Journal of Nursing Management

Aim. To systematically map and identify key knowledge on organizational support for nurses’ career planning and development. Design. Scoping review. Methods. Systematic electronic searches were carried out with the CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases in May 2022. The searches were limited to scientific, peer-review papers that were published in English from January 2012 to May 2022. Data were extracted and synthetized and are presented in tables and text. The review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Results. We identified 1,400 papers and 28 met the inclusion criteria. Organizations recognized nurses’ career planning and development in relation to the individual’s professional development and the organization’s need to promote high-quality services and workforce engagement. The organizational support included strategic work to ensure there were adequate resources and purposeful vacancies and a structured framework based on objective qualification criteria and equal assessment. Organizations focused on sharing knowledge, structured career planning, and interpersonal support. Support within the nursing profession and multilayered interprofessional collaboration were also important. Conclusion. Nurses’ career planning and development was linked to their personal development and the organization’s aims and required support from both fellow nurses and other professionals. Implications for the Nursing Management. Identifying the organizational structures and methods that are needed to support nurses’ career planning and development can help nursing management to evaluate and develop strategies that improve the attractiveness of a nursing career and nurses’ engagement.

Aim. To explore and describe intensive care professional nurses’ experiences caring for COVID-19 patients in private hospitals in Gauteng, South Africa. Introduction. Pandemics are unique forms of disasters characterised by adverse psychological symptoms and behaviours. Literature confirms a globally increased workload during pandemics, causing emotional exhaustion and poor concentration among healthcare workers. Moreover, high mortality rates are mentioned as a cause of moral distress and moral injury to healthcare workers. South Africa was unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, as evidenced by overcrowded hospitals, a lack of resources, and high mortality rates. Materials and Methods. A qualitative, phenomenological, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research design was used. The five largest private hospitals from the same hospital group in Gauteng were chosen as they were admitting many COVID-19 patients. Fifteen participants were selected through purposeful sampling. Semistructured, in-depth, individual interviews were conducted and audio-recorded, and field notes were taken from April 2022 to December 2022. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using Giorgi’s approach. Results. Three themes emerged: abrupt transition from normality to the COVID-19 pandemic; experienced isolation from family, community, and nursing management; and feelings of satisfaction and gratitude for teamwork and learning. Conclusions. It is essential for nurses’ holistic care to be considered along with patients’ holistic care. The findings in this study could drive healthcare institutions in South Africa to respond to nurses’ health, care, and support needs. Implication for Nursing Management. Nursing management should consider shorter and fewer consecutive workdays for nurses to rest and restore their energy levels. Nurse management should also provide human caring by being visible to the nurses and communicating with them. Holistic self-care practices should be included in nurses’ in-service training programmes.

Aims. This umbrella review aims to comprehensively synthesize and analyze the findings of available systematic reviews on the effectiveness of individual-based strategies for reducing nurse burnout occurring in hospital-based settings. Methods. Following JBI guidelines, an umbrella review was conducted to integrate the effectiveness of various strategies to reduce burnout. Systematic reviews were searched in the Embase, MEDLINE (Ovid), Cochrane Library, CINAHL (EBSCO), Scopus, and WOS databases. Inclusion criteria included studies published in any language from database inception to April 2023. Eligibility assessment involved two independent reviewers who evaluated titles, abstracts, and full texts. The systematic reviews were critically evaluated using JBI SUMARI. The results were narratively synthesized and grouped by strategy. Results. Eleven systematic reviews were included, covering the years 2012 to 2021. The appraisal tools varied, though all included reviews were of high quality. The strategies were categorized into three domains: mental health (51%), physical activities (26%), and professional competence (13%). The interventions most identified were mindfulness-based stress reduction for mental health, yoga for physical activities, and professional competence education. These individual-based strategies were shown to effectively eliminate emotional exhaustion (72.7%), depersonalization (44%), and occupational stress (78%) among nurses in hospital-based settings. Conclusion. Mental health, physical activities, and professional competence are strategies to reduce nurse burnout. Implementing these approaches in healthcare settings can improve emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and occupational stress of nurses.

