Staff working in hospital units with greater social capital experience less work-home conflict: Secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study

Predicting work performance and life satisfaction of nurses and physicians: The mediating role of social capital on self-efficacy and psychological resilience

PURPOSE

To examine the mediating role of social capital in the effects of self-efficacy and psychological resilience on nurses' and physicians' work performance and life satisfaction.

DESIGN AND METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, data were collected using an online questionnaire.

FINDINGS

Social capital had 0.04 indirect effects of general self-efficacy and psychological resilience on work performance, and accounted for 48% and 35% of the total effect, respectively. Social capital had 0.11 and 0.07 indirect effects of general self-efficacy and psychological resilience on life satisfaction, and accounted for 16% and 19% of the total effect, respectively.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

The study suggests the existence of social capital when nurses' and physicians' self-efficacy and psychological resilience affect their work performance and life satisfaction.

Work-Family Conflict of Emergency Nurses and Its Related Factors: A National Cross-Sectional Survey in China

The prevalence of work-family conflict (WFC) among nurses was high, especially in the emergency department. WFC has a series of negative influences on emergency nurses, but factors associated with WFC require elucidation. Thus, we conducted a national cross-sectional survey among emergency nurses in China. In this study, we described the current situation of WFC and explored its related factors among emergency nurses in China. We found that the WFC of emergency nurses was severe, and emergency nurses aged 25 to 34, male, married, highly educated, with high professional title and long years of service, perceiving the shortage of nurses, experiencing a high frequency of night shift, tended to have higher WFC. Targeted interventions, such as reasonable work allocation, adequate staffing, and a scientific night shift system should be implemented to alleviate the WFC of emergency nurses.

The impact of work-place social capital in hospitals on patient-reported quality of care: a cohort study of 5205 employees and 23,872 patients in Denmark

BACKGROUND

Decision-makers increasingly consider patient-reported outcomes as important measures of care quality. Studies on the importance of work-place social capital-a collective work-place resource-for the experience of care quality are lacking. We determined the association between the level of work-place social capital and patient-reported quality of care in 148 hospital sections in the Capital Region of Denmark.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study combined section-level social capital from 5205 health care professionals and 23,872 patient responses about care quality. Work-place social capital encompassed three dimensions: trust, justice and collaboration. Patient-reported quality of care was measured as: overall satisfaction, patient involvement, and medical errors. Linear regression analysis and generalized linear models assessed the mean differences in patient reported experience outcomes and the risk of belonging to the lowest tertile of care quality.

RESULTS

A higher level of work-place social capital (corresponding to the interquartile range) was associated with higher patient-reported satisfaction and inpatient and acute care patient involvement. The risk of a section belonging to the lowest tertile of patient involvement was lower in sections with higher social capital providing inpatient (RR = 0.39, 0.19-0.81 per IQR increase) and acute care (RR = 0.53, 0.31-0.89). Patient-reported errors were fewer in acute care sections with higher social capital (RR = 0.65, 0.43 to 0.99). The risk of being in the lowest tertile of patient-reported satisfaction was supported for acute care sections (RR = 0.47, 0.28-0.79).

CONCLUSIONS

Although we found small absolute differences in the association between patient-reported experience measures and social capital, even a small upward shift in the distribution of social capital in the hospital sector would, at the population level, have a large positive impact on patients' care experience.

What matters most and for whom? A cross-sectional study exploring goals of health professionals in German neonatal intensive care units

OBJECTIVES

Quality of care largely depends on successful teamwork, which in turn needs effective communication between health professionals. To communicate successfully in a team, health professionals need to strive for the same goals. However, it has been left largely unaddressed which goals professionals consider to be important. In this study, we aim to identify these goals and analyse whether differences between (1) personal and organisational goals, (2) different professions and (3) hierarchical levels exist in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).

DESIGN

Goals were identified based on a literature review and a workshop with health professionals and tested in a pilot study. Subsequently, in the main study, a cross-sectional employee survey was undertaken.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

1489 nurses and 537 physicians from 66 German NICUs completed the questionnaire regarding personal and organisational goal importance between May and July 2013. Answers were given based on a 7-point Likert scale varying between none and exceptionally high importance.

RESULTS

Results show that the goals can be subdivided into three main goal dimensions: patients, parents and staff. Furthermore, our results reveal significant differences between different professions and different hierarchical level: physicians rated patient goals with a mean (95% CI) importance of 6.37 (3.32 to 6.43), which is significantly higher than nurses with a mean (95% CI) importance of 6.15 (6.12 to 6.19) (p<0.01). Otherwise, nurses classified parental goals as more important (p<0.01). Furthermore, professionals in leading positions rate patient goals significantly higher than professionals that are not in leading positions (6.36 (3.28 to 6.44) vs 6.19 (6.15 to 6.22), p<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Different employee goals need to be considered in decision-making processes to enhance employee motivation and the effectiveness of teamwork.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

DRKS00004589.