Examination Date

8-2015

Degree

Dissertation

Degree Program

Nursing (PhD)

Examination Committee

Beth Brooks; Lee McDaniel; Jane Sumner

Abstract

Examining the Quality of Working Life (QoWL) of registered nurses in hospital settings is crucial due to the high nurse turnover rates, projected nurse shortages, and reports of working life issues that can negatively affect performance, quality of patient care, and system costs. Quality of Working Life is the perception an employee has about their working experience. In 2013, approximately 52% of the United States’ (US) 2.7 million employed registered nurses worked in acute care hospitals (Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS], 2014). By the year 2022, it is projected that the cohort of registered nurses will experience workforce shortages ranging from 525,800 to over one million (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [ANCC], 2014). On average, an organization will spend approximately $300,000 annually for every 1% increase in nurse turnover (Jones, 2008). Seventy-four percent of the nurse respondents reported acute/chronic effects of stress and overwork (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2011). The purpose of this cross-sectional, predictive, correlational study was to examine the strength of association among the work-based factors (job and career satisfaction, control at work, stress at work, and working conditions), non-work life factors (homework interface and general well-being), individual factors (age, education, gender, and nurse role), and overall QoWL of U.S. medical surgical registered nurses working in acute care hospitals. A purposive, non-probability sample of 797 medical surgical registered nurses from the Academy of Medical Surgical Nurses Organization were recruited for this study. Each participant completed the demographic questions and the Work Related Quality of Life scale. Analyses of data consisted of descriptive statistics of central tendency, frequencies, and percentiles to examine the levels of overall QoWL of the study participants. Bivariate correlational statistics of Spearman’s rank order correlation, and ordinal logistic regression were used to assess the strength of relationships and test the hypotheses. The study findings indicated that the participants perceived an average level of satisfaction of overall QoWL (M = 3.43; SD = 1.02), low levels of satisfaction of stress at work (M = 2.21, SD = 1.14), and the work-based factors and non-work life factors (p < .05) were positive predictors of QoWL. The individual factors were not predictors or modifiers of QoWL, however, the nurse manager role (rs = .08, p = .024) showed a positive weak correlation with overall QoWL, control at work (rs = .17, p = .001), working conditions (rs = .17, p = .001), and home-work interface factors (rs = .08, p = .036). The best predictors of QoWL consisted of working conditions and general wellbeing. Future research is warranted to explore and understand QoWL of U.S. nurses through quantitative and qualitative methods in various healthcare settings. Recommendations for continued use of the WRQoL scale, the examination of QoWL of nurse managers, the impact of stress on long-term health outcomes, and QoWL and nurses’ health status research are needed. This study’s findings will provide the basis for strategy development to improve the nurses’ QoWL, nurse retention, organization cost, and quality patient care.

Comments

This dissertation is not held in the Libraries' print collection.

The degree awarded was a Doctoral in Nursing Science, not a PhD in Nursing.

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