Assessing attitudes and preparedness of nurse managers regarding effective delegation in Wapda Hospital Lahore

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the attitudes of registered nurses (RNs) towards delegation, their preparedness to delegate effectively, and to determine whether attitude and preparedness are related to age, experience, and education in the delegation.

Methodology: It is a quantitative research outlook in a cross- sectional descriptive design. As it is a survey of the attitudes and preparedness of effective delegation, a quantitative approach is a suitable and explicit strategy to be utilized. Data was collected with a questionnaire in Wapda hospital Lahore (N=154). Participants were 130 RNs. A self-structured questionnaire adopted from the article “Nurse Manager's Attitudes and Preparedness towards Effective Delegation in a Tertiary Care Public Hospital Lahore” with permission of the author developed by Karnested, and Haghighi. It is based on the Likert scale. It was distributed among the sample population. The questionnaire is divided into three sections. Section I; includes the demographics of the managers i.e.: age, marital status, gender, education, nursing experience. Section II; is directed towards assessment of nurse manager’s attitudes consisting of 11 questions. Section III; pertains to the preparedness of nurse managers towards effective delegation and have 20 questions. The data was then analyzed on the software SPSS version 21.

Results: Most participants have a positive attitude towards delegation and identify themselves as prepared to delegate effectively. However, some of the answers indicate potential for improvement. The majority find they spend a large amount of time on jobs others could do and agree to some extent that skills of practical nurses could be better utilized through more effective delegation.

Unique  contribution  to  theory,  practice  and  policy: Age, experience, and former education on delegation are significantly related to a number of attitude and preparedness issues regarding confidence in delegating, mutual trust, collaboration, and communication between RNs and assistance personnel. Effective delegation by RNs needs to be supported by teaching, practicing and nurturing mutual trust and effective communication in nursing teams.