2024 Volume 28 Issue 1 Pages 11-20
Objective: This study aimed to reveal the role behaviors of charge nurses in improving the quality of nursing care at acute care hospitals and their relevant factors.
Methods: An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was provided to 571 charge nurses at 26 acute care hospitals that could accommodate more than 300 patients. The questionnaire comprised of questions about experiences after being promoted to the position of a charge nurse, role behaviors of charge nurses, activities toward improving the quality of nursing care, and a-confidence as a leader. Analysis was performed using Mann–Whitney U test and multiple regression analysis.
Results: Answers from 300 respondents were analyzed. Charge nurses working at hospitals with promotion criteria for them achieved high total scores for role behavior regarding experiences related to education and management before and after promotion. Moreover, the results indicated that the role behaviors of charge nurses were correlated with their confidence as a leader and activities toward improving the quality of nursing care.
Discussion: We believe that charge nurses can perform their role behavior by increasing their awareness about the role as managers via education and management experience. Furthermore, charge nurses require confidence as a leader to perform role behaviors, and fostering confidence in charge nurses may improve the quality of nursing care.
Conclusion: The study results demonstrated that education and management experiences among charge nurses encourage role behaviors, and the role behaviors performed with confidence as a leader prompt them to act toward improving the quality of nursing care.
