Measuring work engagement in a multigenerational nursing workforce

Work values and communication styles among Generation X, Y, and Z nurses: A cross-sectional study

AIM

To compare and contrast nurses' work values and communication styles across Generation X, Y, and Z.

BACKGROUND

Intergenerational differences in the work values of nurses are well known, but the commonalities remain largely uninvestigated. It is also unclear if there are intergenerational differences and commonalities in the rhetorical communication style of nurses.

METHODS

This study used a cross-sectional research design. Participants were 243 nurses of Generation X (n = 78), Y (n = 86), and Z (n = 79) working at a general hospital in Korea. Structured questionnaires were used to collect the data from September to October 2019. The differences in work values and communication types were measured and analyzed using the χ2 test.

FINDINGS

The work values of Generation X differed from those of Generation Y and Z, who preferred extrinsic work values. There was no significant intergenerational difference in communication types, although Generation X and Y were similar to each other in communication types and different from Generation Z.

CONCLUSION

Although the work values of the three generations are different, their communication styles are similar so that they may reduce the generational gap through communication. In particular, Generation Y nurses prefer extrinsic work values and share some work values with Generation Z; however, the dominant communication type of Generation Y is similar to Generation X, not Z. Therefore, Generation Y could play a key role in connecting Generation X with Z during communication.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY

Nursing organizations should delegate the authority to Generation Y so that Y may have a voice in the nursing group as the mediator between X and Z.

A Massive Open Online Course Delivered Just-in-Time: A Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

Just-in-time education enables knowledge improvement during health crises. This study was conducted to determine whether nurses' knowledge improved after participating in an innovative online education intervention designed to upskill subacute nurses to prepare for a health crisis.

METHOD

The intervention was developed by university nursing academics and supported and promoted through a partnership with a government health department and clinical nurses. Quantitative data obtained with a pretest/post-test knowledge survey were analyzed with independent samples and paired t tests.

RESULTS

Statistically significant improvements were seen in nurses' knowledge according to qualification level. The mean difference for knowledge improvement for registered nurses was 1.90, SD = 2.54, and the mean difference for knowledge improvement for enrolled nurses was 2.93, SD = 2.43 (mean difference = 1.03; 95% CI [0.04, 2.03].

CONCLUSION

The intervention was highly effective during the emergent and ongoing phases of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. This study showed that delivering just-in-time education can improve nurses' knowledge. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2023;54(10):472-479.].

Using Innovation in Credentialing to Foster Meaningful Transitions to Practice and Support Continuing Professional Development

Certification within specialized areas in nursing has long been an avenue by which nurses demonstrate competence and dedication toward professional development. Because of innovation within the credentialing arena, certification also can serve as an avenue that supports nursing professional development practitioners who are assisting nurses transitioning into new roles or new practices. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2023;54(9):413-420.].

The perceived effects of generational diversity on supervision of new professional nurses in public hospitals

Background

The current global nursing workforce is a combination of personnel from three different generation cohorts, which are the Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y (Millennials). These generational cohorts work side by side to provide quality nursing care to the patients on a daily basis.

Aim

This article aims to report the effects of generational diversity on the supervision of new professional nurses in selected public hospitals in North West Province.

Setting

This study was conducted at seven public hospitals situated at three out of the four districts of North West Province, South Africa. These public hospitals classifications consist of six districts and one provincial hospitals.

Methods

The study followed an exploratory, descriptive and contextual qualitative research design underpinning the constructivist paradigm was followed to pave a way for this study. Operational managers were purposively sampled and data were collected using the focus group discussion as well as individual interviews. Data analysis followed the guideline of the thematic analysis.

Results

This article reports on three themes that emerged from data analysis, namely (1) generational differences, (2) insubordination and (3) impact on supervision.

Conclusion

Understanding the generational diversity and its impact on the supervision of new professional nurses might assist in improving the leadership styles for operational managers and will promote collegiality among colleagues and positively influence the provision of quality care for patients.

Contribution

These results provide a framework for future research and provide the basis for understanding the impacts generational diversity has on supervision of new professional nurses.

The State of the Science of Nurses' Implicit Bias: A Call to Go Beyond the Face of the Other and Revisit the Ethics of Belonging and Power

This article summarizes the current state of nurses' implicit bias and discusses the phenomenon from Levinas' face of the Other and ethics of belonging, Watson's human caring and unitary caring science, and Chinn's peace and power theory. Nurses' implicit bias is a global issue; the primary sources of nurses' implicit bias include race/ethnicity, sexuality, health conditions, age, mental health status, and substance use disorders. The current research stays at the descriptive level and addresses implicit bias at the individual level. This article invites nurses to go beyond "the face of the Other" and revisit the ethics of belonging and power.

