Measuring first-line nurse manager work: instrument: development and testing.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Management
• Healthcare Administration
• Organizational Behavior

Background:

• First-line nurse managers (FLNMs) are critical for organizational success, impacting patient and nurse satisfaction.
• Understanding FLNM work is essential for effective task prioritization and workflow sequencing.
• A validated instrument is needed to accurately measure and categorize FLNM activities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and pilot-test an instrument for measuring the work categories and activity frequency of first-line nurse managers.
• To establish the validity and reliability of the newly developed FLNM work instrument.

Main Methods:

• The study involved a pilot administration of an author-developed instrument to 173 first-line nurse managers (FLNMs).
• Content validity was confirmed through focus groups with 10 FLNMs and a survey of 5 chief nursing officers.
• Reliability was assessed using the test/retest method with 13 FLNM participants over a 10-day period, with 70% agreement set as the threshold for item retention.

Main Results:

• The developed instrument demonstrated strong content validity.
• Reliability testing indicated that items with 70% or greater agreement were retained.
• The pilot study provided initial data on the instrument's performance in measuring FLNM work.

Conclusions:

• The instrument shows strong content validity for measuring first-line nurse manager work.
• Further refinement and testing are recommended to enhance the instrument's reliability and generalizability.
• The tool has the potential to support better understanding and management of FLNM roles across diverse settings.