Experiences of professional nurses with regard to performance assessment at the Polokwane Mankweng Hospital Complex in the Polokwane Municipality, Capricorn District of the Limpopo Province

Abstract

The implementation of a Performance Management System (PMS) and its impact on the professional nurses have never been evaluated and, therefore, the experiences of professional nurses are not known. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of professional nurses with regard to performance assessment at the Polokwane Mankweng Hospital Complex. Upon obtaining the clearance to conduct the study from the Medunsa Reseach and Ethics Committee, permission to conduct the study was granted by the Department of Health. A qualitative research approach was used by applying the principles of a phenomenological, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design. Data were collected from fourteen (14) professional nurses by using unstructured face-to-face interviews. Data were audio recorded and field notes were also written. Trustworthiness was ensured by applying the Lincoln and Guba’s criteria. Transferability was ensured by utilizing purposive sampling to include participats. Confirmability was ensured by by collecting data from thr participants who have experience on the problem studied. Data were analysed qualitatively by using Tech’s open coding method. The results indicated that there was conflict between the nurse managers and professional nurses that was arising from dissatisfaction with the assessment rating and scores allocated. Professional nurses complained about unfair ratings, stating that scores were based on personality and not performance. Those professional nurses who were obtaining high scores were perceived as the nurse managers’ favourites. Professional nurses called for a change in or review of the method of performance assessment. The results indicated that nurse managers were lacking knowledge about performance assessment and, therefore, feedback about performance were not given. It is recommended that on-going training of the nurse managers and a change in the method of assessment will remedy the situation.