Nurses' Metaphorical Perceptions About Their Managers: A mixed-method research

Abstract

Background: Research in literature have examined the leadership styles of nurse managers. However, no qualitative study based on metaphors could be found to determine the perceptions of nurses regarding their managers in depth and without limitations where they could freely express their opinions. The purpose of this study is to determine the perceptions of nurses regarding their nurse managers with the help of metaphors.

Methods: This study used a mixed methods approach to including both quantitative and qualitative research methods. This study was conducted in a total of 118 nurses between August and November 2022. The data were collected  as  online by the researchers through personal information form and an questionnaire including a semi-structured open-ended form.  In the first part of the questionnaire, questions about socio-demographic characteristics were included, and in the second part, the sentence "My nurse manager is like…, because…" was included to determine the metaphors developed by the nurses about their nurse managers. The nurses’ answers to this question were analyzed with content analysis.

Results: The metaphors formed by the participants regarding their nurse managers were gathered under 1 positive theme and 1 negative theme covering 20 categories (13 positive categories and 7 negative categories). In the study, 94 different metaphors were identified, and 53 of these were positive metaphors, while 41 were negative metaphors. In the positive sense, the participants perceived their managers as trustworthy, supportive family members, individuals who restore/coordinate, individuals who protect/defend, hardworking, source of happiness, just/fair, source of power, source of support, problem-solver, nutrition, source of knowledge, and guiding. In the negative sense, the participants perceived their managers as harming/harmful, passive, unstable/inconsistent, coercive/oppressive, opportunistic, useless, and biased.

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that most nurses perceived their managers positively.