Using Focus Groups to Modify the Workplace Affective Commitment Multidimensional Questionnaire (WACMQ) for use in...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Affective commitment is crucial for extra-role behaviors in healthcare systems.
• The Workplace Affective Commitment Multidimensional Questionnaire (WACMQ) was originally developed for the business sector.
• Healthcare contexts involve multiple commitment targets for providers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To content validate the WACMQ for healthcare settings.
• To adapt the WACMQ to reflect the multi-target nature of commitment in healthcare.
• To ensure the questionnaire captures the complex attitudes of healthcare workers.

Main Methods:

• Conducted two focus groups with nurses in Ontario acute care and emergency hospitals.
• Employed linguistic validation and cognitive debriefing techniques.
• Modified items on the original WACMQ questionnaire.

Main Results:

• A total of 14 modifications were made to the WACMQ item wording.
• The revised questionnaire acknowledges diverse commitment targets relevant to healthcare.
• Identified potential influences like union membership on commitment.

Conclusions:

• The modified WACMQ is suitable for assessing healthcare worker commitment.
• Recognizes the complexity of healthcare environments and worker attitudes.
• Future research will establish psychometric properties and explore relationships with other factors.