Quality work in long-term care: the role of first-line leaders
Open Access
- 8 July 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in International Journal for Quality in Health Care
- Vol. 22 (5), 351-357
- https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzq035
Abstract
To explore the first-line leaders' role in quality work in long-term care in Norway, in order to determine how that work is related to such success characteristics as leadership, staff, patients, performance, information and information technology. Cross-sectional telephone survey. The text was analysed using content analysis. Thirty-two Norwegian municipalities stratified according to region and population size. Sixty-four first-line leaders in nursing homes and home-based care. The clinical microsystem approach is used as a framework by defining and designing measureable variables. Thirty-six leaders described how they initiated and motivated employees to be active in quality work; the remaining leaders indicated that they played a passive role. The first-line leaders played a key role in implementing national quality policies and regulations. The quantity of other success characteristics was low. The municipalities delegated the responsibility of implanting national policies to the first-line leaders. Missing were key quality success criteria such as macro- and meso-perspectives for the municipality as a whole and co-operation with other leaders in the organization and fostering of relevant learning. Quality work was fragmented rather than comprehensive and systematic.Keywords
This publication has 18 references indexed in Scilit:
- Quality improvement in a publicly provided long-term care system: the case of NorwayInternational Journal for Quality in Health Care, 2008
- Enhancing Nursing Leadership in Long-Term CareResearch in Gerontological Nursing, 2008
- System characteristics of healthcare organizations conducting successful improvementsJournal of Health Organization and Management, 2007
- Understanding the complexity of redesigning care around the clinical microsystemQuality in Health Care, 2006
- Leading improvementJournal of Health Organization and Management, 2005
- Are Nursing Homes Ready to Create Sustainable Improvement?Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 2005
- The Extent of Quality Improvement Activities in Nursing HomesAmerican Journal of Medical Quality, 2004
- Evaluation of quality improvement programmesQuality and Safety in Health Care, 2002
- International Comparisons of Long-Term Care: Norway and the Scandinavian SolutionCanadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement, 1996
- Continuous Improvement as an Ideal in Health CareNew England Journal of Medicine, 1989