Effects of Communication Skills of Executive Nurse Managers on Job Satisfaction of Nurses

Abstract

Aims and objectives. The study aimed to determine the effect of communication skills of nurse managers working in hospitals on job satisfaction of nurses. Design. This is a descriptive study. Methods. The study population comprised nurses who work at university, foundation or state hospitals that employ at least 200 nurses, and nurses who worked with the same nurse manager for at least one year (n = 1.219). The sample consisted of nurses who worked at these institutions between August 2010 and February 2011, and agreed to participate in the study (n = 751). Data were collected using the Personal Information Form prepared by the investigator, Communication Skills Perception Inventory (CSPI) and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). Data were analyzed using t-test, one-way ANOVA (Tukey’s HSD for further analysis), a multiple regression analysis and Pearson’s correlation analysis. Results. Majority of the nurses were single and aged 21 to 30 years. Most of the nurses had a bachelor’s degree and were working at a university hospital, and had 1-5 years of experience in nursing. A high mean total score of CSPI was obtained by executive nurse managers (177.28 ± 26.56). Level of communication skills of operational nurse managers was higher than that of other executive nurse managers. Mean total scores showed moderate to high levels of job satisfaction among the nurses (3.56 ± 0.59). The study showed that job satisfaction scores of executive nurse managers was higher than those of nurses working in wards. There were statistically significant associations between job satisfaction scale scores of nurses and mental and emotional communication subscale scores of executive nurse managers. A positive relationship was found between subscale scores on communication skills of executive nurse managers and job satisfaction subscale scores of nurses. Conclusions. Communication skills of executive nurse managers were found to be high in general, and their communication skills were shown to have favorable effects on job satisfaction among of nurses.