Objective. This study aimed to evaluate the current status and related factors of practice environments of nurse managers in China. Background. Insufficient nurse staffing and poor working environment directly increase the burnout and turnover of nurse leaders. Nurse managers play a pivotal role in healthcare organizations, and their performance has been inextricably linked to achieving optimal patient, staff, and healthcare organizational outcomes. However, there are few studies exploring the influencing factors of nurse manager practice environment. Methods. A cross-sectional study was undertaken to examine a sample of 405 nursing managers who were selected from 10 hospitals located across three provinces in China. The general characteristics questionnaire, the Nurse Manager Practice Environment Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Career Growth Scale were used. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, univariate analysis, and multiple stepwise linear regression. Results. The total scores of the nurse manager practice environments were 236.71 ± 27.635 (with 270 being the highest possible score), which was at a generally high level. The three lowest scores were adequate budgeted resources, fair and manageable workload, and nurse manager-physician relationships. Nurse manager practice environment was predicted by hospital geographic location, having (or not) training experience in higher ranked hospitals, levels of perceived stress, and career growth scores. Conclusion. Chinese nursing managers reported a relatively favorable nursing practice environment. Policymakers should pay more attention to the practice environment of nursing managers in small city hospitals, and they could regularly evaluate, monitor, and promote practice environment determinants that are sensitive to disparities between different hospitals. In addition, hospital managers can take action by implementing diversity training programs, developing stress-reduction initiatives, and creating robust career development programs for nurse managers to support nurse managers better. Implications for nursing management: a better understanding of the current practice environment of nursing managers is beneficial for improving nursing managers’ work environment, which in turn will promote the quality of care delivered and nursing management work. For nurse managers, the characteristics of the management and work environment of the small city hospitals should be benchmarked and learned against the district capital hospitals. Also, hospital administrators were required to adopt strategies to foster psychological support of nurse managers and create pathways and opportunities for professional growth to create a supportive working environment.

Aims. To explore the experience of nurses and physicians regarding psychosocial needs of patients with cancer and to describe their perception according to professional category and clinical setting. Design. A qualitative descriptive study. Method. 14 nurses and 12 physicians were selected from three hospital clinical units and four primary care centers in northern Spain. Data were collected using semistructured interviews. Content analysis was performed using open coding. Reporting of findings followed the COREQ checklist. Results. Four themes were identified: the needs of patients with cancer, psychosocial care provided by health professionals, difficulties addressing psychosocial needs, and available resources. According to nurses and physicians, being diagnosed with cancer involves a radical life-changing process, with a profound impact at the psychosocial level. Within the field of psychosocial care, the role perceived by each profession was different. Thus, nurses highlighted the need for these patients to receive emotional support and care, although limited importance is given to psychosocial needs. The role of physicians was more focused on referring these patients to other health professionals. The lack of training or time was one of the main difficulties perceived by the professionals. The family is a fundamental resource and, overall, patients are provided with limited information about other psychosocial resources. At the hospital, the emphasis is placed on physical needs and health professionals experience greater burnout and fear of compassion fatigue. Primary care teams could, therefore, have a primary role in addressing psychosocial needs due to their understanding of each person’s context and personal circumstances. Conclusions. It is essential for nurses and physicians to consider the psychosocial needs of patients with cancer. However, these needs are not always adequately addressed. Further resources are required to reduce the workload, increase the training of health professionals, and introduce organizational changes to consider psychosocial needs during routine care.

Background. Emotional intelligence (EI) is an instrumental quality for effective management in the changing landscape of healthcare leadership, specifically among female nursing leaders. Aim. This study aims to assess the EI among female nursing leaders in Saudi Arabian hospitals and to examine its connection with leadership and effectiveness of decision-making during a transformational period. Methods. This study applied a correlational descriptive cross-sectional methodology to gather data from 232 female nursing leaders. The data were collected via an online survey using convenience sampling. The study incorporated demographic data as well as a 16-item EI scale. Approval was granted by the ethics committee, and the participants’ privacy was appropriately ensured. Results. The majority of the participants were experienced professionals aged 25 years and above, with a significant proportion holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, and over five years of leadership experience. The study revealed a positive connection between EI and self-leadership (self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-motivation), especially among leaders with more experience. An investigation considering many variables revealed a noteworthy model that explains 55.2% of the variation in EI scores. This model portrays that higher self-leadership scores, as well as longer experience, are predictors of higher levels of EI. Conclusions. This study has found that EI is widespread among female nursing leaders, and it is meaningfully and positively associated with their aptitude for self-leadership. The fact that more leadership experience correlated with higher EI signifies the need for focused EI development programs in the nursing leadership curriculum. These insights are instrumental for developing leadership that can effectually manage the intricacies of the evolving healthcare transition.