Sustainable human resource management the mediating role between work engagement and teamwork performance

The present work aims to analyze the properties of the working conditions recorded in the Sixth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS); with it, it has being built seven independent indexes about different aspects of work’ quality in the health sector, and these constructs are used to evaluate their effects on work engagement (WE). In this sense, the originality of incorporating teamwork as a modulating variable is included. To analyze the effects of the job quality index (JQI) on the WE, a logistic regression model is proposed for a total of 3044 workers within the health sector, differentiating between those who work or not in a team; in a first stage and these estimates are compared with those obtained using an artificial neural network model, and both are used for the consideration of the research hypotheses about several causal factor. An important contributions of the study, it is related to how work commitment is mainly influenced by prospects, social environment, intensity and earnings, all of them related to job performance. Therefore, knowledge of the determinants of work commitment and the ability to modulate its effects in teamwork environments is necessary for the development of truly sustainable Human Resources policies.

Illegitimate tasks and nurses' work engagement: The role of ego depletion

This study explored whether ego depletion mediated the relationship between illegitimate tasks and nurses' work engagement. We recruited 760 Chinese nurses at three tertiary hospitals and a general hospital to complete a survey on illegitimate tasks, ego depletion, and work engagement. The results show that illegitimate tasks were negatively related to work engagement and that ego depletion partially mediated this relationship. These results provide a theoretical reference to improve nurses' work engagement through avoiding illegitimate tasks.

Job engagement and satisfaction are associated with nurse caring behaviours: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

There is a scarcity of literature assessing the impact of job engagement and satisfaction in the nurse's caring behaviours. This study aims to identify how these factors affect the caring behaviours of nurses.

METHODS

This study used a cross-sectional design and employed self-report questionnaires. A total of 549 nurses from private and government hospitals participated in the survey conducted in the year 2019. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to analyse the data.

RESULTS

Results revealed that the nurses display high caring behaviours and job engagement and moderate sense of satisfaction. Remarkably, there are no profile variables significantly related to the nurse's caring behaviours. Findings suggest that job engagement and satisfaction are significantly associated with the nurses' caring behaviours.

CONCLUSION

Factors such as job engagement and satisfaction affect nurses' caring behaviours.

IMPLICATIONS TO NURSING MANAGEMENT

Health organisations must provide strategies to increase job engagement and satisfaction of nurses to yield high caring behaviours, which is vital to the achievement of patient safety.

Organisational and individual resources as antecedents of older nursing professionals' organisational commitment: Investigating the mediating effect of the use of selection, optimisation and compensation strategies

AIM AND OBJECTIVES

To investigate how organisational and individual resources are linked to older (50+) nursing professionals' organisational commitment, and to examine the possible mediating role of the active use of selection, optimisation and compensation (SOC) strategies.

BACKGROUND

Many healthcare organisations need to find ways to retain their older nursing professionals due to nursing shortage.

DESIGN

To test a set of hypotheses, cross-sectional survey data (n = 396) were used. Data were analysed using correlation analysis and partial least-squares structural equation modelling. STROBE Statement for cross-sectional studies has been followed in this study.

RESULTS

The results exhibited that both individual and organisational resources and the active use of SOC strategies were positively associated with older nursing professionals' organisational commitment. The active use of SOC strategies had a partially mediating role in the relationship between individual resource (career management self-efficacy) and organisational commitment. Similarly, career management self-efficacy partially mediated the association between organisational resources (perceived high-involvement work practices) and organisational commitment.

CONCLUSIONS

Regarding the retention of older nursing professionals, attention should be paid to both individual and organisational resources and the active use of SOC strategies.

RELEVANCE FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE

By providing opportunities to actively use SOC strategies and by paying attention to career management self-efficacy among older nursing professionals, nursing managers may influence the retention of the older nursing workforce. Similarly, supportive organisational practices can support older nursing professionals' career management self-efficacy and their organisational commitment.

Workaholism, engagement and family interaction: Comparative study in portuguese and spanish nurses

AIM

To identify and compare workaholism, engagement and family interaction levels among Portuguese and Spanish nurses.

BACKGROUND

The contribution of nursing management and leadership to workers' health and well-being is cardinal to ensure a healthy work environment. However, factors such as workaholism, engagement and family interaction can strongly influence nurses' performance, well-being and safety.

METHOD

A multicentre, comparative and cross-sectional study using 333 Portuguese (54.1%) and Spanish (45.9%) nurses working in hospitals.

RESULTS

Portuguese nurses showed higher levels for workaholism, negative work-family interaction and negative family-work interaction, while Spanish nurses presented higher levels of engagement, positive work-family interaction and positive family-work interaction. Gender, age, job experience time, academic training, working schedule and type of employment contract influenced workaholism, engagement and work-family interaction among nurses from both countries.

CONCLUSION

During their professional practice, nurses perceived their stress differently according to each country, with Portuguese nurses presenting worst psychological conditions than Spanish nurses, namely higher workaholism, negative work-family interactions and lower engagement.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Workaholism, engagement and work-family interaction are important areas in which nursing managers must invest to better respond to the new challenges of work contexts.