Investigation of structural and psychological empowerment of midwives in 15 hospitals in Suzhou / 中华护理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the status and analyze the influencing factors of structural empowerment and psychological empowerment of midwives in Suzhou.Methods Using convenience sampling,totally 309 midwives from fifteen hospitals in Suzhou were investigated with the Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-Ⅱ (CWEQ-Ⅱ) and Psychological Empowerment Scale (PES).Results The scores of structural and psychological empowerment of midwives were (18.07±3.12) and (14.82±2.01).There was a significantly positive correlation between midwives' structural and psychological empowerment (r=0.396,P＜0.01).Hospital level and whether participate in midwifery standardization training had an impact on structural empowerment score(P＜0.05).Age,parental status,job title,salary,delivery room working hours,number of night shifts per month,and whether or not participate in teaching had an impact on psychological empowerment score(P＜0.05).Conclusion Midwives' structural and psychological empowerments are at a moderate level.Administrators should take targeted intervention to create an empowerment-allowing working environment for midwives,stabilize midwives work force,strengthen midwifery discipline construction and make full specialized features of midwives.