As the reviewed study notes, there is evidence that if nurses have a good quality of work life (QWL), then patients receive better care. There is also evidence that a higher QWL results in less nurse burnout and nurse turnover. For both these reasons, managers who are interested in achieving both excellent patient outcomes and reducing the costs of recruiting and training new staff would benefit from paying attention to the factors identified in the paper.
While the reviewed study focuses on nurses in Iran, it is clear from the literature that concerns about the wellbeing of nurses and nurse retention are common worldwide. One of the key points the paper raises is that managers in hospitals and other health services should keenly pay attention to the following: ‘These results indicate that factors that affect nurses’ QWL are mostly institutional factors, and therefore, health care organizations and nursing managers may play an important role in improving the QWL of nurses.’ The research on intention to leave a nursing job and intention to leave the nursing profession would indicate that this statement should in fact be stronger: Healthcare organisations and nursing managers do play an important role.
The reviewed study identifies some of the issues that managers need to have an impact on. Managers in hospitals and health services should pay serious attention to the following finding: ‘The results of the t-test analysis showed that QWL scores were significantly lower in nurses who also worked in another hospital (P = 0.03), had a non-nursing job too (P = 0.00), or experienced a chronic illness during the preceding year (P = 0.01).’
If nurses are not paid sufficiently, they will need to work elsewhere to be able to survive financially. If they work elsewhere, they are more likely to be stressed and experience illness. Managers also need to pay attention to the finding that nurses may not actually be that good at seeking information that might support their own health issues. Other structural issues identified in the literature are factors such overwork leading to a task focus that removes the ability to relate with patients, lack of respect, bullying, lack of flexibility, lack of training, etc. While teaching resilience or having mindfulness training may be useful inputs to support nurses to be better at active coping, this paper reinforces that managers need to identify the stresses nurses are facing and work with them to find solutions that reduce the need for active coping. We need to be looking to how we can assist nurses to thrive rather than just survive.
Biography
Stephen Jacobs is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing, University of Auckland. He leads the Nurses Thriving at Work Research Programme and teaches leadership and management.