Nurse managers in mental health units: from activities to time management

Abstract

Objective: to understand the use of time by nurse managers in psychiatry and mental health units, as they carry out their daily tasks. Methods: cross-sectional study, carried out by 48 managers from public psychiatric units and from the social sector. Data collection was made through an online questionnaire that is part of the Scale of Perception of Nurse Manager Work, including 43 items separated in five functional domains of nurse managers. The responses were in a Likert scale: does not take time, takes little time, takes some time, takes much time. Results: the activities inherent to ethical and legal professional practices and to the management of care and of human resources required more time from the manager when compared to policy interventions, and consulting and professional development. Conclusion: the managers recognize that managing time implies organization, planning work, and establishing priorities in the tasks to be developed.

Gerenciamento do tempo entre estudantes de enfermagem

“…O gerenciamento do tempo é fundamental para que os enfermeiros consigam realizar todas as suas tarefas (43), apesar disso, observa-se que não são feitos esforços sucientes para utilizar o tempo apropriadamente na área da enfermagem (44). Atividades que envolvem os valores dos pacientes, resoluções de problemas e tomadas de decisões para garantir a qualidade do cuidado, além da supervisão dos outros membros da equipe são responsáveis pela pressão do tempo sobre os enfermeiros gestores (45). Além disso, estudos realizados com enfermeiros apontam para a relação entre o gerenciamento do tempo e a satisfação com o trabalho (46) e o estresse (47).…”

Reflexiones sobre la administración del tiempo en el área de la enfermería

“…Nurse managers face time pressure all the time; tasks related to patient safety and satisfaction, planning and training of staff, interaction with other members of the healthcare team, and changes in procedures and health policies are some of the factors responsible for this pressure on nursing leaders (7) . A study conducted in Portugal pointed out that nurse managers spend more time performing activities related to patients' needs and evaluating the tasks performed by other members of the nursing team, and spend less time on tasks related to promoting the training and motivation of team members (4) . According to a study carried out in China, general self-efficacy, depression, experience in management, and self-control can be predictive factors of time management disposition among nurse managers (14) .…”

“…Time management is completing work in the planned period (3) . Time management improves professional performance through analysis and planning (4) . Knowing how to use time is not enough to understand and apply time management principles (3) .…”

“…It is important to emphasize here the important role of nurse managers, who must know how to manage time, both to perform their administrative and care duties, as well as to guide other team members in the use of this scarce and, therefore, valuable resource, which is the time (4) . Despite the importance of time management for nursing, this subject is not properly discussed in the area (9) .…”