Correlates and Consequences of Nursing Staff Job Insecurity.

The health care system, and hospitals, underwent considerable restructuring and downsizing in the early to mid-1900s in several countries as governments cut costs to reduce their budget deficits. Studies of the effects of these efforts on nursing staff and hospital functioning in various countries generally reported negative impacts with threats to job security emerging as an important outcome of these changes. Health care restructuring and hospital downsizing is again being implemented as governments struggle to reduce deficits at a time of worldwide economic recession in 2008/2010. This study examines correlates and consequences of job insecurity among Canadian nursing staff, with a focus on nurses' well-being. Data were collected from 290 nursing staff working in hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Feelings of job insecurity in the sample as a whole were relatively low. Personal demographics and work situation characteristics were generally uncorrelated with feelings of job insecurity. Consistent with previous findings, perceived job insecurity was once again associated with less favorable work and well-being outcomes. Some suggestions for more successful approaches to addressing levels of subjective job insecurity are offered.

Career stage and police cynicism.

This study examined the relationship of police tenure and career stage and cynicism among 766 Norwegian constables and managers. Constables with less tenure and in an early career stage, but not managers, scored lower on cynicism.

Correlates of nursing staff survivor responses to hospital restructuring and downsizing.

This study examines correlates of 4 archetypal survivor responses to organizational restructuring and downsizing proposed by Mishra and Spreitzer: hopeful, obliging, cynical, and fearful. Data were collected from 744 long-term nursing staff survivors of hospital restructuring and downsizing using questionnaires. Three types of correlates were considered: work outcomes, indicators of psychologic well-being, and perceptions of hospital functioning. Greater endorsement of cynical and fearful restructuring responses was associated with more negative work outcomes and lower psychologic well-being. Greater endorsement of both cynical and fearful responses was also found to be associated with more negative perceptions of hospital functioning and effectiveness.

Hospital restructuring stressors, support, and nursing staff perceptions of unit functioning.

Hospital restructuring and downsizing have taken place in most developed countries during the past 10 years. A small but growing body of research findings has identified aspects of these changes that serve as sources of stress for nursing staff during these transitions as well as organizational initiatives that facilitate those transitions. This study reports results from a longitudinal study of hospital restructuring and downsizing on nursing staff perceptions of hospital functioning. Data were collected in November 1996 and again in November 1999 from hospital-based nursing staff using questionnaires. The findings showed moderate but statistically significant relationships between restructuring stressors and organizational support in 1996 and perceptions of hospital functioning in 1999. Nursing staff reporting higher levels of restructuring stressors and lower hospital support in 1996 indicated more negative perceptions of unit and hospital functioning in 1999.

Benefits to police officers of having a spouse or partner in the profession of police officer.

This exploratory study of police officers examined potential effects of having a spouse or partner who is also in police work on levels of work-family conflict and spouse or partner concerns. Data were collected from 776 police officers in Norway using anonymously completed questionnaires. Police officers having spouses or partners also in police work reported significantly lower spouse or partner concerns but the same levels of work-family conflict. Possible explanations for these findings are offered.

Implementation of hospital restructuring and nursing staff perceptions of hospital functioning.

Hospital restructuring and downsizing has taken place in most developed countries during the past ten years. A small but growing body of research findings has identified aspects of these changes that serve as sources of stress for nursing staff, as well as features of the restructuring process that contribute to more effective transitions. This research reports results of a longitudinal study of hospital restructuring and downsizing on nursing staff perceptions of hospital effectiveness. Data were collected in November 1996 and again in November 1999 from nursing staff using questionnaires. Would the way hospital restructuring was implemented and managed in 1996 be related to nursing staff perceptions of hospital functioning in 1999? The findings showed positive but moderate relationships between more favorable restructuring processes and perceptions of hospital functioning.

Work status congruence, work outcomes, and psychologic well-being.

This study investigated work status congruence, work outcomes, and psychologic well-being among nursing staff. Data were collected from 744 hospital-based nurses using anonymous questionnaires. Nurses indicated whether they were currently working full-time or part-time and whether they preferred to work full-time or part-time. Two work status groups--congruent and incongruent--were then compared. Nursing staff having congruent work status were generally more satisfied and reported higher levels of psychologic well-being.

Workaholism, self-esteem, and motives for money.

This study examined correlations of workaholism types among 69 male and 86 female undergraduate business students. Three types were considered (Work Addicts, Work Enthusiasts, and Enthusiastic Addicts) using measures developed in 1992 by Spence and Robbins. Correlates included personal demographics, self-esteem, and motives for money. Work Addicts indicated significantly lower self-esteem than both Work Enthusiasts and Enthusiastic Addicts; the workaholism types mentioned above did not differ on motives for money, however.

Workaholism components among employees working full- and part-time.

This exploratory study compared Spence and Robbins' self-reported workaholism components in two samples. Data were collected in two studies from Australian psychologists and Canadian managers and professionals holding MBA degrees. As few MBA graduates and male psychologists were working part time, the results should be treated with caution. Spence and Robbins' workaholism components (work involvement, feeling driven to work, joy in work) were appropriate to part-time employees. Full-time employees tended to score higher on feeling driven to work.

