Deepening Empirical Understandings of Nurse Work Well-Being: Using Mixed Methods Including Path Analysis to Create...

Area of Science:

• Nursing Research
• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Psychology

Background:

• This study investigates nurse work well-being (WWB) and its outcomes, building on prior international research.
• WWB is conceptualized as a multifactorial construct including self-care, manager support, role clarity, and job satisfaction, measured by the Profile of Caring (PoC) survey.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the construct validity of the PoC survey for assessing WWB in an international nursing population.
• To explore the relationships between WWB dimensions and staff outcomes, particularly in the post-pandemic context.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods approach was used with 2546 nursing staff from 128 facilities across nine countries.
• Data analysis included thematic analysis, descriptive statistics, regression, and path analysis.
• Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, and construct validity was evaluated through exploratory factor analysis.

Main Results:

• The final WWB outcome model demonstrated good fit, explaining 76% of variance in nurse WWB.
• Feeling rewarded positively impacted job satisfaction and negatively impacted intent to leave.
• Job satisfaction was a significant negative predictor of intent to leave, explaining 25.2% of its variance.
• Manager support accounted for one-third of WWB, and the PoC survey exhibited high reliability and robust construct validity.

Conclusions:

• Predictors of job satisfaction and intent to leave are complex and require sophisticated models for global and contextual understanding.
• Interventions aimed at enhancing nurse work well-being should consider multifaceted approaches addressing job satisfaction and manager support.