Nurses are being promoted to head nurse positions without adequate preparation in leadership and management. One reason this problem exists is because nursing managers are being selected from different levels of basic nursing education programs. Only baccalaureate education has a curriculum designed to develop professional nurse leaders.The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship of leadership effectiveness styles of head nurses drawn from a stratified random sample of hospitals in the state of Indiana, to type of basic nursing education program, and experience in a head nurse position.Data were collected from 204 out of 343 head nurses practicing in hospitals in the state of Indiana accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation. A Leader Effectiveness and Adaptability Description Instrument measuring four styles of leadership effectiveness as formalized by Hersey and Blanchard, and a Demographic Data Sheet were utilized for data collection.Decisions about three null hypotheses were made at the 0.05 level by use of step-wise multiple regression analysis, and chi square procedures.Major findings include:1. The magnitude and/or direction of the relationship between entry-level preparation and leadership effectiveness styles of head nurses did not vary with years of experience in a head nurse position.2. There was no significant relationship between entry-level preparation and leadership effectiveness when experience was controlled.3. There was no significant relationship between experience and leadership effectiveness when entry-level preparation was controlled.4. Other data concerning major and alternate styles utilized by head nurses, and the number of style used were reported. The predominant major style of head nurses was High Task/ High Relationship. The predominant alternate style was Low Task/High Relationship...5. Head nurses used all four styles.6. All effectiveness style scores for head nurses were in the effective range.Conclusions1. Leadership effectiveness styles of head nurses do not depend on entry-level preparation and experience.2. Leadership effectiveness styles of head nurses do not depend on the type of basic nursing education program with experience controlled.3. Leadership effectiveness styles of head nurses do not depend on years of experience with entry-level controlled. 4. Head nurses predominantly use two styles of leadership: High Task/High Relationship, and Low Task/Low Relationship.5. Head nurses are able to vary leadership styles to meet the needs of the situation.6. Head nurses have effective styles.

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D.Cur. (Nursing) / The phenomenal political changes that have taken place in South Africa during the past three years have had a ripple effect on the health services of the country. Trade unionism, although they had been active in many spheres, entered the hospitals with great vengeance leaving many services crippled. Problems could not be solved according to the old, now obsolete rules of the game as these were no longer acceptable to the health care workers. New and different approaches had to be found to deal with this upheaval that was affecting patient care. The researcher realised that the nursing service manager, especially in the public sector, was in no way equipped to handle the crisis. Legal limitations aggravated the situation as there was no third party intervention that could try and find a solution to the dissatisfaction of the staff. The result was that the nursing service manager had to cope with the situation as best as she was able to, while still trying to manage the nursing care of the patients and the upheaval in the personnel corps. In addition to this, the nursing service manager, by enlarge, still had the viewpoint that conflict was a disturbing element that had to be removed. Limited studies have been done in the field and there were no guidelines to enlighten the nursing service manager. It became evident to the researcher that research into conflict management of a nursing service was necessary. Existing models and theories on conflict were reviewed to glean knowledge for the proposed study.

Nurses in management and clinical positions in all areas of the country are experiencing role changes due to restructuring within the health care industry. Nurses have an opportunity to embrace and enhance these changes as the trend toward Patient Focused Care continues which entails a restructuring of care delivery at all levels.Oncology nurses are specifically encouraged by the Oncology Nursing Society to mentor other nurses. The purpose of this study was to examine the concept of mentoring as related to oncology nurses who have experienced role changes due to redesigns in the health care delivery systems. The theoretical framework used in this study was Benner's "From Novice to Expert."A convenience sample of 88 oncology nurses were surveyed. The Darling Measuring Mentoring Potential Scale (MMP), a demographic questionnaire, and a cover letter were mailed. Respondent confidentiality was maintained and the procedures for protection of human subjects were followed. A descriptive correlational design was used. The research questions were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. Means and standard deviation of mentoring characteristics were also obtained on the clustered scores. Findings of the study indicated a small, but significant difference between levels of education, role changes and mentoring potential. Levels of education and role changes accounted for 15% of the differences in mentoring potential scores. However, the mean scores for both the clustered basic and supporting mentoring characteristics were below the suggested scores as suggested for a substantial mentoring relationship.Conclusions from the study were that the concept of mentoring is still not prevalent among oncology nurses and does not play an important role in the professional lives of the respondents. The concept of mentoring needs to be formally addressed in nursing education as well as in hospital staff education and leadership programs. There needs to be continuing research regarding the concept of mentoring within the nursing profession in order to promote the benefits of this concept so that nurses may join with those in other professions to enjoy the products of mentoring. / School of Nursing

