Study and implementation of a performance set of indicators for the nurse manager in a frailty hospital.

Introduction: Hospitals are known to be the most complex entities to manage. In fact the main problem in the healthcare are the expensive needs with finite resources.  During the last years the complexity of nurses managers’ role is gradually changed from assistance to management. However nowadays the method to quantify the nurse managers' skills and its performance are not available. The aim of this study is to implement a method to assess and measure the skills of the nurse managers. An innovative indicator to globally evaluate the features, the professional skills and their performance is described.Methods: The authors started with an interview to the directors of all the nurses as maximal expert of the nurse managers’ technical skills. The purpose of this step was to understand which are the features of a valuable nurse manager. The methods individuated three different aspects (qualitative, quantitative and relational) that were transformed in a single indicator. These  parameters identify also the aspect of strength and weakness of each professional.  An important implication of this score is the possible improvement the loss-making skills.Results: A total of 18 structures, with related nurse managers, were evaluated in this study. All the results confirmed the judgment of the Healthcare Professions Structure head.Conclusion: This assessment method, validated with these tests, is able to evaluate the nurse manager’s ability to manage personnel, resources and patients and to quantify his/her organisational and welfare performances. It is useful for planning actions that allow nurse manager to improve his/her skills.