Nursing Managers' Coronary Care Unit Management Experience.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Management
• Critical Care Nursing
• Healthcare Administration

Background:

• Coronary Care Units (CCUs) require effective management due to the acute condition of patients.
• Nursing managers in CCUs encounter numerous challenges in their roles.
• Existing studies highlight the difficulties faced by nursing managers in specialized units.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore and explain the experiences of nursing managers in Coronary Care Unit (CCU) management.
• To understand the specific challenges and perceptions related to CCU management by nursing leaders.
• To provide insights into the lived experiences of nursing managers in high-acuity critical care settings.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative approach utilizing unstructured interviews, focus groups, and field notes.
• Study conducted from November 2017 to February 2020 in the CCU of Al Zahra Heart Hospital, Iran.
• Content analysis by Graneheim and Lundman used for data interpretation with 18 purposeful sampling participants.

Main Results:

• Three main themes emerged: Inadequate Interaction, Impaired Control and Supervision, and Incapability to Organize Performance.
• Subcategories included insufficient senior management support, non-empathetic communication, lack of staff motivation, insufficient supervision, inadequate monitoring tools, poor time management, and limited planning power.
• Findings indicate nursing managers perceive CCU management as ineffective due to these identified issues.

Conclusions:

• The study provides a realistic view of nursing managers' perceptions of CCU management challenges.
• Identified themes suggest that current CCU management practices are perceived as ineffective by nursing managers.
• There is a critical need to enhance the managerial performance of nursing managers in Coronary Care Units.