New Management Systems and the Ambiguous Nature of Resources: A Qualitative Study about Healthcare Middle Managers

Véronique Haberey-Knuessi (1, 2, 3, 4) , Jean-Luc Heeb (5)

1 CRF - Centre de recherche sur la formation
2 Haute École de Santé Arc
3 HES-SO - Haute Ecole Spécialisée de Suisse Occidentale
4 FoAP - Formation et apprentissages professionnels
5 HETS-FR - Haute école de travail social Fribourg

The focus of this article is an empirical investigation using the Demerouti model to examine the stress factors affecting nursing managers, doctors and nurses in their work, and the resources available to them. A survey conducted by healthcare managers showed that despite being very highly motivated in their work, their engagement with it is sometimes incomplete. The study revealed that the professional reality of these managers has changed significantly in recent years, owing to the introduction of new public policies and the resulting major changes that have occurred in how healthcare institutions function. Thus, while the Demerouti model insists on the importance of achieving a balance between the demands of the job and the resources available, the actual daily lives of middle managers show that demands are very high while resources are sometimes insufficient or insufficiently valued. Here we consider the ambiguous nature of some of these resources which, although described as such, tend under the influence of various factors to become constraints exercising a detrimental effect on professional commitment.

Domains: Humanities and Social Sciences

Véronique Haberey-Knuessi, Jean-Luc Heeb. New Management Systems and the Ambiguous Nature of Resources: A Qualitative Study about Healthcare Middle Managers. International Archives of Nursing and Health Care, 2017, 3 (2), ⟨10.23937/2469-5823/1510071⟩. ⟨hal-04051743⟩