P-061 Knowledge and Practice of Financial Management Amongst Nurse Managers in Two Selected Districts in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa

Introduction Health care financing is one of the six building blocks introduced by the World Health Organisation to strengthen the health care system. Health care financing is critical to improve the health system in order to better people’s lives. However, financing is not merely the generation of funds but it includes holistic operation of the health care system in regard to allocation, utilization as well as management of finances. Which is why financial management knowledge is vital among nurse managers. Moreover, the level of financial management responsibility has increased for nurse managers. As a result, the health care system requires nurse managers who possess the skill in financial management. Methods Cross-sectional descriptive quantitative design with analytic components was conducted. Adopted non probability convenient sampling. Results Descriptive and analytical data was done. Results were presented in terms of the objectives of the study. It provided the descriptive measurement of financial knowledge and practice of nurse managers reported during this study. Analytical components included bivariate categorical analysis using the Pearson-Chi square statistic and multivariate logistic regression to measure the factors associated with knowledge and practice of financial management amongst nurse managers. Discussion The result of the study revealed that providing better financial management training for nurse managers will enable them to better perform in their management role. Conclusion Nurse managers play a vital role in financial management of the health care system. However, they have limited knowledge in financial management and this is exacerbated by the lack of attention given to financial management training in the nursing management curriculum.