One purpose of the study was to report forecasts made by a sample of nursing education administrators regarding future developments in health care, nursing practice and nursing education. The study was also designed to identify predicted new dimensions, if any, required for managing future nursing education programs.Forty-three baccalaureate nursing education administrators representing nine midwestern states were identified. Thirty-one individuals completed the total three round Delphi study.The following questions were investigated: (1) What events will most probably occur in health care by 1992?; (2) What events will most probably occur in nursing practice by 1992?; (3) What events will most probably occur in nursing education by 1992?; and (4) What specific, new managerial skills, if any, should be included in the nursing education. administration role by 1992?Reiterative judgments concerning the probable future of health care, nursing practice, nursing education and nursing education administration were systematically secured by utilizing the Delphi process. Individual responses were tabulated according to median and interquartile percents of probability. A median percent of probability over fifty was considered to be an indication of the probable occurrence of an event by 1992.The following summary of findings was developed from analysis of the data: Increased emphasis and integration of health maintenance into the health care delivery system; growth in competitive incentive programs by all health care agencies for clients; use of computers by staff nurses for autonomous decision-making concerning patient care; utilization of "technical" and "professional" nurses according to uniform job descriptions for each level; increase of faculty-student ratio to 1:15 in clinical education; utilization of computers for construction and analysis of nursing education programs; implementation of retrenchment and cost-effective budgeting systems; exercise of political astuteness by nursing education administrators; and innovative utilization of faculty members. Managerial skills considered to be both new and essential by 1992 were identified by the respondents. Skills included: computer usage skills; computer language; information systems knowledge; program analysis via computer; marketing; trend analysis; and coping with organizational complexity.

The study was designed to examine and document the hierarchy of job wants as ranked by nurses. The ranked job wants by nurses were compared to the ranked nurse job wants as perceived by nurse administrators, hospital administrators, and physicians. A second purpose was to determine if a correlation existed between the ranked listings of each job classification groupings.The job want factors adopted for the study included the following:1. Improved working conditions2. Feeling "in" on things3. Tactful evaluation4. Full appreciation for work done5. Administration loyalty to nurses6. Improved wages7. Opportunities for professional growth8. Sympathetic understanding of personal problems9. Job security10. Meaningful workThe sample in the study consisted of 174 respondents. The 76 nurses, 29 nurse administrators, and 34 hospital administrators were employed in one of four hospitals in Northeastern Indiana. The 35 physicians practiced in at least one of the four hospitals selected for the study.A total of six hypotheses were tested. The data were analyzed by employing the Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient to measure the correlation between the ranked responses of nurse administrators, hospital administrators, and physicians. The correlation between nurse administrators and hospital administrators, between nurse administrators and physicians, between hospital administrators and nurse administrators were also analyzed.Meaningful work and appreciation for work done are job wants which nurses ranked most important. Nursing administrators, hospital administrators, and physicians were found to be sensitive to the job wants of nurses who work in the hospital setting.

Title page, table of contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library. / This study aimed to identify tools, systems and processes that inform nurse skill-assessment and nurse-to-patient allocation decisions in Adult Level III Australian Intensive Care Units (ICU), and to develop a Nurse Skill Matching Decision-Support Framework that could be incorporated within an ICU risk management system. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1274724 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, 2007

