The content of nurse unit managers’ work: a descriptive study using daily activity diaries

• Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences
• Main Authors: Sveinsdóttir, Herdís, Blöndal, Katrín, Jónsdóttir, Heiður Hrund, Bragadóttir, Helga
• Other Authors: 1 Univ Iceland, Fac Nursing, Eiriksgotu 34, IS-101 Reykjavik, Iceland Show more 2 Landspitali Univ Hosp, Reykjavik, Iceland Show more 3 Univ Iceland, Social Sci Res Inst, Reykjavik, Iceland, Faculty of Nursing; University of Iceland; Reykjavík Iceland, Social Science Research Institute; University of Iceland; Reykjavík Iceland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2018
• Subjects: Hjúkrunarfræðingar; Stjórnun; Starfslýsingar; Nurse Administrators; Nursing; Supervisory; Job Description; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/620648; https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12517

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink below BackgroundNUMs' job description in Icelandic hospitals has been revised and now also includes managerial and financial responsibilities. AimTo describe the actual work activities of nurse unit managers (NUMs) in surgical and internal medicine services as self-documented and reflected in their job description. DesignProspective exploratory study. MethodThe study's setting was the largest hospital in Iceland. Data were collected over 7 days from NUMs working on surgical and medical units with an activity diary listing five domains and 41 activities: management and planning' (seven activities), staff responsibility (seven activities), direct clinical work' (five activities), service' (12 activities) and other' (nine activities). ResultsThe managers' spent most of their time within the other' domain (32% of their time), then the next significant amount of time on management and planning' and clinical nursing' (19%), and the least amount of time on service' (14%). All reported working on two or more activities simultaneously. NUMs made erroneous estimations approximately half of the time about the domain they spent most of their time in and their satisfaction with their work each day varied greatly. ConclusionThe work of NUMs is highly diverse, including undefined miscellaneous tasks and clinical work beyond their job description. Landspitali University of Iceland Research Fund