Seagull management and the control of nursing work

Abstract

This article considers data from a qualitative study of discipline and misconduct in nursing. It outlines the ways in which the study can inform our understanding of changes in the control of nursing work. Specifically it considers evidence for work intensification in nursing and contrasts this with policy pronouncements, which have proclaimed that nurses have been empowered by recent changes. The study found that empowerment often implied increased responsibility accompanied by tightened control. Some nurses described their managers as ‘seagull’ managers and the article elaborates what was meant by that term. The four key features of seagull management were: distance, distrust, destructive criticism, and a defensive culture.