Crisis management systems: staff nurses demand more support from their supervisors.
OBJECTIVE
This study illustrates the contributions of the necessity, comprehensiveness, and difference (between necessity and comprehensiveness) levels of crisis management systems to participants' general satisfaction with their working institutions' nursing-related crisis management activities. Crisis management systems include strategic, technical/structural, assessment, public communication, and psychological/cultural aspects.


BACKGROUND
An effective institutional crisis management system might help to decrease the number of incidents related to medical disputes or to prevent a crisis from worsening and becoming disastrous.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey was administered during a nursing conference held in Taipei, Taiwan, on June 27, 2005. Two hundred ninety questionnaires were distributed, and 121 were retrieved (response rate, 41.7%; nursing administrators and staff). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed.


RESULTS
Ordinal logistic regression analyses show that being a public hospital managed by the government and having more difference on the strategic aspect between the necessity and comprehensiveness levels contribute to lower satisfaction with nursing-related crisis management activities (Nagelkerke R(2) = .441). In addition, staff nurses perceive higher necessity levels on all five aspects compared to nursing administrators.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides important insights into how the policies and activities of a medical institution's crisis management system can be prioritized and implemented. It is also important for students in nursing programs and for currently employed nurses to learn how to manage disputes related to nursing practice, so that early resolution can be achieved and crises can be avoided. These results suggest that staff nurses demand more support from their supervisors.
Tzeng
Huey-Ming
HM
Division of Nursing Business and Health Systems, School of Nursing, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0482, USA. tzeng_hueyming@yahoo.com
Yin
Chang-Yi
CY
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008318:Malpractice; D009738:Nursing Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016134:Organizational Policy; D012308:Risk Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013624:Taiwan