The experience of managing from the perspective of first-line nurse managers working in program management

grantor: University of TorontoThe purpose of this study was to describe the experience of managing from the perspective of first-line nurse managers working in program management. The descriptive qualitative study involved 6 managers. It took place in a Canadian hospital in which there was an absence of traditional professional departments, (a) first-line managers reported to non-nursing or nursing supervisors, (b) authority was decentralized to the first-line manager for human and financial resources, and (c) first-line managers supervised nursing and non-nursing professionals. Mintzberg's model of managing (1994a, 1994b) was used as the conceptual framework. Interview data indicated that managing in program management was about (a) taking on more and more in a lean management structure, (b) maintaining a commitment to patient care in light of urgent resource issues, and (c) carrying on despite patchy success. Furthermore, the managers' in-depth descriptions of what managing was like illustrated the impact of program management on managers' leadership.M.Sc