Management support, attitude and level of empowerment of nurse managers in private and public hospitals in Iloilo

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the personal characteristics, management support, work attitude and level of empowerment of nurse managers in Iloilo. It further aimed to determine whether there is a relationship between personal characteristics and management support, work attitude and level of empowerment; management support and work attitude and level of empowerment; work attitude and level of empowerment, and management support and level of empowerment among nurse managers when attitude towards work is controlled. This is a descriptive- relational research which involved 75 nurse managers in public and private hospitals in Iloilo. The data were collected, analyzed using SPSS version 17 software program for Windows. The results of the study show that majority of the nurse managers were 33 to 45 years old, with mean age of 40.29 years old, were bachelor’s degree holders, earned P 10001 to P20000, with average monthly income of P17713.20 pesos, served the organization for more than 15 years with mean length of service of 15.19 years.

A high percentage of the nurse managers were fairly supported by the management. They claimed that they were highly supported in terms of staff development in which they were given opportunity to pursue continuing education, training and promotions, fairly supported emotionally in which they were recognized, reinforced, appreciated and encouraged and were fairly supported with the resources they need in the workplace. A high percentage of the nurse managers had a highly favorable attitude towards work. They attended meetings since they considered it not a waste of time and would contribute much in their performance at work; willing to extend duty hours if needed and found their work full of meaning and purpose always; and remained positive even though they were busy. They were highly empowered as they could take responsibilities, participated when changes were planned, creative when finding solutions to problems and had the freedom to decide how to do their job. A negligible relationship existed between monthly income and management support. There was a low correlation between length of experience, age and educational attainment and management support. There was a negligible relationship between age, educational attainment, length of service and attitude. A low correlation was noted between monthly income and attitude. There was a negligible relationship between age, monthly income and level of empowerment. A low correlation was noted between educational attainment, length of service and level of empowerment.

There was low relationship between management support and attitude. There was a substantial relationship between management support and level of empowerment. There was a low relationship between attitude and level of empowerment. There was a very high relationship between management support and level of empowerment when the attitude is highly favorable, a substantial correlation between management support and level of empowerment when attitude is favorable and also a low relationship between management support and level of empowerment when attitude is unfavorable. Conclusions Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were made: 1. There were middle age nurse managers. They were still pursuing Master’s degree. They had been working for more than 15 years and earned P 10001 to P20000 as their monthly income. Some Nurse Managers grew old in the organization and served for so long that they may see themselves retiring in the same organization. 2. Nurse Managers were highly supported in terms of professional development by allowing opportunities to assume different roles and sending them to seminars and trainings. They were fairly supported by the management in terms of resources and sometimes been recognized and appreciated for their worth. They exhibited great attitudes that were beyond of what was expected and exercised full autonomy in decision making.

3. Management support influenced the level of empowerment. The more nurse managers who were supported by the management, the more they became highly empowered. 4. Management support influenced level of empowerment. The more nurse managers who were supported, the more they became highly empowered especially when they had a highly favorable attitude. 5. Educational attainment, length of service and attitude had little influence on level of empowerment. This means that empowerment does not depend solely on the nurse manager’s educational attainment, length of service and attitude. Monthly income had also a little effect to attitude. Likewise, age, educational attainment and length of service had a little influence on management support. Other factors need to be considered.