Developing effective management for the general nursing service

Directors of nursing services and their colleagues in the new units created by NHS restructuring face major challenges in developing effective management for the general nursing service. Emerging ideas within the profession on the organization of nursing work, severe pressures arising from financial constraints at a time of growing health care needs, and restructuring itself each demand a carefully planned response. Beginning from the basic management cycle involved in implementing the nursing process, this paper offers a redefinition of the main functions of nursing management as a whole in meeting these challenges and provides a check-list for reviewing existing management practice. The use of this check-list is then illustrated by a case study in one health district. In this example, managers sought external assistance in planning a programme of action to strengthen nursing leadership. Similar efforts elsewhere are likely to rely mainly on a range of self-help methods. This paper is intended to provide a tool for designing and implementing these local strategies of management development.