Operating room nurse manager competencies in Greek hospitals

Abstract

Aim: The purpose of this study was to identify and measure managerial competencies, skills and knowledge necessary for a competent Operating Room (OR) nurse manager so to provide quality care.

Methods: The Nurse Manager Questionnaire was used in General and Army Hospitals with at least 5 operating suites. 153 Operating Room nurses and Operating Room nurse managers rated the 53 skills of the Questionnaire depending on how essential those skills are for OR nurse manager (RR=81%). The 53 skills were separated in two columns one for knowledge and understanding and one for ability to implement and/or use. Reliability of the questionnaire was Cronbach (a) = 0.987.

Results: The decision-making, ethical principles and effective communication were identified as the most necessary competencies for OR nurse manager when in contrast financial competencies were identified as the least necessary. The nurse’s educational preparation effected technical, human and leadership competencies in proportional way (p≤0.05) when nurse’s age seemed to affect inversely leadership (p≤0.027) and financial competencies (p≤0.034).

Conclusions: As the Operating Room is an extremely stressful place, staffed with qualified personnel with multiple and even conflicting interests, OR nurse manager must be equipped with multiple competencies such as technical and human, in order to be able to promote safety and quality of perioperative nursing care to the patient.