Survivors and victims of hospital restructuring and downsizing: who are the real victims?

This study reports the results of a longitudinal study of the effects of hospital restructuring and downsizing on nursing staff satisfaction and psychological well-being. Participants completed questionnaires in November 1996 and November 1999. All were employed as hospital-based nurses in 1996 but some had left hospital nursing for other jobs by 1999. Nurses still employed in hospital settings (N=744) were compared with nurses now employed elsewhere (N=74). Hospital-based nursing staff reported less job satisfaction, more absenteeism, greater psychological burnout and poorer psychological well-being than nurses now employed elsewhere.

Hospital restructuring stressors: support and nursing staff perceptions of unit functioning.

Hospital restructuring and downsizing have taken place in most developed countries during the past ten years. A small but growing body of research findings has identified aspects of these changes that serve as sources of stress for nursing staff during these transitions as well as organizational initiatives that facilitate those transitions. This study reports results from a longitudinal study of hospital restructuring and downsizing on nursing staff perceptions of hospital functioning. Data were collected in November 1996, and again in November 1999, from hospital-based nursing staff using questionnaires. The findings showed moderate but statistically significant relationships between restructuring stressors and organizational support in 1996 and perceptions of hospital functioning in 1999. Nursing staff reporting higher levels of restructuring stressors and lower hospital support in 1996 indicated more negative perceptions of unit and hospital functioning in 1999.

Hospital restructuring, workload, and nursing staff satisfaction and work experiences.

This study examined changes in patient-nurse ratios resulting from hospital restructuring and the relationship of such changes to nursing staff satisfaction, psychological health, and perceptions of hospital functioning. Data were obtained from 744 hospital-based nursing survivors using questionnaires. Fifty-three percent of staff nurses indicated an increased patient-nurse ratio. Nursing staff indicating increased ratios generally reported less job satisfaction, poorer psychological (but not physical) health, and less effective hospital functioning.

Workaholism among a sample of Turkish managers and professionals: an exploratory study.

This exploratory study attempted to replicate previous North American research on workaholism and the relationship of workaholism components proposed by Spence and Robbins to potential antecedents and consequences. Data were obtained from 60 managers and professionals in Istanbul using anonymous questionnaires. These questionnaires contained measures previously used in North America translated into Turkish. Most measures had acceptable internal consistency reliability, and the pattern of findings were generally consistent with previous North American results. However, two of the three measures of workaholism components did not produce acceptable reliabilities, which suggests reconsideration of these specific measures and their items.

The ripple effect: it's time for health care leaders to address staff concerns following restructuring.

The degree of support an organization shows during periods of restructuring and downsizing greatly impacts staff stress levels and work environment perception.

Hospital restructuring and burnout.

Increasingly, organizations are experiencing changes as a result of extensive downsizing, restructuring, and merging. In Canada, government-sponsored medicine has been affected as hospitals have merged or closed, reducing essential medical services and resulting in extensive job loss for hospital workers, particularly nurses. Hospital restructuring has also resulted in greater stress and job insecurity in nurses. The escalation of stressors has created burnout in nurses. This study examines predictors of burnout in nurses experiencing hospital restructuring using the MBI-General Survey which yields scores on three scales: Emotional exhaustion, Cynicism, and Professional efficacy. Multiple regressions were conducted where each burnout scale was the criterion and stressors (e.g., amount of work, use of generic workers to do nurses' work), restructuring effects, social support, and individual resources (e.g., control coping, self-efficacy, prior organizational commitment) were predictors. There were differences in the amount of variance accounted for in the burnout components by stressors and resources. Stressors contributed most to emotional exhaustion and least to professional efficacy. Individual resources were more likely to contribute to professional efficacy and least to emotional exhaustion. Stressors and resources accounted for approximately equal amounts of variance in cynicism. Three conclusions were drawn. First, present findings parallel others by showing that individual coping patterns contribute to professional efficacy. Second, emotional exhaustion was found to be the prototype of stress. Third, prior organizational commitment, self-efficacy, and control coping resulted in lower burnout.

Work experiences and psychological well-being of former hospital-based nurses now employed elsewhere.

Hospitals in Ontario have undergone significant restructuring and downsizing during the past few years. Such changes have created negative reactions among both those who survive the downsizing and those who lose their jobs involuntarily. This study compared work satisfactions and indicators of psychological well-being of 36 nurses during these changes and three years later when they were employed elsewhere. Job satisfaction and psychological well-being increased while psychological burnout decreased in this sample.

Psychometric properties of Spence and Robbins' measures of workaholism components.

There has been a recent increase in attention devoted to the study of workaholism. As with most new areas of study, issues of definition and measurement have not received their due. The present investigation examined some psychometric properties of Spence and Robbins' measures of the components of workaholism (1992), one of two measures that have received some attention. These measures were relatively stable in a sample of senior Norwegian managers (N = 87) over a 6-mo. period, had generally acceptable internal consistency reliability, and showed factor structures supportive of three components of workaholism.