Power and effective nursing practice

Underlying the Nursing Knowledge Program were the beliefs that professionals can be prepared to function more effectively in organizations and that organizations can be designed to promote better use of professional skills. The training program, therefore, included both educational and structural solutions for the problems of powerlessness experienced by nurses in the hospital setting. Educationally, the program was designed to empower the participating nurses by teaching them the analytic and interpersonal skills they needed to develop and implement plans for change. Structurally, it established new lines of communication between staff nurses and nurse administrators, linked the nurses to needed resources, and gave the nurses more control over working conditions. Due to the quasi-experimental nature of the research design used in the project, the findings cannot be generalized to all nurses in all hospitals. There is no question, however, that each of the four strategies can be a valuable administrative approach for increasing nursing power. Confirming the strategies and moving groups of nurses through a series of activities specifically designed to use the strategies can bring significant change in the perceptions of nurses about themselves and their profession. For the administrator, the strategies are a way to develop a more effective and satisfied nursing staff, to encourage new leadership, and to create a stronger constituency among staff members. They also create a new source of energy and ideas for resolving the very real problems of professional practice.