D.Cur. (Professional Nursing) / The negative experiences reflected by nurses indicate that current management models, on which the management of nurses is modelled, are not capable of generating solutions towards the present problems and the dilemma of this practice area. Two objectives have been stated in this study. namely the design of a nurses management model for professional wholeness and to formulate guidelines for a management manual which will facilitate professional wholeness. The construction of this model deliberately deviates from existing management frameworks and a nursing theory is used as basis, since nurses management needs it's own nursing framework to view the nursing organization as a unique organizational entity with corresponding unique interactional patterns. The inherent service and wholeness orientation of "Nursing for the Whole Person Theory" was utilised to construct a management model directed towards professional wholeness. A nurses management model for professional wholeness was generated up to level three of situation-relating theory. The process of model construction was put through three phases by which factor isolation, factor relations and situation relations have been described. The model is based on a wholeness approach by which the management of nurses is viewed as a service built on devotion and stewardship and directed towards the nurse as a whole person being an integral part of the nursing organization as a protesslonal organizational entity. The nursing organization, similar to the nurse, is viewed as a whole with an external and internal organizational environment. The nursing organization as a whole has bodily/physical, psychological (intellectual, emotional, volitional), spiritual and social dimensions where a state of maximal professional wholeness is reached only by deliberate and dynamic management interaction facilitated in a coordinated and integrated manner by comparable wholeness management processes. The approach of management for wholen ess set as point of departure that nurses who experience professional wholeness to a large extent will have a greater potential to render quality nursing and therefore facilitate health with others. Professional wholeness starts with the nurse manager, who in the quest for own personal wholeness and professional wholeness, facilitates the professional wholeness of the integral parts of the nursing organization namely the individual nurses and the nurse community. Professional wholeness implicates a dynamic movement on a continuum which mirrors the state of professional wholeness. The position on the continuum at anyone stage is dependant on the interactions taking place within the internal organizational en-vironment and between the internal organizational environment and the external organizational environment. The possible outcomes of the managerraent of nurses is a state which varies dynamically between minimal professional wholeness and maximal professional Wholeness. Management strategies which promote, rnalntain and restore, direct the intensity of interactions for facilitating the professional wholeness of nurses, tt1enurse community and the nursing organization. The choice of a specific strategy is based on the state of protesslonal wholeness reflected. A list of words has been developed (basEd on a Judeo Christian management ethic) to generate qualitative indices for minimal and maximal professional Wholeness. The quest for wholeness management is to striVe purposely and dynamicaly towards the reflection of a state of maximal professional wholeness by tile nurse, the nurse community and the nursing organization. The model has subsequently been evaluated by experts and from the evaluation it was concluded that the model can make a unique contribution to the practice area of nurse management. The application of the model in the practice area of nurses management will purposely and dynamically contribute towards solving the current dilemma of this practice area by enabling nurses to reach the objectives of nursing namely maximum quality nursing and to facilitate health intentionally. Broad guidelines have been stated as recommendations for further research. In the formulation of hypotheses an attempt has been made to capture the core aspects of wholeness management that need further empirical clarrification. The second objective of this study was addressed by formulating professional wholeness gUidelines for a manual that will facilitate professional wholeness. Eight modules were developed. The guidelines and objectives of the modules were formulated to enable students enrolling for a course in nurse management for professional wholeness to facilitate the principles of wholeness management in the nurse's management pratice area. The module dealing with the intellectual wholeness management processes has been developed as an example to give a more detailed version of the guidelines that have been formulated. In conclusion, the nurse management model for professional wholeness is a vision and an inspiration to return to the original mission of nursing where nursing again will become the central theme. Where the inherent service talent which distinguishes nurses from any other employee and which led them to the choice of nursing as a career will not be brutalized in the management process but will rather be embraced and nurtured!

M.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Cur. (Professional Nursing) / It is important that the nursing service manager in a nursing service exercises a participative managerial style in order to promote staff retention and job satisfaction of the professional nurse. No guidelines exist on what is participative management or how it can be implemented in a nursing service. Little evidence exists of any nursing research having been conducted on participative management in South Africa, nor has research been done from the Judeo-Christian approach. This study, participative management in a nursing service, was conducted in three phases in order to answer the following questions: a) what is participative management? b) how does participative management work? c) what guidelines can be formulated to implement participative management in a nursing service? The first phase of concept identification was effected by means of interviews with management specialists and a literature control. In the second phase a conceptual definition of participative management was formulated. In the third phase the process of participative management was identified and described by means of interviews with management specialists and a literature control. Through this process guidelines were formulated to implement participative management in nursing services. During a workshop with nursing service managers in charge posts in the public sector hospitals in Transvaal, guidelines for the implementation of participative management were streamlined and verified with a managerial specialist. Participative management in a nursing service is a dynamic process of creative problernsolving and mutual decision-making within the nursing service between the nursing service manager and the professional nurse. It is a process of information exchange and consultation between the nursing service manager and the nurse, and undergoes three phases during implementation: namely the prepajgtory, the implementation and the evaluation phase. During these phases the nursing service manager acts as a facilitator in optimising the professional maturity level of the nurse. This promotes a co-responsibility and co-accountability within the decision-making process in order to promote wholeness in the nursing service. The managerial style of the nursing service manager promotes the mission and goals of the nursing service, improves job satisfaction, personnel management and quality nursing care. This facilitates wholeness, in the sense of total well-being, within the professional nurse and the patient. Recommendations forthcoming from this study should address nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research. It is recommended that participative management should be implemented, by means of the guidelines that have been formulated, in a nursing service. A nursing.model for particjnativ:e management in a nursing service should be developed. Further recommendations are that the effect of participative management in a nursing service on professional nurses, quality nursing care, nursing management, job satisfaction experienced by nurses within a multi-cultural context and personnel turnover be examined.