Date of Award

Summer 6-17-2025

Embargo Period

6-20-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Nursing

College

College of Nursing

First Advisor

Susan Newman

Second Advisor

Daina Layne

Third Advisor

Heather Craven

Abstract

Nurse managers play a vital role in the functioning and stability of healthcare systems, yet their well-being remains an underexplored area of research. The COVID-19 pandemic brought renewed attention to occupational burnout, including in nursing leadership, where nurse managers reported high levels of stress, emotional exhaustion, and organizational strain. While the literature on burnout has grown rapidly in recent years, there is limited research that addresses what comes next, what sustains nurse managers in their roles and how organizations might foster their long-term well-being and engagement. This dissertation compendium explores professional fulfillment (PF) as a proactive and constructive lens for understanding and supporting nurse manager well-being.

The first manuscript is an integrative review that examines the existing literature on burnout in nurse managers and identifies individual and organizational factors that either contribute to or protect against it. This review highlights the current gaps in knowledge and underscores the need to move beyond problem-focused frameworks. The second manuscript introduces PF as a novel and underexplored construct in the nurse manager population. Using qualitative responses from a national cross-sectional study, this manuscript focuses on how nurse managers define professional fulfillment in their own words. By establishing a foundational understanding of what fulfillment means to nurse managers, this work lays the groundwork for future research and intervention design aimed at improving well-being and sustainability in nursing leadership.

The third manuscript presents quantitative findings from a cross-sectional study exploring levels of professional fulfillment and burnout in nurse managers and examines whether demographic characteristics, individual traits (e.g., resilience, self-efficacy), and organizational factors (e.g., perceived support) are associated with these outcomes. Together, these three manuscripts move the conversation from documenting burnout toward identifying what it might take to support fulfillment and long-term engagement in the nurse manager role.

Rights

Copyright is held by the author. All rights reserved.

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