Managerial caring, multicultural competence, and organizational commitment in a department of nursing

Abstract

<p>The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate the relationships among caring behaviors, multicultural competence of nursing managers, and the organizational commitment of those managers and their staff members. Additionally, a qualitative component was added in order to maximize the contributions of the staff member participants to the study. The sample consisted of 13 nurse managers and 160 staff members employed in an acute care institution in an urban area. A commercially produced scan form, which consisted of instructions and unit staffing, in addition to the Caring Assessment Tool--Administrative Version, the Cross-Cultural Competence Inventory--Revised tool, the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, a demographic section, and an open-ended question for the staff, was distributed. The completed forms were then optically scanned and collated by the Professional Testing Corporation. The results were then analyzed by the researcher. A significant statistical finding of the study was: There is a significant correlation between staff-reported managerial caring and staff-reported multicultural competence. In response to the open-ended question directed to the staff asking for recommendations to head nurses/nurse administrators, 92 out of the 160 staff responded. Eight categories and 37 themes emerged. The responses were categorized in descending order of frequency into: leadership, professionalism, communication, caring, fairness, respect, listening, and team work. The findings from the study suggest implications for nursing administrative practice, nursing practice, nursing education, and management. Within these areas and especially through the addition of the concept of culture to some of the instruments used, there is much left to be learned. This study should be used prudently because of the size of the sample. Recommendations are made to conduct multiple-center studies, to test validity and reliability of the CCCI-Revised for management use, and to refine the open-ended question.</p>