ROLE STRESS AMONG NURSE MIDDLE MANAGERS IN ACUTE CARE HOSPITALS: TEST OF A CONCEPTUAL MODEL.
Contributors: University of Kansas.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 159
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to test a conceptual model of role stress and to generate additional information about role stress. Relationships among selected organizational factors, personality attributes, interpersonal factors, role stressors, coping, and role strain were determined for a sample of nurse middle managers in acute care hospitals. Another purpose was to explain the mediating effect of coping between role stressors and role strain. A conceptual model of role stress adapted from Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, and Snoek (1964) and Ward (1986) was tested.

A purposive sample of 113 nurse middle managers representing 5 hospitals in a southern city were participants in the correlational study. The questionnaire contained 162 items, including Spielberger's (1977) State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Vroom's (1960) Scale on Participation in Decision-making, Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman's (1970) Role Instrument, Weintraub, Carver, and Schier's (1986) Cope Instrument, Sarason, Johnson, and Siegel's (1978) Life Events Inventory, and demographic questions. Reliability of the scale scores ranged from.70-.93.

Significant zero order correlations were found between state anxiety, the role strain outcome, and, respectively, coping, role stressors, participation in decision-making, trait anxiety, hospital, negative stressful life events, and level of nurse middle manager. These variables were entered into the multiple regression and path analysis procedures for further explanation of the effects of role stress in nurse middle managers. The final role stress model explained a large amount of variance in the role strain outcome, R2 =.46 ($F(6,106)=15.12,p<.05$). Participation in decision-making, trait anxiety, hospital, role conflict, role ambiguity, and coping by behavioral disengagement were variables that provided information about potential causes of state anxiety. Although there was interaction among the variables, the hypothesis that coping occupied an intervening position between role stressors and role strain was not supported.

Findings support the conceptual model of role stress in nurse middle managers. Results have implications for role theory and for development of the nurse middle manager role by nursing administrators. Findings have applications in graduate level nursing education and in continuing education of nurse administrators. Further attention to the positive outcome of role gratification is recommended to develop more fully the role stress model.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-06, Section: B, page: 2343.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, 1988.

School code: 0099.