title: Nurse's perceptions of their group goal attainment capability and professional autonomy: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A pilot study to examine staff nurses' perceptions of, and relationships between, group goal attainment capability and professional autonomy.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  A nursing group's capability to employ appropriate nursing interventions leads to improvement in patient outcomes. Nurses' goal attainment capability plays a role in achieving high-quality patient outcomes and may be related to professional autonomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Staff nurses (N = 90) in one community hospital completed the Sieloff-King Assessment of Group Goal Attainment Capability within Organizations and the Nursing Activity Scale instrument.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Staff nurses reported high goal attainment capability and high professional autonomy, and a positive significant but weak correlation (r = 0.24, P < 0.05) was found between nurses' perceptions of group goal attainment capability and perceptions of professional autonomy. Three of the eight group goal attainment subscales were positively correlated with professional autonomy including: group leaders' goal attainment capability competency, goals/outcomes competency and goal attainment capability perspective.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While three subscales of goal attainment capability were significant, the correlations were weak between professional autonomy and group leader's goal attainment competency, goals/outcome competency and goal attainment perspective.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nurse managers can play a key role in nurses' group goal attainment capability and perceived professional autonomy.
authors: amhb123@aol.com
authors: Anne Marie H
authors: AM
authors: Bularzik
authors: Susan
authors: S
authors: Tullai-McGuinness
authors: Christina Leibold
authors: CL
authors: Sieloff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009718:Nurse Administrators; D015401:Nursing Administration Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010865:Pilot Projects; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D055815:Young Adult