Advanced Nursing Research

Biography

Biography: Esther Shalom

Abstract

The role of the head nurse has been important since the introduction of modern nursing in the nineteenth century. Today, the position is considered critical in the health systems and is widely recognized as one of the most burdensome roles in the health system. The head nurse is the backbone of the medical and nursing staff, determining the climate at the work environment.

Its functioning affects the satisfaction and preservation of the team. During the 1970s, there was a need for organizational and managerial change in the world of health organizations. The introduction of management models from the industrial world and business leadership to health organizations influenced, among other things, on the role of the nurse in charge of the department. The job expanded, tasks and objectives were added to it. It was found that head nurses dealt only 25% of their time with clinical tasks and 75% of their time was devoted to other obligations and duties, called "the invisible work." Work that is usually difficult to define and / or quantify. They were appointed to management positions without management skills, adequate education training and resources.

The changes in their roles have led to head nurses pointing out that their role has become complicated and dull. All of these factors increase the sense of stress in the responsible nurse and reduce her satisfaction with work.

Objective: To examine the relationship between the perception of the head nurse of her changing role and her satisfaction with the work.

Method: cross sectional study, convenience sample

Sample: 50 head nurses

Research Tool: An anonymous self-administered questionnaire that includes the following sections

1. Sociodemographic
2. Head nurse perception of the management skills to her job description
3. Head nurse perception of its role includes:

1. Overload at work
2. The "Invisible work" conflict
3. Support and training
4. Work satisfaction

Findings:

The perception of the head nurse of her job:

• Management skills are perceived as high
• The workload is very high (average 4.35)
• They are in conflict between the clinical role and the managerial role ()
• They lack support (3.85 / 5) and training (average 3.35 / 5).
• The satisfaction of the head nurse at work is high

Conclusions:

Satisfaction of head nurses at work is high despite a sense of workload, support and training are inadequate, and although they are trapped in the conflict of the invisible work in contrary to the findings of the literature.

Recommendations:

It is recommended to improve management skills through ongoing training and support in order to reduce the conflict level of the "invisible work". It is recommended to change the status of the head nurse and as a result of the assistant.