Examining the Organisational Skills of Nurse Managers at the Unit Level in Ghana: A Quantitative Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

The role of nurse managers has become demanding and multidimensional. However, many nurse managers perform their roles without adequate formal preparation and have to struggle with inadequate resources and challenges from other healthcare professionals in an effort to organise and maintain a favourable environment for care delivery in the unit. Therefore, optimum care is needed to ensure that competent and expert nurses are appointed unit-level managers. Nurse managers’ organisational skills have been identified as central to guaranteeing efficient shift schedules, managing logistics, planning staff needs, and performing professional duties for patients. To date, the organisational skills of unit-level nurse managers in Ghana have not been studied. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to investigate the organisational skills of nurse managers at the unit level in Ghanaian hospitals. We used a quantitative cross-sectional survey for data collection. The sample comprised 552 nursing staff from 19 healthcare facilities in the Greater Accra Region. Data were analysed using descriptive and linear regression using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 27. The findings indicate that nurse managers showed moderate organisational skills. Training in management, gender, rank, age, work experience, experience as a nurse manager, and qualification were factors that together accounted for a statistically significant difference in nurse managers’ organisational skills. These findings call for management to support nurse managers through structured in-service training, mentorship, coaching, and delegation to build and maintain their organisational skills to enable efficiency at the unit level.