Perceived Organisational Support, Work Engagement and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour of Nurses at Victoria Hospital

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between perceived organisational support, work engagement and organisational citizenship behaviour amongst nurses at the Victoria hospital in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Simple random sampling was used to draw a sample of n=106. The study tested the relationship between perceived organisational support, the extent to which employees feel valued and nurtured by their employers, and organisational citizenship behaviour, positive discretionary behaviour employees embark upon. This relationship was found to be a positive one (r=0.23, p.01). The study also found that work engagement was highly significantly and positively correlated with organisational citizenship behavior (r=0.41, p.001). Finally, the study explored the relationship between perceived organisational support and work engagement. The findings of the study demonstrated that there is also a significant moderate correlation between perceived organisational support and work engagement (r=0.31 p.001). These findings suggest that hospital administrators should find ways to improve nurses' perceptions of organisational support in order to enhance engagement and organisational citizenship behaviour. Perceived organisational support is not the only precondition for work engagement and organisational citizenship behaviour, as evidenced by the weak correlation. Nurses who perceive that they are supported by their employers will be more likely to display organisational citizenship behaviour than those who are not supported and do not feel engaged in work.