# An Exploration of Nurse Managers’ Understanding and Experiences of Using Evidence‐Informed Management in a Healthcare Facility in the United Arab Emirates: A Qualitative Study

## TL;DR

This study explores how nurse managers in the UAE understand and use evidence-based management practices and identifies barriers and enablers to their adoption.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into UAE nurse managers' experiences and challenges in implementing evidence-informed management practices.

## Key findings

- Nurse managers identified the need for resources and requirements to support evidence-informed management.
- Establishing a clear process or pathway is essential for adopting evidence-based practices.
- Evidence-informed management significantly improves organizational performance.

## Abstract

Despite the demonstrated benefits of evidence‐informed management, such as enhanced patient outcomes, improved working environments and reduced staff turnover, it is reported that nurse managers often fail to incorporate evidence into their management practices. This study explored and described the understanding and experiences of nurse managers regarding the utilisation of evidence‐informed management. Through an examination of their perspectives, the study aimed to identify the barriers and enablers in adopting evidence‐based practices in nursing management.

A qualitative explorative–descriptive–contextual study was conducted using five focus group discussions with twenty (n = 20) purposively selected nurse managers. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.

Three main themes emerged from the study, namely: (1) Nurse managers communicated the resources and requirements to support using evidence‐informed management practices; (2) nurse managers verbalised the need to establish a process or pathway to use evidence‐informed management; and (3) evidence‐informed management was found to improve organisational performance significantly.

To facilitate the uptake of evidence by nurse managers to support their management practices, it is imperative to establish structures, processes and pathways that enable the utilisation of evidence. Additionally, this utilisation of evidence has been shown to improve the quality of patient outcomes and enhance the overall performance of the organisation. Implications for nursing management practice and education include continuous education and training to increase nurse managers’ knowledge and skills in utilising evidence. Moreover, nurse managers should adopt evidence utilisation as a daily management practice. Incorporating evidence‐based informed management into postgraduate education curriculum serves to better prepare prospective nurse managers.