Health Care Financial Literacy Among Nurses: A Qualitative Intrinsic Case Study

Nurses have to perform many clinical services that require efficient decision-making processes in support of quality patient care. Alongside staff nurse clinical literacy, health care financial literacy was described as an important, but vaguely defined component of the nursing role. The significance of having financially competent nurses to efficient hospital operations and financial management continues to increase. However, the topic of health care financial literacy and financial decision-making among nurses remains disproportionately represented in existing scholarly research. To address this knowledge gap, this study integrated a single-site instrumental case study research design to examine health care financial literacy among nurses to assess the impact on efficient health care financial decision-making. The research illustrated that financial concepts are formulated by staff nurses through patient care practices and revealed that lower levels of health care financial literacy are generally accepted within nursing. The study described the role that robust nursing support structures play in the distribution of health care financial knowledge and explained the implications literacy levels have on the support of leadership decisions. Lastly, the case study discovered that the health care financial decisions of staff nurses are imbedded in clinical interventions. The research findings were applied to professional practice and assessed to understand the implications to the business of health care, the health care financial decision-support discipline, and the biblical worldview. Lastly, the study provided ways the research study could be expanded to additional health care institutions, new geographical locations, different clinical professionals, and a variety of other health care topics

Standardization and strengthening the functionality of hospital management boards in central hospitals of Zimbabwe.

Doctoral Degrees. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Health governance system in Zimbabwe is undergoing nationwide structural reforms. This is done through the appointment of health centre committees for rural health facilities, advisory boards for district and provincial hospitals as well as hospital management boards for central hospitals. The study was aimed at exploring standardization and strengthening performance of hospital management boards in central hospitals of Zimbabwe. The central hospitals included in the study are Harare Central Hospital, Chitungwiza Central Hospital and Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in the northern region of the country. In the southern region, they were United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH), Mpilo and Ingutsheni Central Hospitals. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data respectively in the six central hospitals in Zimbabwe. The target population of the study was 66 board members and a census sampling was used whereby all were included in the study. However, 35 out of 54 (64.81%) responded to the questionnaire while 10 out of 12 (83.33%) targeted study participants were interviewed. Quantitative data was analysed using the SPSS Version 25 whereas qualitative data was transcribed, loaded and analysed through the use of NVivo Version 12 software application. The study results revealed that 67% of hospitals had functional hospital management boards with a quorum and active term of office. There was no clear policy or guidelines to evaluate the performance of hospital management boards. Gaps revealed call for policy strengthening of the appointment and performance of HMBs in Zimbabwe