Work Engagement as a Component of a Healthful Work Environment in Nursing Faculty

The shortage of nursing faculty has prompted researchers to look at ways we can recruit and retain nursing faculty members and concepts such as the healthful work environments and work engagement of nursing faculty are ways we can do so. The existing research creates a strong knowledge base to understand work engagement, and to understand the organizational effects work engagement can have in academic environments. Work engagement is measured by the vigor, absorption and dedication one has to their job. A growing body of research supports the study of work engagement within individual occupations and roles as researchers have found that different occupations and roles within experience different types of job demands and job resources (Rothmann, 2005). Additionally, it has been shown that the work engagement of faculty at a university may have a direct influence on student retention (McDonald, 2015). The NLN's Healthful Work Environment (HWE) tool kit addresses many aspects of work engagement, and the Job Demands-Resources Scale (JDRS) can be the way we measure the components of the nine areas listed in the HWE tool kit. Correlations between the JDRS and a work engagement tool can be made to help give a baseline and track the progress made when creating and sustaining a Healthful Work Environment. It is essential that we retain our quality nursing faculty, and the study of healthful work environments and work engagement are ways we can address the issue.

Work engagement has been shown to decrease turnover, increase organizational commitment and increase career satisfaction (Bakker, Demerouti & Schaufeli, 2003; Bakker, Demerouti & Schaufeli, 2005). In addition, work engagement among faculty has been shown to have a positive correlation to student outcomes (Mancz, 2013; Sokolov, 2017; Parker et al, 2012). It is essential for nursing administration to understand the relationship between healthful work environments and work engagement in nursing faculty so that they can then develop and implement strategies that will encourage the retention of valued faculty members.