Career with no return: roles, demands, and challenges as perceived by Swedish ward managers

The article describes the role of ward managers at middle-sized hospitals and analyzes that role with respect to motivation, role content, and skills and competencies, as well as challenges and problems. The most striking result of this study was the unwillingness of Swedish executive nurses to return to nursing. Among the findings that explain this "career with no return" are an increased taste for challenges; an irrevocable, new professional identity; and a loss of nursing skills and the ability to subordinate. The article discusses the implications for recruitment and education.