Association between Support from Nursing Managers and Professional Autonomy in Nurses

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the association between support from nursing managers and professional autonomy in nurses. The anonymous, self-administered questionnaire was given to 997 nurses. The survey items included the scale for social support from nursing managers (15 questions), the scale for relationships with nursing managers (20 questions), and the scale for professional auton-omy in nursing (47 questions), as well as general demographic questions. Of 997 nurses, 374 nurses (37.5%) responded to the survey. Of these, we excluded 73 nurses with missing data. Thus, 301 nurses were eligible for our analysis. A logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between social sup-port from nursing managers/relationships with nursing managers and professional autonomy in nurses. After adjustment for confounding factors such as years of experience and basic nursing education, social support from nursing managers was associated with professional autonomy in nurses [OR (95% CI): 1.17 (1.03 - 1.34)]. Additionally, after adjustment for confounding factors such as years of experi-ence and basic nursing education, relationships with nursing managers was associated with professional autonomy in nurses [OR (95% CI): 1.10 (1.03 - 1.18)]. Our findings suggest that support from nursing managers is positively associated with professional autonomy in nurses.