STUDY OF DECISION-MAKING ACTIVITIES OF NURSE EXECUTIVES IN ACUTE CARE PENNSYLVANIA HOSPITALS.
Contributors: Pennsylvania State University.
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 268
Subjects: Health Sciences, Health Care Management.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study utilizes data from a state-wide survey of 113 acute care hospitals in Pennsylvania to describe decision-making activities of the chief nurse executive in these organizations. Survey results indicate that the nurse executive is highly involved in organization-level decisions and exercises a great deal of autonomy in decisions relating to the department(s)/service(s) for which s/he is responsible. The level of decision making exercised by the nurse executive is related to education level, extent to which nursing personnel in the organization are accountable to the nurse executive, turnover rate, budget, and organization type and control. Hospital size and the nurse executive's rank and title were not related to decision making in this study. Among a variety of organization-wide concerns, the chief nurse executive appears to be most involved in organizational quality assurance activities and least involved in ethical issues. Strategic planning emerged as the area in which the largest number of nurse executives felt their responsibilities had increased over the three years preceding the study. The majority of nurse executives in the study regularly attend meetings of the organization's board of directors, and their attendance correlated with participation in organization-level decision-making activities. The study also profiles characteristics of the respondents in the sample as well as describing their professional activities and relationships.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-04, Section: B, page: 1939.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, 1991.

School code: 0176.