Nursing Publications

The Impact of Staff Nurse Empowerment on Person-Job Fit and Work Engagement/Burnout

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2006

Journal

Nursing Administration Quarterly

Volume

30

Issue

4

First Page

358

Last Page

367

Abstract

Workplace empowerment is an important strategy for creating positive nursing work environments in a time of a severe nursing shortage. The purpose of this study was to test a model linking staff nurse perceptions of empowerment to their perceived fit with 6 areas of work life and work engagement/burnout using Kanter's work empowerment theory. We tested the model in a cross-sectional correlational survey design with a random sample of 322 staff nurses in acute care hospitals across Ontario. Overall, staff nurses perceived their work environment to be only somewhat empowering. Fifty-three percent reported severe levels of burnout. Overall empowerment had an indirect effect on emotional exhaustion (burnout) through nurses' perceived fit in 6 areas of work life. The final model fit statistics revealed a good fit (chi2 = 32.4, df = 13, GFI = 0.97, IFI = 0.97, CFI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.07). These findings have important implications in the current nursing shortage.

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