Nurse manager perceptions of healthcare executive behaviors during organizational change

Nurse managers have a large responsibility in implementing healthcare organizational change. To be effective, they need support from healthcare executives. The authors report on a study in which nurse managers described behaviors that facilitated the quality of their work life. Nurse managers in a large (700+ bed) hospital undergoing organizational change were asked to rank behavior of healthcare executives perceived as supportive to a successful transition process and related to maintaining quality of work life. The nurse managers in this study ranked frequent communication about the goals and progression of the organizational change by healthcare executives as most important during a time of organizational change. High visibility and verbalized commitment to the organizational change being implemented were indicated as important by the managers responsible for the operation and realization of the desired vision and goals. Behaviors exhibited by healthcare executives during a time of organizational change may be supportive to nurse managers.