,[31][32][33]. This presents a challenge, as nurse managers need to be visible and approachable, as well as give regular feedback to their staff [26,34,35].…”

The effect of role‐related stressors on nurses' burnout syndrome: The mediating role of work‐related stress

“…They are also required to adhere to the simultaneous realization of multiple roles in managerial tasks entrusted to them. 28,29 This condition makes them to give more weight to one of the roles. Hence the situation leads to role conflict.…”

Expanding structurational divergence theory by exploring the escalation of incompatible structures to conflict cycles in nursing

“…Burnout has been associated with situational stressors, workload, role stress, role conflict, and ambiguity (Miller et al, 1989;Noh, 2017). Role conflict is defined as two or more conflicting obligations (Kirchhoff & Karlsson, 2019;Miller et al, 1989). Role conflict can be considered a type of SD-nexus, conceptually making burnout an outcome of SD.…”