Analysis of “Experiences of Promoting Growth” of Some Excellent Middle Nurse Managers

Abstract

This study aimed to clarify what useful experiences for the middle nurse manager's growth are, and how they may learn from the experiences. For this study, we focused on middle nurse managers who, having demonstrated an ability to work in the medical environment, also displayed an ability to do so despite some extreme changes being made in modern Japanese medicine. The participants were eight middle nurse managers of four general hospitals. The data was obtained from semi-structured interviews that we analyzed using the qualitative induction method. As a result of the analysis, five main experiences and twenty-four concrete experiences have been presumed useful experiences for the growth of the middle nurse managers. The main experiences were ① systematic development of human resourses, ② encounter with hardships, ③ job challenges, ④ early manager experiences, and ⑤mentor's support.

The participants developed systematically first through organization, which then developed into nursing. After mastering the art of nursing, they then became managers. Through the process of developing systematically, first through human resources, they acquired many special abilities and challenged various areas. They encountered various hardships while doing so, one such being the lofty attitude they developed due to the improvement of their skills, and the conflict they found themselves in assuming a new role. As a result, they were able to obtain a valuable lesson, such as trying to look at themselves more objectively. In addition, four main experiences of the participants had been influenced strongly by mentors, and all participants had met their special mentors with whom they grew up as a leader.