Performance Nurses' Perspectives Management Programme

Rosalie Sammut from Health Services Management presented a study at the IHC symposium on nurses' perception of the introduction of a Performance Nurses' Perspectives Management Programme.

The study sought to determine nurses' views on the introduction of the programme in their workplace and to identify hindering and facilitating factors related to its introduction and the performance assessment.

The nurses' current situation as regards support and training to improve individual performance was also assessed.

A structured questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of nurses working in general and specialised wards within the hospital. A response rate of 93.4%, that is 152 nurses, was obtained. Quantitative analysis data revealed that the vast majority of the nurses agreed that they would like to discuss work related problems, to receive support and guidance, to receive feedback on how they are doing and to know what is expected of them.

There appears to be agreement among nurses that the nursing officer should be primarily involved in their performance assessment and that such a programme should be linked to training and development needs rather than to pay, although this strongly depends on the nurses' level of education. Nurses also agree that although time-consuming, such a programme is useful. Recommendations include the implementation of an appropriate strategy towards a people-oriented culture, decentralisation of the management of individual performance and involvement of all stakeholders towards the introduction of the Performance Management Programme. Further research should concentrate on piloting the programme in one ward, so as to introduce an incremental rather than a rapid approach.