Nurses' trust in managers and its relationship with nurses' performance behaviors: a descriptive- correlational study

Area of Science:

• Nursing Management
• Organizational Behavior
• Healthcare Performance

Background:

• Organizational trust is crucial for effective communication and cooperation within healthcare settings.
• A nurse's trust in their manager significantly influences their behavior and job performance.
• Understanding this dynamic is key to improving nursing practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the level of trust nurses have in their immediate managers (head-nurses and supervisors).
• To examine the relationship between nurses' trust in managers and their observed performance behaviors.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive-correlational study involving 431 nurses in Ardabil, Iran.
• Stratified random sampling was employed for participant selection.
• Utilized McAllister Trust and Paterson Job Performance questionnaires for data collection and analysis via SPSS.

Main Results:

• A high prevalence of trust was observed: 80.3% for head-nurses and 61.9% for supervisors.
• The majority of nurses (92.1%) demonstrated excellent functional behavior.
• A significant positive correlation was identified between nurse-supervisor trust and functional behavior (P=0.03).

Conclusions:

• Trust between nurses and supervisors is a significant factor influencing nurses' functional performance.
• Enhancing trust within the nursing team, particularly between nurses and supervisors, is recommended to improve behavioral outcomes.
• This highlights the importance of fostering trust in healthcare leadership.