Determining factors affecting job strain for nurse practitioners in acute care practice.

PURPOSE: To investigate nurse practitioners' (NPs) experience of job strain in acute care settings, and to examine the factors that may affect job strain in that context. DESIGN: Descriptive design using a national survey was employed. METHODS: A total of 1396 NPs completed online surveys that recorded demographic characteristics and included a Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), a Condition for Work Effectiveness Questionnaire (CWEQ), and the Dempster Practice Behavior Scale (DPBS). Multiple logistic regressions were conducted to explore the factors associated with job strain types. FINDINGS: NPs were classified into job strain categories of passive (24.4%), active (31.4%), low (19.2%), or high (24.9%). The passive job strain type was associated with overtime hours, organizational empowerment, and autonomy. The active job type was associated with higher organizational empowerment and autonomy. The high-strain and low-strain job types were both associated with overtime hours and autonomy. CONCLUSION: Nearly 25% of acute care NPs are in a high job strain type. Organizational empowerment and autonomy were two major factors associated with the passive and active job strain types. Overtime hours and autonomy were both associated with the high-strain and low-strain job types. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Supportive hospital/nursing leadership should acknowledge the impact of NP practice as they can contribute to the operational efficacy of their organization. Hospital administrators should provide a supportive practice environment by empowering NPs, enhancing autonomy, and addressing working conditions for NPs to decrease the odds of having a passive or high-strain job type in practice.

Organizational empowerment and practice outcomes of acute care nurse practitioners in Taiwan: A national survey.

BACKGROUND: Nurse practitioners (NPs) play an important role in addressing growing health care needs. Among NPs, organizational empowerment is positively associated with overall practice outcomes. Therefore, efforts to promote organizational empowerment in practice are necessary to increase job satisfaction among NPs as well as decrease the stress and intention to leave. PURPOSE: This study investigated the relationships of organizational empowerment and practice outcomes of job satisfaction, work stress, and intention to leave in acute care practices. METHODOLOGICAL ORIENTATION: This study was conducted as a cross-sectional design with a national survey of 946 acute care NPs. Questionnaires contained demographic and practice characteristics, Misener Nurse Practitioner Job Satisfaction Scale, Condition for Work Effectiveness Questionnaire II, and the work stress VAS scale. Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) was used to investigate individual NP-level or organization-level effects on job satisfaction. The factors associated with job satisfaction were examined by stepwise multiple regression. RESULTS: The organizational empowerment was low, work stress was moderately high, and job satisfaction was between slightly unsatisfied and slightly satisfied. The HLM results indicated that organization-level effects did not affect the job satisfaction of NPs. Nurse practitioners with greater formal power, resources, and informal power had higher job satisfaction. Conversely, NPs with an intention to leave and a higher level of stress showed lower job satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Organizational empowerment, intention to leave, and stress affect job satisfaction of acute care NPs in Taiwan. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTIC: To enhance the job satisfaction of NPs, health care administrators should empower NPs by providing access to opportunity, support, information, and resources in the health care delivery system.

The Impact of Organizational Support on Practice Outcomes in Nurse Practitioners in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Nurse practitioners (NPs) in Taiwan have practiced mainly in acute care hospitals since 2006. Although organizational support and level of support have been associated with the successful integration of NP roles and effective practice outcomes, organizational support in the context of NPs in inpatient settings is an area that has been rarely explored in the literature. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between organizational support and the practice outcomes of job satisfaction, care effectiveness, and intention to leave in NPs. METHODS: A national survey of 512 NPs was conducted that included a demographic characteristics datasheet, the Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Organizational Climate Questionnaire, the Misener Nurse Practitioner Job Satisfaction Scale, and the Nurse Practitioner Care Effectiveness Scale. Multiple regression analysis was applied to explore the specific factors associated with job satisfaction. The statistical significance level was set at .05 with a two-tailed test. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS Statistics Version 22.0 software. RESULTS: More than half of the participants were found to be dissatisfied with their hospital managers (54.8%) and with each dimension of organizational support. Overall, 82.1% of the participants were satisfied with their current practice. A multiple regression analysis showed that the participants who perceived higher levels of organizational support in the workplace (ß = .53, p < .001), expressed satisfaction with working with their managers (ß = .25, p < .001), or perceived better care outcomes (ß = .10, p < .001) reported higher job satisfaction. In addition, the participants who expressed intention to leave within 1 year (ß = -.09, p < .001) and those with higher patient loads (ß = -.09, p < .001) reported lower job satisfaction. Organizational support was found to explain 50% of the variance in job satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The results of this study highlight organizational support as the most important factor affecting job satisfaction in NPs. Therefore, administrators work to promote organizational support and improve the work environment to enhance the job satisfaction, increase the clinical practice retention, and improve the care outcomes of NPs.