The changing role of hospital nurse managers: a literature review

Hospitals in Canada and indeed throughout the world are in the midst of significant and even dramatic change. The impact of these changes on the role of the nurse manager is just beginning to be identified and research in this area is limited. As hospitals' structures and functions change, so must the roles of their managers and providers. The nurse manager is key in both facilitating patient care and in ensuring the quality of worklife of staff nurses. If the nurse manager role is to be maintained and more importantly, if the role is to develop as a significant one in the hospital infrastructure, more understanding, more study, and clear directions for the future are required. This article provides an overview of the literature on nurse managers, examines the roles, perspectives and needs of those managers and discusses the implications for future research in this area.