RELATIVE CONTRIBUTION OF ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE, SUPERVISORY LEADERSHIP, AND PEER LEADERSHIP TO JOB SATISFACTION, PERFORMANCE, AND RETENTION.
Contributors: University of Denver.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 191
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Higher.; Business Administration, Management.
Description: There is a crisis in health care, and a crucial element of the crisis is the fact that there are not enough registered nurses to meet the staffing needs of health care institutions. As the shortage increases, hospital and nursing administrators are attempting to attract and retain nurses by creating work environments more conducive to their job satisfaction. There is considerable agreement in the literature as to the importance of job satisfaction for the retention of nurses, but there is little agreement regarding the determinants of job satisfaction.

The focus of this study was on social psychological processes in health care institutions as determinants of job satisfaction. The study tested a causal model to determine the relative contributions of organizational climate, supervisory leadership, and peer leadership/group process to job performance, job satisfaction, and job retention/turnover.

The research questions were investigated by means of a questionnaire using a cross-sectional mail survey approach. A sample of registered nurses working at least 50% time in 17 critical care units of 16 randomly selected hospitals in 11 states was used to test the causal model. The 272 registered nurses who responded represent a 70% response rate.

The research questions were explored and the causal model tested using correlations, multiple regression, and path analysis.

The major findings of the study were: (1) Organizational climate was a significant contributor to job satisfaction. (2) Supervisory leadership was a significant contributor to both job satisfaction and job performance. (3) Peer leadership/group process had a negligible effect on job satisfaction and job performance. (4) Organizational climate, supervisory leadership, and job performance accounted for 48% of the variance in job satisfaction.

A problem with the turnover measure prevented the testing of the causal model with turnover as the consequent variable. According to the literature on the subject, however, knowing how to improve job satisfaction is a step in the direction of reducing job turnover. The findings of this study provide a reasonably clear picture of what is necessary in order to improve job satisfaction among nurses.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-09, Section: B, page: 3915.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF DENVER, 1989.

School code: 0061.