Caring Behaviors, Self-Efficacy, and Their Associations with Job Involvement Among Nurses

Purpose:

Caring behaviors and self-efficacy among nurses may affect the quality of the nursing care they provide and their intention to quit. The job involvement level of nurses in Taiwan has been reported as lower than other countries, with over half of nurses self-identified as having contemplated leaving the nursing profession. Job involvement has great importance and significance in organizational development. Few studies have collected data regarding the relations among nurse caring behaviors, self-efficacy, and job involvement. The model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate the fit. Four hypotheses were formulated as follows:

H1: The job involvement model has an acceptable goodness-of-fit, confirmed by SEM.

H2: Caring behaviors positively influence self-efficacy.

H3: Caring behaviors positively influence job involvement.

H4: Self-efficacy positively influences job involvement.

Methods:

A cross-sectional and correlative research design was used in this study.A total of 405 clinical nurses at a hospital in Southern Taiwan were recruited, and 338 participants completed the questionnaire. The response rate was 83.4%.

 Results:

The ages of the participants ranged from 21 to 55 years. Most of them were single (56.8%). They had worked for their organization an average of 4.75 years.205 (60.9%) participants completed university; 298 (88.4%) participants had N2-level positions; and 218 (64.5%) participants had received continuing education. In their working environments, 36% perceived extremely high work pressure, and 103 (30.5%) perceived high work pressure. The results revealed that the postulated model fit the data collected in this study. Self-efficacy was no significantly correlated with job involvement. Caring behaviors were a significant factor predicting job involvement.

 Conclusion:

Nurses who felt their caring behaviors were recognized and rewarded were likely to be involved in their workplaces. The results of this study are particularly salient for hospital managers, who can foster attractive workplaces by deriving gratification from caring for patients and providing support to nurses, thereby enhancing their involvement in job. It also can play an important role in alleviating the impending nurse shortage by increasing the job involvement currently in Taiwan healthcare system and attracting newcomers to the nursing profession.