Measuring the Impact of High-Performing Nurse Managers on Nurse Outcomes Across Clinical Settings

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article was to compare nurse outcomes between high-performing and low-performing nurse managers (NMs) across clinical settings and discuss financial savings associated with high-performing NMs. BACKGROUND When NMs are provided with an environment that allows them to perform at a high level, their impact can be measured in terms of their nursing unit outcomes. Understanding the differences achieved between high-performing and low-performing NMs may provide insights on the return on investment in redesigning the NM role. METHODS Data from the 2022 National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators annual RN survey were used to examine the relationships among variables across care settings. RESULTS High-performing NMs across clinical settings achieved significantly higher RN intent to stay, higher quality of care, and lower missed nursing care, compared with low-performing NMs. CONCLUSIONS High-performing NMs achieved superior nurse outcomes with implications for the quality of nursing care and patient outcomes. Although coaching underperforming NMs is intuitive, mentoring high-performing NMs may yield greater benefit.