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Using a social capital framework to enhance measurement of the nursing work environment
Brenda Helen Sheingold1, Steven H Sheingold
1School of Nursing, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. bsheingo@email.gwu.edu
Aim:
To develop, field test and analyse a social capital survey instrument for measuring the nursing work environment.
Background:
The concept of social capital, which focuses on improving productive capacity by examining relationships and networks, may provide a promising framework to measure and evaluate the nurse work environment in a variety of settings.
Methods:
A survey instrument for measuring social capital in the nurse work environment was developed by adapting the World Bank's Social Capital - Integrated Questionnaire (SC-IQ). Exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analyses were applied to assess the properties of the instrument.
Results:
The exploratory factor analysis yielded five factors that align well with the social capital framework, while reflecting unique aspects of the nurse work environment.
Conclusion:
The results suggest that the social capital framework provides a promising context to assess the nurse work environment. Further work is needed to refine the instrument for a diverse range of health-care providers and to correlate social capital measures with quality of patient care.
Implications For Nursing Management:
Social capital measurement of the nurse work environment has the potential to provide managers with an enhanced set of tools for building productive capacity in health-care organisations and achieving desired outcomes.
