Perceived Role Differences and Discrepancies Among Nursing Supervisors

Abstract

PSYCHOLOGISTS and sociologists have long been devoting considerable attention to the subject of role perception. A recent review of a number of landmark investigations may be found in the Handbook of Social Psychology (1). Researchers such as Taves, Corwin, Haas and others at Ohio State University have conducted studies of the role perceived and performed by the professional nurse (2). Ruth Anderson has provided insight into the present role of the head nurse as a leader of others and has shown that role preferences of head nurses are related to leader performance (3). Little empirical evidence exists regarding the role of the nursing supervisor Crotin, in a study of the functions of nursing supervisors in six general short-term care hospitals found little agreement on functions which should be performed by nursing supervisors (4). Hagen and Wolff, in an investigation of nursing leadership behavior using a critical incident reporting approach, developed a list of behavioral statements related to the leadership effectiveness of the nursing supervisor. These statements were classified into twelve behavior (or role) categories (5). In that study, no leadership role for the supervisor emerged as being distinct from that of the director of nursing service or the head nurse. On the other hand, Nealey and Blood found that nursing leadership effectiveness, both in terms of performance and subordinate satisfaction, may require that the nursing supervisor fulfill a leadership role considerably different than that of the head nurse (6). For example, task-oriented head nurses received higher performance ratings while relationships oriented nursing supervisors rated higher. That is, head nurses who were perceived by their subordinates as more concerned with elements of the job or task per se received higher performance ratings, while