Perceptions on the role and importance of soft skills or relevant competencies on the performance of nurse managers in hospitals

This is a descriptive and exploratory study aimed at gaining knowledge about the role and importance of soft skills or certain competencies for nursing management in hospitals. The research question was: what are the perceptions of nurse managers about the role and importance of certain management competencies (soft skills) on performance in Gauteng hospitals? Hospitals in Gauteng in South Africa were chosen as a study area. The health sector in South Africa is evolving and faced with challenges that impede efficient health care service delivery. Also, there is a need for professionals to upskill to cope with the changing socio-political, economic and technological landscape as well as the expectations of patients, health professionals, politicians and the citizens of South Africa. Nursing managers are viewed as central in influencing all aspects of the nursing environment and overcoming the challenges or bringing about improvement in health care delivery. It is against the above-stated background that perceptions of nurse managers were sought for the study. Based on a review of themes and issues within the parent theories of management competencies and leadership, and the two disciplines of team nursing approach and competency-based model, a theoretical framework and five research issues were developed. In 2014, 203 nurse managers from public and private hospitals participated in the survey. Seven in-depth interviews were also conducted with stakeholders to validate the information gathered from the survey, to acquire better understanding of the factors and to source rich up-to-date data, which cannot be derived from any literature or survey. Key findings from the study included: (a) the development of a list of core requisite management skills and competencies, (b) a list of behaviours of effective nurse managers in hospitals, (c) that human resources practices be improved and effective performance management systems be explored, (d) that nurse managers have not been formally prepared for their leadership and management role, (e) current leadership and management programs and courses are to be continuously reviewed, improved and implemented in future, using varied modes of delivery, (f) future competency initiatives should include theory and practical components. Further to these findings, major conclusions of the study are as follows: (a) the need for greater clarity about requisite competencies and effective behaviours of nurse managers is extremely important, (b) mere existence of competencies is insufficient. The competencies must be continuously developed, (c) the competencies of those in leadership must be recognized and acknowledged by other team members and hospital hierarchies, (d) a Team Nursing Approach is highly relevant and significant in addressing the challenges in Gauteng public and private hospitals. The findings of the study make a new contribution to the body of knowledge on a Team Nursing Approach and competency development. Also, a Nurse Managers’ Competency Survey emerging from the study is a significant contribution to both the scholarly literature and nurse practitioners. The final conceptual model depicts the themes within all five research issues and links them to address the research problem. The conclusions have important implications for the nursing profession as well as policy and practical improvements. Further research opportunities are presented by these conclusions and the revised conceptual model, which may be explored using other methodologies or alternative research contexts. Finally the researcher made recommendations based on the above findings.