Construction of nursing knowledge in commodified contexts: A discussion paper

Nurse middle managers' proactive work behavior: antecedents and consequences on innovative work behavior and job performance

PURPOSE

Healthcare organizations require more proactive behaviors from nursing professionals. However, nurse managers' proactivity has rarely been analyzed in the literature and little is known about the antecedents and consequences of their proactive behavior at work. This study examines the relationships between job characteristics (i.e. job autonomy and job variety), psychological empowerment, proactive work behavior and job effectiveness indicators (i.e. innovative work behavior, job performance). We tested a model in which psychological empowerment and proactive work behavior sequentially mediate the relationship between job characteristics and job effectiveness.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

A cross-sectional study was conducted among nurse middle managers from a French hospital (N = 321). A hypothetical model was developed based on existing theory. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

FINDINGS

Results show that psychological empowerment and proactive work behavior fully mediate the relationship between job characteristics and innovative work behavior, and partially mediate the relationship between job characteristics and job performance.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

This study provides insights for understanding how job characteristics can contribute to fostering the proactivity of nurse middle managers and how their proactive work behavior can be positively related to innovative work behavior and job performance. Findings raise several implications for hospital administrators and upper management seeking new ways to enhance nurse middle managers' proactive work behavior and push further their effectiveness at work.

Construction of nursing knowledge in commodified contexts: Views and experiences of nurses regarding primary care

The commodification of health care, particularly primary care, presents challenges to care and knowledge development. The purpose of this study is to examine how nurses perceive and develop their knowledge in a commodified context. A mixed-methods study was conducted that included a closed-question survey and in-depth interviews with nurses in public primary care in Catalonia. There were 104 valid responses to the questionnaire and 10 in-depth interviews. The main findings of the survey were related to workload and limited time for nursing care. Six themes emerged from the in-depth interviews: (1) limited time for nursing, (2) feelings of burnout, (3) awareness of patient and family satisfaction, (4) organizational factors that favor nurses' needs, (5) organizational factors that hinder nurses' needs, and finally (6) public administration requirements. Participants perceive excessive workload and time constraints and feel that this affects their nursing care and their physical and mental health. However, nurses purposefully use knowledge patterns to cope with the problems associated with commodification. Nurses have multidimensional, contextualized, and integrated knowledge that allows them to optimize their care based on the needs of their patients. This research examines many challenges related to nursing practice and the nursing discipline and opens the door for further research that encompasses all areas of nursing.

An auto-ethnographic reflection on the nature of nursing in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic

In this article I discuss the effects on the patient experience of isolation nursing during the CoronaVirus Disease (COVID)-19 pandemic. An unintended consequence of isolation nursing has been to distance patients from nurses and emphasise the technical side of nursing while at the same time reducing the relational or affective potential of nursing. Such distanced forms of nursing normalise the distal patient in hospital. I consider ways in which this new form of distanced nursing has unwittingly contributed to the continued commodification of nursing care in the British NHS. Autoethnography is used to describe and reflect on the illness experience, the experiences of caregivers and the sociocultural organisation of health care. The findings discuss three areas of the illness experience: intimate nursing care; communication; the 'distanced' patient experience.

cuidado de Enfermería en cáncer infantil

Introducción: en Enfermería el reconocimiento de los patrones emancipatorio y sociopolítico en la práctica no es evidente. Esta identificación permite la cualificación del cuidado en áreas de gran complejidad como la oncológica, que afecta a población infantil y a sus familias. Objetivo: conocer el significado de los patrones de conocimiento sociopolítico y emancipatorio en los profesionales de Enfermería durante el cuidado de los niños con cáncer y sus familias. Metodología: estudio cualitativo etnográfico en el que se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas a diez enfermeros con experiencias entre los seis meses y diecisiete años trabajando con población oncológica pediátrica. Y observaciones no participantes en dos instituciones de salud, una privada y otra pública. Los datos se estudiaron bajo el procedimiento de análisis propuesto por Michael Angrosino, que consta de las fases: gestión de datos, lectura general y clasificación de temas. Resultados: como producto del análisis de la información se establecieron tres grandes temas: contexto de cuidado; cuidado de enfermería; y expresiones de los patrones sociopolítico y emancipatorio en el cuidado. En la discusión se articularon los resultados con la teoría de Sistemas de Imogene King. Conclusiones: a partir de la interacción de los enfermeros con los pacientes y sus familias se logró identificar que estrategias como la educación, el seguimiento, la gestión de casos y de trámites administrativos son formas de fortalecer la gobernanza compartida y la equidad social, los cuales son índices de credibilidad de los patrones sociopolítico y emancipatorio.