Melissa Yeung

Administrative stressors and nursing job outcomes in Australian public and non-profit health care organisations

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The main aim of this study is to develop a path model to examine the effect of administrative stressors on nursing work outcomes in a sample of Australian public and non-profit nurses. BACKGROUND The implementation of managerial reform initiatives has negative consequences on work outcomes. However, less is known about the effects of these stressors in public and non-profit health care organisations. DESIGN An online, self-completion questionnaire was sent to a random sample of nurses, employed in nursing-related occupations. PARTICIPANTS Useable surveys were received from 251 nurses. METHODS The path model was analysed using SmartPLS software (SmartPLS, Hamburg, Germany). RESULTS Public and non-profit nurses experienced time and resource administrative-related stressors (such as resource shortage and pay not as good as other people doing similar work). They relied on work-related social support to reduce the negative consequences. Resource stressors led to job dissatisfaction while time stressors led to psychological strain. Nursing staff who reported better psychological health reported higher job satisfaction and higher level of commitment towards their organisations. CONCLUSIONS Context-specific administrative stressors have a negative impact on the work outcomes of public and non-profit nurses. Work-related social support mechanisms were found to mediate the negative consequences of administrative resourcing stressors on nursing job satisfaction. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Nursing managers have to be sympathetic and care for the negative experiences of nursing staff, especially when there is an increasing level of administrative expectations during organisational change. Senior management should take note of the stressors caused by the lack of resources such as information, staffing and resources, as these were found to lead to an increase in nurses seeking work-related social support from their peers and supervisors. Effective implementation of these strategies would lead to a nursing workforce, which has higher level of psychological health, job satisfaction and organisational commitment.

Flexibility in change practices and job outcomes for nurses: Exploring the role of subjective fit

AIMS To integrate existing theoretical perspectives on change management, subjective fit and occupational stress to better understand the effects of change on employee adjustment. BACKGROUND Although subjective fit with organizational goals and objectives has been shown to have positive effects on employee adjustment, its role in the organizational change-occupational stress context is not understood. This represents a caveat in research when considering the notion that those who feel that they fit with the organizations goals may be better equipped to reconcile and deal with change. DESIGN A cross-sectional survey of nurses from public and non-profit sector hospitals was conducted. METHOD Data were collected from 252 public and non-profit sector nurses via online surveys. Data were collected from June-October in 2010. Structural equation modelling was used to test the direct and indirect effects among the focal variables. RESULTS The results showed that public and non-profit nurses experience flexibility-limiting and flexibility-promoting change initiatives and that these are differentially related to the perception of administrative stressors and adjustment with these relationships directly and indirectly influenced by perceptions of subjective fit. Flexibility-limiting change initiatives led to lower levels of subjective fit, higher levels of administrative stressors and less favourable adjustment. On the other hand, flexibility-promoting change practices led to higher levels of subjective fit, lower levels of administrative stressors and ultimately better adjustment. CONCLUSION The results further the theoretical understanding of the role of subjective fit in organizational change and occupational stress theories.