Nurse manager support: what is it? Structures and practices that promote it

Area of Science:

• Nursing Leadership
• Organizational Psychology
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Professional nursing organizations emphasize nurse manager (NM) support for staff nurses.
• This support is vital for fostering productive and healthy work environments.
• Identifying specific supportive role behaviors and enabling structures is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify supportive role behaviors of nurse managers as perceived by staff nurses.
• To determine organizational structures and practices that enable nurse managers to be supportive.
• To provide evidence-based insights for enhancing nurse manager support.

Main Methods:

• Mixed-method study involving 2382 staff nurses completing the Nurse Manager Support Scale.
• Semistructured interviews with 446 staff nurses, managers, and physicians across 101 clinical units in 8 Magnet hospitals.
• Qualitative interviews with nurse managers and chief nurse executives to identify enabling structures.

Main Results:

• Nine key supportive role behaviors were identified: approachability, caring, "walks the talk," motivating self-confidence, genuine feedback, adequate staffing, "watches our back," promoting teamwork, and constructive conflict resolution.
• Enabling organizational structures and programs include "support from the top," peer support, education, a positive culture, administrative assistance, private offices, and computer training.

Conclusions:

• Staff nurse perceptions highlight specific, actionable behaviors for nurse managers.
• Organizational factors play a critical role in enabling nurse managers to provide effective support.
• Findings can inform leadership development and organizational strategies to improve work environments.