Work empowerment as experienced by head nurses.

摘要

BACKGROUND: Head nurses have in the past few decades gained both more power and more responsibilities in their job. Their experience of work empowerment is not known. AIM: The aim of this study was to describe the verbal, behavioural and outcome empowerment experienced by head nurses. METHODS: Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, which was sent to 259 head nurses. The data were analysed using statistical methods. RESULTS: The results suggest that head nurses experience quite strong verbal and behavioural empowerment. They feel less confident in terms of outcome empowerment. Various factors, including stress and the capacity to handle the head nurse's job, were found to correlate with the empowerment experience. CONCLUSION: It seems that head nurses do not have enough power to influence the effectiveness of their organization.