Knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards management of nursing.

Abstract

Objective. To identify knowledge, skills and attitudes in nursing management, learned during education, in graduates of a Brazilian public university. Methodology. Cross sectional study carried out in 2010. 37 graduates of the nursing program participated. A questionnaire was used to get the information, which included socio-economical and knowledge variables, skills and attitudes linked to management subjects studied during undergraduate education. The latter variables were measured with questions Likert like answers. Data were processed and analyzed in Excel. Results. Recent graduates manifested having enough knowledge, they consider themselves skillful and with favorable attitudes in the management field. Graduates with higher job experience, even though they consider they have enough knowledge, their skills are half and they report an unfavorable attitude towards management. Conclusion. Knowledge, attitudes, and abilities of recent graduates towards management are different to the ones with higher professional experience. Professional practice could change the perception nurses have towards management.