Exploring the Charge Nurse Role: Holding the Frontline

This study describes the experience of being a charge nurse in acute-care practice. The charge nurse role has become instrumental in achieving safe and effective outcomes. The role remains poorly defined with little focus on charge nurse development. This qualitative study used a descriptive explora...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of nursing administration 2012-11, Vol.42 (11), p.502-506
Main Author: Eggenberger, Terry
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acute Disease
Adult
Aged
Clinical Competence - standards
Decision Making
Female
Florida
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Leadership
Middle Aged
Nurse's Role
Nurses
Nursing
Nursing, Supervisory - standards
Patient Safety - standards
Qualitative Research
Quality Assurance, Health Care - standards
Roles
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:This study describes the experience of being a charge nurse in acute-care practice. The charge nurse role has become instrumental in achieving safe and effective outcomes. The role remains poorly defined with little focus on charge nurse development. This qualitative study used a descriptive exploratory method. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 charge nurses from 4 acute-care facilities. Eight themes emerged to describe the experience of being a charge nurse in acute-care practice. Findings can be used by nursing executives to emphasize the importance of this role to the organization and support leadership development at the charge nurse level.
ISSN:0002-0443
1539-0721
DOI:10.1097/NNA.0b013e3182714495