A LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF WORKPLACE EMPOWERMENT ON STAFF NURSES WORK SATISFACTION

2. Background and Rationale for Study Nursing work conditions have deteriorated following extensive downsizing (Buerhaus, et al., 2000) Recruitment and retention major issues with nursing shortage and aging workforce (O�Brien Pallas, et al., 1999) Almost a third of nurses in a 4-country study were dissatisfied with their jobs (Aiken, et al., 2001) Need to find ways to create positive work environments to address this situation

3. Purpose To test a longitudinal model of Rosabeth Moss Kanter�s structural theory of work empowerment linking changes in staff nurses� workplace empowerment to changes in their work satisfaction over time.

7. Staff Nurse Empowerment related to: Organizational Commitment - Wilson & Laschinger, 1994; McDermott, 1994; Laschinger, Finegan, Shamian & Wilk, 2000; Dubuc, 1995 Job Satisfaction - Whyte, 1995; Kutzscher, Sabiston, Laschinger & Nish, 1997; Laschinger, Finegan, Shamian & Wilk, 2000; Casier, 1999 Control Over Practice/Autonomy - Laschinger & Havens, 1995; Huffman, 1995 Job tension, burnout - Laschinger & Havens, 1997; O�Brien, 1997; Laschinger & Hatcher, 1994 Job Strain - Laschinger, Finegan, Shamian & Wilk, 2000; Almost, 2000 Job Performance - Govers, 1997

8. Psychological Empowerment��psychological state that employees must experience for empowerment interventions to be successful�� (Spreitzer, 1995) Four components: meaning - congruence between job requirements and beliefs competence - confidence in abilities self-determination - feelings of control over one�s work impact - sense of being able to influence important outcomes within the organization Associated with manager�s access to strategic information in the organization and to information on their units� quality and cost performance (Spreitzer, 1995). Associated with organizational commitment (Spreitzer, 1995; Kramer, Siebert, & Liden, 1999). Strongly related to structural empowerment (Laschinger, et al., 2001)

9. Job Satisfaction Consistently predicted by autonomy, good communication with supervisors and peers, organizational commitment, and job stress (Blegen, 1993, Irvine & Evans, 1995) Meta-analysis of 67 studies in general management literature found job dissatisfaction to be a strong predictor of turnover behaviour (Griffeth, Hom & Gaertner, 2000) Empowerment has been show to predict factors associated with voluntary turnover, in particular, job satisfaction (Whyte, 1995; Laschinger, Finegan, & Shamian, 2001)

10. Hypothesized Model to be Tested

11. Hypothesized model employees who became more empowered over time would become more psychologically empowered and job satisfied (since they would have gained more support and resources to accomplish their work, therefore giving them a sense of satisfaction) having access to structural sources of empowerment results in feelings of psychological empowerment

12. Methods Design: Longitudinal Non-experimental Predictive Design Data Collection: Mail survey using Dillman approach Return rate: Time 1 - 73% Time 2 - 69% Staff nurses: N = 185 Sample: Random sample selected from provincial registry list Surveyed at 2 points in time (1998 and 2001) Instrumentation: Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II (Laschinger et al, 2001) Psychological Empowerment Scale (Spreitzer, 1995) Global Work Satisfaction Scale (Laschinger & Havens, 1996) Cronbach alpha range: .77 - .89

13. Demographics n % Gender Male 91 49.1 Female 94 50.8 Work Status Full-Time 120 64.7 Part-Time 65 35.3 Education Diploma 144 78.7 Degree 39 21.3 Specialty Areas Medical-surgical 45 27.3 Critical care 62 37.6 Maternal-child 21 12.7 Psychiatric 37 22.4 Mean SD Age 43 7.33 Years in Nursing 19 7.66 Year of Unit Experiences 10 6.78

14. Methods 2-wave co-variable SEM analysis (Raykov, 1993): �a dynamic change model reflecting a process of change across time -�assesses inter-relatedness between changes in latent variables on one another with both having been repeatedly measured on the same individuals� Stage I: Assess measurement models for validity and stability across time i) validity of correlated error models of indicators across time established ii) time invariant measurement models (strong fit indices and similar loadings) Stage II: Structural model: effect of T1 variables on T2 referents hypothesized direct effects were supported, indirect effect not significant overall model had good fit statistics (?�=667.45, df=342, IFI=.979, CFI=.979 RMSEA=.07) explained variance in T2 job satisfaction was 37% greater when compared to previous stability model suggesting that satisfaction at time 2 depends more on changes in structural empowerment than the level of job satisfaction at time 1

15. Examination of Cross-time Stability of Measurement Model A. Difference between correlated and uncorrelated errors in measurement models Latent Variable Structural Empowerment ? Chi Square = 120.034 (?df = 6) Psychological Empowerment ? Chi Square = 72.555 (?df = 4) Job Satisfaction ? Chi Square = 58.175 (?df = 4) B. Difference between Constrained and Unconstrained Models Latent Variable Structural Empowerment ? Chi Square = 14.685 (?df = 5) Psychological Empowerment ? Chi Square = 6.058 (?df = 3) Job Satisfaction ? Chi Square = 2.189 (?df = 3)

17. Access to work empowerment structures strongly affected staff nurses� feelings of psychological empowerment and job satisfaction across a three year time frame. The CWEQ-II demonstrated time-invariant measurement properties suggesting stability over time Support for the longitudinal model in this study strengthens the results of previous cross-sectional studies testing Kanter�s theory. Fostering environments that enhance perceptions of empowerment can have enduring positive effects and can be used as an effective recruitment and retention strategy.