View/Open - ARAN - National University of Ireland, Galway

5.5.7 Management of the Research Unit
174
Chapter 5 Findings
The research unit was managed as part of an acute hospital. It was thus managed
by two clinical nurse managers: Grade 1 and Grade 2. They reported to an
Assistant Director of Nursing. A consultant geriatrician was assigned to the unit
and supported by a team of junior doctors who managed the medical day-to-day
needs of the residents (e.g. medication review, prescriptions, referrals, etc.).
The clinical nurse managers when on duty attended to office and management
issues. If the duty roster had 9 staff allocated, and if two of these were managers,
then there were 7 staff members attending to resident care. This meant that
workload varied from day to day.
Of the 123 days analysed the clinical nurse managers were on duty for 82 days
(67% of the time). Thus there were 41 days with no manager on duty (33%).
Fourteen of the 82 days had two mangers on duty and of the 68 remaining days
there was one manger on duty (Chart 5.8).
Chart 5.8: Proportion of days a clinical nurse manager was on duty
5.5.8 Staff Turnover
33%
Clinical Nurse Manager
Over the period of the research study the staff turnover was also analysed. One
nurse went on maternity leave, one nurse was transferred to another unit, one
67%
On Duty
Off Duty