Self-assessment of managerial competencies of nurse managers in South Africa - identifying the skills gaps

Abstract

Broad access to healthcare services is a key factor of human development in any country. The current health care situation in South Africa can be diagnosed as critical. The hospitals are understaffed, over-occupied and the diseases like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) give health care workers additional challenges. The demand for management skills in the health sector including those for nurse managers is high. A recent World Health Organization (WHO) study of nurses working in maternal health services identified good management as more important than salary, unless the remuneration was dramatically higher. In South Africa, little empirical research exists about the management skills of nurse managers, even though proper management of human resources is vital to achieve better outcomes and access to health care around the world. In South Africa, a greater focus on human resource management in health care and more research is needed to develop new policies that will help to address the skills gap of nurse managers. The object of this research project was to identify the gaps between required and existing management skills of senior nurse managers in South Africa in private and public hospitals. Once identified, this skills gap assessment can be used by employers and policy-makers to define the management education that nurse managers require. The research is based on a survey of nurse managers in private and public hospitals using a questionnaire. The survey instrument was based on prior research of hospital managers' competencies in South Africa, and a review of the related theoretical literature.