A study on continuous employment support by nurse managers

—The process of supporting mid-career nurses to discover the meaning of nursing practice—

Abstract

Under the drastic changes that we see in nursing practice recently, nurse managers are required to be equipped with highly sophisticated nurse management skills in order to maintain and improve the quality of nursing practice. Especially, it is important role of nurse managers to secure capable human resources for mid-career nurses. The purpose of this study is to clarify the support process for mid-career nurses by focusing on the specific attitudes, methods, and ideas of nursing managers in their practice of supporting mid-career nurses to remain employed. Qualitative deduction method by semi-structured interview was used for analysis 11 nurses recommended by senior nurse managers, working at medical institutions located in Chiba or Tokyo Prefecture, were studied. They were asked what were specific attempts made in their support and what was impressive in their mind. M-GTA method was used for analysis. Verbatim record was also created for analysis. The resut of analysis presented 17 concepts, 7 sub-categories and 4 categories. It was indicated that continuous employment support given by nurse managers can be divided into two kinds. Direct support such as"stay close as a supporter " and "give him own place." give him chance to stop"which were combined effectively with indirect support such as "give the person his own place, Through unwrenchinng attitudes towards nurse management and process of support, the significance of nursing practice was recognized.