An Experiential Educational Intervention to Improve Nurse Managers' Knowledge and Self-Assessed Competence With Health Care Financial Management

摘要

Background: Nurse managers often list finance as the most challenging responsibility of their roles. This study examined the outcomes of an experiential, evidence-based educational intervention to increase nurse managers' knowledge and competence with the financial aspects of their roles. Method: The study design was a pretest-posttest comparative evaluation. Twenty-three nurse managers attended two 4-hour sessions covering general budget terms, productivity measures, variance analysis, and personnel budgeting. Pre- and posttests included 20 questions obtained from health care finance texts and preparatory materials from a nurse leader certification examination. Pre- and postassessments consisted of the finance portion of the Nurse Manager Leadership Partnership's Nurse Manager Skills Inventory. Results: Scores improved significantly (p = .05) for the posttest and the American Organization of Nurse Executives Nurse Manager Skills Inventory Finance self-evaluation questions (p = .01). Conclusion: Experiential methods were successful in facilitating learning. Certification examination questions addressed relevant areas of financial knowledge necessary for nurse managers' role in the financial management of their units.