Psychological empowerment and structural empowerment among nurse practitioners

Empowering workplaces provide practitioners with access to information, support, resources, and opportunities to learn and grow. Empowerment is also a psychological process, which occurs when one has a sense of motivation in relation to the workplace environment. There is no previous research on the relationship of psychological empowerment and structural empowerment in nurse practitioner (NP) practice.

Structural empowerment was measured using the conditions of work effectiveness questionnaire-II (CWEQ-II), and psychological empowerment was measured using Spreitzer's psychological empowerment scale. The sample consisted of 74 NPs in the state of Connecticut. The correlational scores for the instruments were derived with n = 72 as two subjects had extreme scores on multiple variables and were excluded. There were significant correlations between psychological and structural empowerment for total scores, and within 10 of these tools' subscales.

The NPs who participated in this study scored high on perceptions of structural empowerment and psychological empowerment. The results of the psychological empowerment instrument indicated that the NPs value their work and find meaning in what they do.

The relationships between psychological empowerment and structural empowerment have been linked to work effectiveness, quality patient care, cost-effectiveness, and retention. Study results support an implication that it is of critical importance for the organization or practice setting to facilitate both psychological and structural empowerment to the NP to ensure successful practice.