Effectiveness of Nursing Management Educational Program upon Head Nurses Knowledge Regarding Patient Management

Abstract

Background: Over the past few decades, the role of the Director of the Nursing Unit (head nurse) hasdeveloped considerably globally, from the head nurse who supervisor to patient care and nursing staffand the needs of the ward from all the necessary supplies for nursing care in the ward to the role of themanager nurse who plays a broader role through his oversight of all Nursing ward in the hospital, staffemployment and ward quality, development and retention. Previously the head nurses were responsible forthe care of clinical patients only in the ward, and their duty was only patient. Objectives: Implement thenursing management education program for the study group. Methodology: A quasi-experimental designis carried out throughout the present study with the application of test-retest approach for the study andcontrol groups from March 24th 2019 to Feb 19th 2020. Settings of the Study: This study was conducted atthe nursing units of Al-Najaf AL-Ashraf City Hospitals which include (Al-Sadr Medical City, Al-HakeemGeneral Hospital and Al-Zahra Teaching Hospital, they represented AL-Najaf AL-Ashraf city). Result:showed that the study group participants had benefits from the implementation of nursing managementeducation program Conclusions: The program considered an effective mean for the improvement of thehead nurse’s knowledge. Recommendations: Head nurses should have the required knowledge about wardsmanagement regarding patient care. And nursing management education program is an important tool forthe development of head nurses’ skills. Accordingly, head nurses need to be encouraged to participate innursing management education program focused on patient management. Finally, the study proved that thereis an essential need for collaboration between the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research withMinistry of Health and Environment to improve the nursing management courses as a part of curriculum innursing institutes and universities.