Millennial Nurse Manager Perspectives on Their Leadership Roles in the Hospital Setting: A Phenomenological Inquiry

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2016) contends meeting the
challenge to transform care will require the successful leadership development,
preparation, and role support of the next generation of nurse leaders. Despite the urgency
to transform care, meeting the challenge to lead this charge cannot be accomplished
without the successful recruitment and retention of Millennial nurses to leadership
positions. Identifying the leadership role expectations and support variables that are
important to these young managers and creating the milieus that support these views
serve to address many pressing succession planning needs.
This study explored the experience of being a Millennial nurse manager, seeking
to understand how these young nurse managers make meaning of their lived experience.
This was a qualitative interpretative phenomenological research study. Three theoretical
perspectives contributed ideologies that framed this inquiry: Ray’s (1989) theory of
bureaucratic caring, generational cohort theory (Strauss & Howe, 1991), and authentic leadership theory (Avolio & Gardner, 2005). A purposeful targeted national sample of 25
Millennial nurse managers with a minimum of one year of nurse manager experience in
the role participated in audio-recorded telephone interviews. Content analysis identified
seven themes: Coming into the Role, Learning as I Go, Having the Support of My
Director, Making an Impact, Helping Staff Succeed, Managing Change, and Trying to
Stay Balanced.
Findings from this study suggest Millennial nurse managers gauge role success
and satisfaction in relation to their perceived levels of support and development and their
ability to master role expectations. Additional findings suggest adequate succession
planning for the nurse manager role remains challenged by the lack of formal mandated
requisites for the role.
The nurse manager role as it stands varies significantly among organizational
settings regarding responsibilities, mechanisms of support, number of direct reports, and
span of control. Recommendations included the need to address the nurse manager role,
academic requisites, and developmental variances in practice. Additionally, re-evaluating
the organizational responsibility to the leadership development of these young nurse
leaders is recommended to ensure their retention and success in the role.