The perceived problem-solving ability of nurse managers.
OBJECTIVE
The development of a problem-solving approach to nursing has been one of the more important changes in nursing during the last decade. Nurse Managers need to have effective problem-solving and management skills to be able to decrease the cost of the health care and to increase the quality of care.


OBJECTIVE
This descriptive study was conducted to determine the perceived problem-solving ability of nurse managers.


METHODS
From a population of 87 nurse managers, 71 were selected using the stratified random sampling method, 62 nurse managers agreed to participate. Data were collected through a questionnaire including demographic information and a problem-solving inventory. The problem-solving inventory was developed by Heppner and Petersen in 1982, and validity and readability studies were done. It was adapted to Turkish by Sahin et al (1993). The acquired data have been evaluated on the software spss 10.0 programme, using percentages, mean values, one-way anova and t-test (independent samples t-test).


RESULTS
Most of the nurses had 11 or more years of working experience (71%) and work as charge nurses in the clinics. It was determined that 69.4% of the nurse managers did not have any educational training in administration. The most encountered problems stated were issues related to managerial (30.6%) and professional staff (25.8%). It was identified that nurse managers who had received education about management, following scientific publication and scientific meeting and had followed management models, perceived their problem-resolving skills as more adequate than the others (P>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, it was determined that nurses do not perceive that they have problem-solving skills at a desired level. In this context, it is extremely important that this subject be given an important place in both nursing education curriculum and continuing education programmes.
Terzioglu
Fusun
F
Hacettepe University, School of Nursing, Ankara, Turkey. fusun@hacettepe.edu.tr
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009718:Nurse Administrators / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009736:Nursing Process; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011340:Problem Solving; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards*; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012647:Self-Assessment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey