RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY BY NURSES IN HOSPITALS: THE INFLUENCES OF ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT, CLIMATE, AND CULTURE.
Contributors: Case Western Reserve University.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 285
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Why does research by nurses flourish in one hospital and fail to appear in another? The hospital is the largest single practice site for Registered Nurses (RNs). With increased numbers of college prepared RNs and a growing appreciation for the need for a research base for practice, more and more nurse researchers are selecting the hospital as their research setting. And with nursing research currently focused on clinical questions, the need for knowledge on how to develop a supportive hospital nursing organization for research activities is paramount. A nursing perspective on the effectiveness of an organization in supporting research is suggested as including the context (setting), the culture (institutionalized support), and the climate (the shared perspective of the RNs).

A national sample of seven hospitals with exemplar nursing research programs was acquired. The study included one survey per hospital on organizational context and research culture that were to be answered by a representative from nursing administration. Secondly, a questionnaire on research culture and organizational climate were distributed to 100 randomly selected nurses. A survey to all RNs at the hospitals asked questions on research productivity.

Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and various analyses of differences between hospitals. There was a significant difference among hospitals in research productivity; and differences between hospitals were found for several organizational variables: three climate dimensions, nurse-physician relationships, and research culture. Highest nursing education was related to productivity as an individual characteristic. The findings contribute to a beginning empirical data base concerning the organizational influences of nursing research productivity needed to guide nurse executives in hospitals.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: B, page: 3106.

Thesis (PH.D.)--CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY (HEALTH SCIENCES), 1988.

School code: 0499.