Influence of Risk Perception on Task and Contextual Performance: A Case of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Nurses.

Assessing the risk perception of workers can be very informative in predicting their behavioral outcomes, including task and contextual performance. Yet, research to assess the effect of risk perception on task performance and contextual performance remains scarce. Thus, this study explored the effect of risk perception of work-related musculoskeletal disorders on task and contextual performance in nurses. This study further examined safety behavior as a mediator of these relationships. Using structural equation modeling, the researchers examined these relationships by employing a cross-sectional survey with a quantitative approach. The data was collected via questionnaires from 382 nurses who work in three major hospitals in Accra Metropolis, Ghana. The results showed that nurses' risk perception positively influenced their task and contextual performance, and that safety behavior partially mediated the effects of risk perception on task and contextual performance. This study offers a theoretical framework and empirical evidence for the concept of risk perception and its association with safety behavior, task, and contextual performance. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the relationships that exist among these variables. Thus, future studies are needed to verify the causality of the relationships.

The effect of risk communication on the nurses' task and contextual performance in disease outbreak control in Ghana: Application of the cause model.

BACKGROUND: The re-emerging of infectious disease outbreaks is a menace in Ghana. As the acceptance of risk communication rises, health workers are using it to control outbreaks. Yet, research in risk communication and health workers' performance remains unexplored in Ghana. OBJECTIVE: This study explores how risk communication works among nurses and its effect on their task (behaviors that are delineated based on role requirements and identified by a thorough analysis of the job) and contextual performance (behaviors that do not fall within the employee's assigned duties, but are a very important part of job performance). Thus, we adopted the CAUSE model, which proposes that effective risk communication creates five goals (Confidence, Awareness, Understanding, Satisfaction, and Enactment) amongst communicators. METHOD: This study involves a quantitative approach complemented with qualitative data. It was conducted in three hospitals in Ghana, from which a sample of 398 nurses were selected. RESULT: The result depicts that risk communication has a significant and positive effect on task performance (ß = .65; P < .001), and contextual performance (ß = .55; P < .001). CONCLUSION: Our study shows that confidence is the strongest predictor of risk communication in influencing task and contextual performance. Yet, risk communication overall improves nurses' task and contextual performance.