Performance of the Nursing Managers in the Hospitals in Sari, Iran

Nursing managers play a key role in the improvement of the quality of work life, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment in nurses, as well as patient satisfaction. The present study aimed to evaluate the performance of nursing managers in the hospitals in Sari, Iran. This cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2017 on 108 nursing managers employed in the hospitals in Sari, who were selected via census sampling. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire to assess the nursing performance in eight domains of decision-making, planning, organization, coordination, leadership, communication, budgeting, and control. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 21. The mean score of nursing management performance was estimated at 3.84 out of five (favorable). The highest scores achieved by the nursing managers were in the domains of organization (4.12), leadership (3.95), and decision-making (3.94), whereas the lowest scores belonged to the domains of budgeting (3.26), coordination (3.79), and planning (3.81). In addition, 71% of the success of the nursing managers in managerial functions was associated with their controlling tasks. A significant correlation was observed between the performance of the nursing managers and receiving management training (P=0.01). According to the results, the nursing managers in the hospitals in Sari viewed their performance to be favorable. Evaluation of nursing management performance, identifying the strengths and weaknesses, and providing feedback to nurses play a pivotal role in improving performance in the clinical sections of hospitals.