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Abstract
POPULATION-BASED HEALTHCARE HAS BECOME THE FOCUS OF HEALTHCARE SERVICES
AROUND THE WORLD SO THERE IS AN EVER-INCREASING NEED TO TRAIN AND SUPPORT
NURSE MANAGERS WHO CAN LEAD AND NURTURE NURSES AS THEY WORK TOWARDS
PROVIDING OPTIMUM LEVELS OF SATISFACTION AND SAFETY IN THE CARE THEY GIVE TO
THEIR PATIENTS.
Such personal
circumstances need to
be taken into account
and nurses are well
placed to understand
the personal and living
circumstances of people
and to use this
knowledge in providing
individualized care
Cultural awareness
Knowledge and awareness of culture is
essential in order to meet the needs of
patients. There is a need for nursing
managers to ensure culturally appropriate
training and education of their nursing
staff in order to provide patient care that
is culturally suitable. Nursing management
must foster in their colleagues a culture of
understanding that reflects the crosscultural and democratized societies we
inhabit today. Cultural and social
sensitivity is no longer simply a soft
additional option for nurses working
internationally or in the inner cities.
Today, almost any hospital anywhere in
the world will be serving patients from
a broad cultural spectrum. The
International Council of Nurses code of
ethics states clearly that, in providing
care, the nurse promotes an environment
in which the human rights, values,
customs, and spiritual belief of the
individual, family and community
are respected.
Because patient safety and satisfaction
is in direct relation to quality of care,
nurse managers must create an
environment that accommodates the
nurses mandate to deliver individualized
care and guarantee patient safety and
satisfaction.
Creating safe and comfortable
environments
Nurse managers have a particularly
salient role to play in creating safe and
comfortable environments within that
most central of healthcare environments:
the hospital. A variety of traditional
managerial and healthcare cultures have
long ensured that hospitals are
impersonal and isolating settings in which
patients are ill at ease.
Nurse managers have brought a culture
of healing and caring to the hospital
environment, a culture of individualized
care plans that humanize an unfamiliar
and sometimes threatening setting.
Healthcare clients have taken on a new
status within health services: today we
talk regularly of expert patients who are
key stakeholders in the care they receive.
Nursing has played a significant role in
shaping hospital environments in which
individuals can flourish in these new roles
as active participants in their own care.
Nurses make up the majority of
healthcare workers on every continent,
of nursing management.
Nursing leadership includes coaching
and mentoring others, and creating an
environment and conditions for ongoing
development and quality care. Leadership
through professional nurses associations
both develops the profession and
positions it strategically to influence
health planning and policy.
Maintaining networks and linkages with
and between key stakeholders is essential
to effective leadership and management.
Also critical is the ability to continually
assess the environment, to monitor
performance, and to create or adapt to
change as required.
Educational
preparation
for
management will vary according to the
roles and career paths of nurse managers.
Professional nursing associations can
offer support by identifying relevant
opportunities and promoting these to
their members. Individual nurses must
take responsibility for their own
education, and develop the ability to plan
and manage this strategically.
Nursing management is a vital part of
an effective healthcare system. It is a
partner in professional satisfaction for
nurses and a partner in achieving good
health for individuals and societies alike.
By investing in nursing managements, we
are investing in the health of populations
and in the positive evolution of healthcare
in our times. J
References
International Council of Nurses Nursing Code
of Ethics, available at http://www.icn.ch/
ethics.htm
2.
International Council of Nurses Management of
Nursing and Healthcare Services, available at
http://www.icn.ch/psmanagement00.htm
1.
Author
Judith Oulton is Executive Director of the
International Council of Nurses.
Contact
Leadership
Achieving this demands of nurse
managers that they dispose of a wide
spectrum of skills honed through training
and education. Management is leadership:
it is the ability to voice the needs of those
one represents and transform needs into
progress, translate vision into action.
Achieving quality management in
nursing requires an investment in nurse
leaders and in broadening the definitions
and outcomes of nursing education.
The nursing profession must play its part
and support the evolution of new and
existing disciplines of the nursing
sciences, designed to foster leadership in
nurses and maintain a vibrant academic
and professional environment in the field