Organisational culture and consultant nurse outcomes: Part 2. Nurse outcomes

The aim of this three-year study was to investigate the development of a consultant nurse post and consider whether it contributed to a new organisational culture.

Action research was used because it focuses on developing practitioners, developing practice and contributing to understanding both the phenomena being studied and the processes being used.

The role of leadership is recognised as key to bringing about cultural change, as is the use of approaches that clarify values and highlight the contradiction between espoused culture and culture in practice.

This new culture had a positive impact on the unit in which it was based, on practitioners and their practice, and also on the trust. A number of factors, including transformational leadership, other facilitative processes, expertise in the practice of nursing, and other subroles of the consultant nurse were shown to be influential. Part one, published last week, described the concept of organisational culture. This article discusses the consultant nurse outcomes.