Morality traits for an ideal nurse manager: A multicentre cross-sectional study
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Published on: February 16, 2011
Dania Comparcini1, Valentina Simonetti2, Marco Tomietto3,4
1Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria 'Ospedali Riuniti', Ancona, Italy.
Aims:
To investigate which morality traits are more important for nurses to determine positive opinions of their nurse manager.
Background:
People selected morality more often than sociability and competence when forming a positive opinion towards an ideal or a newcomer manager.
Methods:
A multicentre, cross-sectional study was carried out by administering two questionnaires to 775 nurses on the influence of morality, sociability and competence traits on their impression formation processes.
Results:
Regarding nurses' perceptions about the morality, sociability and competence traits of an ideal nurse manager, the total score for morality was 20.0; for sociability, it was 14.2; and for competence, it was 19.6. For nurses' opinions about a new nurse manager, the total score of the morality section was 16.2, which was very similar to the total score of the competence section (mean = 16.1).
Conclusion:
Morality positively influences nurses' initial impression of an ideal manager, and though it seems to be a necessary condition, it is not sufficient by itself to support the nursing staff's perception towards a new manager.
Implications For Nursing Management:
Our findings could be useful in better understanding the role of morality in social perceptions and behavioural consequences of staff nurses towards their nurse manager.
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