Charlotte Croft

The Impact of Emotionally Important Social Identities on the Construction of a Managerial Leader Identity: A Challenge for Nurses in the English National Health Service

The ability of individuals to accommodate the emotional transition into roles requiring the construction of a leader identity is an under-researched phenomenon. To address this research gap we consider the experience of 32 nurse managers undergoing a leadership development programme, exploring how an emotional attachment to their professional group identity may cause identity conflict during the construction of a managerial leader identity. We consider how competing desired identities can result in negative emotional experiences, calling into question existing work, which assumes that desired group identities are congruent with leader identities. Our work suggests that identity work can mitigate identity conflict at the individual level, enabling nurse managers to function in their role, but emotional distress will continue due to a perceived loss of professional identity and group influence. We contend it is only by eschewing an emotional attachment to a professional group identity that nurse managers will be able to overcome this negative emotional experience.

Examining hybrid nurse managers as a case of identity transition in healthcare: developing a balanced research agenda

This research note synthesizes sociology of work and organization studies literatures, to outline a research agenda examining the identity transition of nurses. Academic studies suggest that nurses face a greater challenge to enact, and are more likely to be marginalized within, hybrid manager roles. Further research is encouraged that has a comparative professional dimension, focused upon social position and power and which takes account of the gendered nature of policy reform and professions.

A New Approach to Hybrid Leadership Development

The strategic importance of involving professionals in the leadership of healthcare systems is noted globally (Degeling et al., 2006; Clark, 2012). In particular, leadership development amongst mid-level managers from clinical backgrounds (hybrids) is seen as a pivotal influence on enhanced patient care, organizational effectiveness and innovation (Ferlie et al., 2005; Martinussen and Magnussen, 2011; McGivern et al., 2015). The influence of hybrids stems from their potential ability to move between managerial and professional realms, viewing organizational issues through ‘two-way windows’ (Llewellyn, 2001) and encouraging professional groups to work collaboratively with managerial colleagues (Ackroyd et al., 2007; Fitzgerald et al., 2013). However, healthcare organizations are characterized by managerially driven priorities and professional hierarchies (Exworthy et al., 1999), which shape the organizational context and may influence hybrid leadership development (Fitzgerald et al., 2013; Croft et al., 2014; McGivern et al., 2015). If hybrid leadership development is undermined by organizational context, the strategic potential of hybrids is lost, as their influence as boundary spanners between professional and managerial jurisdictions will be limited (Croft et al., 2015).

The competing influences of national identity on the negotiation of ideal worker expectations: Insights from the Sri Lankan knowledge work industry:

How does national identity influence the way individuals respond to the demands of their work? Despite an increasing awareness of the complex interplay between intersecting social identities and work demands, our understanding of how they are influenced by national identity is underdeveloped. This article presents the accounts of employees from two Sri Lankan knowledge work industries, who were attempting to align work demands associated with ideal worker expectations, with the social demands associated with their national identity. Conceptualizing the empirical setting of Sri Lanka as a collectivist national context, we offer two theoretical contributions. First, by showing how a shared national identity significantly influences divergence from, and conformity to, ideal worker expectations in Sri Lankan organizations, we generalize understandings of individuals’ negotiation of ideal worker expectations. In doing so, we build on and extend the prevailing ‘individualistic’ assumptions in collectivistic settings. Second, we show how ideal worker expectations enabled individuals to fulfill and refine demands associated with their non-western national identity, contesting assumptions that non-western national identities are challenging or constraining in global organizations. These findings lead us to propose a reciprocal influence between ideal worker expectations in global organizations, and expectations associated with national identities.

Realist Evaluation of the Use of Patient Experience Data to Improve the Quality of Inpatient Mental Health Care (EURIPIDES) in England: study protocol

Introduction Inpatient mental healthcare continues to be an area of high risk and where patients report negative experiences. To ensure the patient voice is heard, National Health Service (NHS) Trusts are required to collect feedback from patients routinely. We do not know what kinds of feedback are most important or what management processes are needed to translate this into effective action plans. Further, we do not know if this makes any difference to the patients themselves. This study seeks to explore which of the many different approaches to collecting and using patient experience data are the most useful for supporting improvements in inpatient mental healthcare. The overarching aim of the study is to arrive at recommendations for best practice in the collection and use of patient experience data in NHS England adult inpatient mental health settings. We present the protocol for Realist Evaluation of the Use of Patient Experience Data to Improve the Quality of Inpatient Mental Health Care study (EURIPIDES). Methods and analysis The study is composed of five work packages (WPs), including a systematic review of patient experiences (WP1); a telephone survey to assist the selection of case sites (WP2); six indepth case studies involving interviews with service users, carers and staff to enable a realist evaluation of the use of patient experience to improve quality in adult inpatient mental health services (WP3); an economic evaluation of patient experience feedback activity (WP5); and a consensus conference (WP4). We discuss the methodological rationale for the five WPs. Ethics and dissemination This study has received approval from West Midlands/South Birmingham NHS Research Ethics Committee. The outcome of the consensus conference meeting (WP4) will form the basis of the outputs to be disseminated to NHS providers. Dissemination will also take place through publications and presentations at relevant conferences.