ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE IN HOSPITALS WITH SHARED GOVERNANCE.
Contributors: University Of Illinois At Chicago, Health Sciences Center.
Published: 1994
Number of pages: 113
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Health Care Management.; Sociology, Industrial and Labor Relations.
Description: Organizational theory proposes that organizational innovation relates strongly to organizational culture, structure, work redesign, and employee values. This descriptive study examined cultural values of employees in five acute care hospitals with an innovative organizational structure in nursing, shared governance.

A total of 881 staff nurses, middle nurse managers, and senior executives (including chief nurse executives) responded to the study survey, Enz's Organizational Value Congruence Scale. Participants compared their perceived similarity in values with peers within their same group, and also ranked the top 5 (of 20) values they believed any hospital should have. Group response rates ranged from 60% to 100%. Staff nurses were randomly sampled; all middle nurse managers and all senior executives were sampled from each hospital. Survey responses were voluntary and anonymous. Data analysis included measures of central tendency, chi-square, ANOVA, and Tukey's Honest Significant Difference post hoc test.

Similarities of values (value congruence) across groups within a hospital, and similarities in values across all hospitals by group were tested. In four of the five hospitals, no statistically significant differences were found between groups of staff nurses, middle nurse managers, and senior executives regarding perceived similarities for the 20 values. One institution consistently demonstrated statistically significant differences between their groups on the values of professionalism and reducing labor costs.

Across hospitals, when groups compared themselves to their departmental peers, senior executives were found to perceive themselves as more similar to each other than did staff nurses or middle nurse managers. Additionally, groups differed on individual items.

With regard to the five highest ranked values, all groups ranked quality and service as important. Staff nurses also ranked professionalism, high morale, ethical behavior, and employee satisfaction as important values that all hospitals should have. Middle nurse managers also ranked professionalism, employee satisfaction, and industry leadership as important, while senior executives ranked ethical behavior, organizational survival, and efficiency as four important values any hospital should have.

Implications of value congruence were discussed, focusing on professional socialization, employee satisfaction, recruitment, retention, problem solving, conflict resolution, consensus building, and strategic planning within the organization.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-05, Section: B, page: 1799.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO, HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, 1994.

School code: 0806.