Professional empowerment among Portuguese nursing staff: A correlational study

To identify the level of professional empowerment in hospital nurses and describe the relationship between sociodemographic variables and professional empowerment.

Professional empowerment is positively related to work effectiveness, job satisfaction and organisational and professional commitment.

Data on professional empowerment were collected by surveying 365 nurses in a Portuguese hospital, with the Portuguese versions of 'Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II' and the 'Psychological Empowerment Instrument'.

Overall, psychological empowerment scored 66.2 (standard deviation = 8.9, with 'meaning' scoring highest and 'impact' scoring lowest), whereas structural empowerment scored 18.6 (standard deviation = 3.3, with 'opportunity' and 'informal power' scoring highest and 'resources' scoring lowest). The factor 'age' correlated positively with 'self-determination', 'impact' and 'psychological empowerment', as well as with 'informal power', 'resources' and 'structural empowerment'. Lastly, 'competence' correlated negatively with 'formal power', 'information' and 'structural empowerment'.

There is a relationship between demographic variables and empowerment, and between structural and psychological empowerment.

Professional empowerment is related to organisational results, so it is important to reinforce and optimize organisational structures. Empowerment can be achieved with access to structures that promote empowerment, particularly resources.