Nurse Manager Support: How Do Staff Nurses Define It?

Nurse manager support, which is essential for a healthy work environment, depends upon staff nurses’ perceptions.

What is nurse manager support? I do the things that my nurse manager did to show me support plus all the things that I wished she would have done to show me support when I was a staff nurse. But is that what staff nurses today consider support? I don’t know; that’s a good question. It’s never come up in our group sessions. I’d really like to know if what I consider supportive is the same as what the staff would say. (Nurse Manager)

Perception is reality! The behaviors of nurse managers that staff nurses perceive as supportive may or may not be the same as the behaviors that nurse managers think are supportive.

Stimulated by staff nurses’ identification of nurse manager support as 1 of the 8 essentials of a healthy work environment,...