Investigation of the Control Process in Nursing Care Management: A Qualitative Study

This study aimed to determine how nurse managers managed nursing care control processes at hospitals.

This study was conducted using a qualitative method in a phenomenological research design. The study sample consisted of nurse managers and nurses from a research and application hospital at a state university, a state hospital, and a private hospital affiliated with the Ministry of Health. The maximum variation sampling method was used because it provided the maximum potential of reflecting the diversity of the participants that formed the groups. A total of 60 nurses, including 10 executives and 10 clinical nurses from each institution, were interviewed. The data were obtained using semi structured in-depth interview questions and analyzed using a thematic analysis method.

Each hospital's nursing care controlling system was hierarchically structured. However, the control process, assessment criteria, and management culture differed among the hospitals. The top and midlevel executives' control methods were similar. They conducted control using data flow such as patient information and indicators. However, junior executives conducted observation-based control. In addition, nursing care executives did the planning in consideration of the subordinates' lack of experience, presence of a problematic worker, and process development studies in the determination of control intervals.

There were differences in the operation of the control processes based on the organizational structure of the hospitals. The controlling systems at the university hospital and state hospital studied were not effectively planned, but they maintained ordinary control.