Power In Nursing

This paper is a critique of the research article titled, Hospital Nurses’ Lived Experience of Power. Currently there are 4.1 million licensed registered nurses in the United States, representing a potentially powerful workforce (as cited in Budden, Zhong, Moulton, & Cimiotti, 2013). The number of RN’s in the hospital setting indicates a need for understanding meaning and experience of power from the perspective of clinical nurses. Despite the awareness of the nursing workforce, power held by the nurse is an infrequent study. The purpose of the study was to explore hospital nurses’ lived experience of power, which focused on, “what is the lived experience of power to hospital clinical nurses; and what is the meaning of power to hospital clinical

Dozens of clinically practicing nurses were approached; only 14 eligible nurses consented to participate. Only two major medical centers in the northeastern United States and UCI nurses and medical floor nurses participated in the study. The sample size was not efficient enough to capture all the facets of the phenomenon; Fackler, Chambers & Bourbonniere (2015) stated one limitation to the study was associated with difficulty recruiting participants. The second limitation being related to the setting; the study may not be important to nurses who do not work in major medical

Since this study was limited to only two clinical hospital settings, it is hard to say if the study can be transferred to various clinical settings. In an early study, Skei (2008) nurses working with an orthopedic surgeon reported difficulties collaborating with the physicians, which makes them feel powerless, by contrast nursing in hospital settings reported working with physicians well. The researcher mentions a need for a continuing study in the area of sociopolitical understanding. Once the level of competency has been assessed, the weight of a given nurses voice can be adequately applied. The study contributes meaningful evidence to nurses’ practice by promoting nurses to feel powerful. Nurse exemplify power by improve patient care and to create change to benefit their patient’s