Abstract
Introduction: The concept of Empowerment in nursing has been increasingly used and analyzed in academic literature. It is a concept that nurses, leaders and managers of healthcare institutions should be interested in and should greatly explore. The perception that nurses have of Empowerment plays a decisive role in the organizational results, in the increase in professional autonomy, in collective and individual power increment and in patients’ healthcare providing. Objectives: To evaluate nurses’ perception of Empowerment (Psychological and Structural); to identify the factors that will influence this kind of perception and to reflect on the consequences of that perception.Methods: Quantitative study, based on a sample composed of 269 nurses, mainly female (76,6%), aged between 21 and 59, with a 40,36 years old average age. 68.8% of the participants have a college degree and are working in a hospital in the Beira Alta region, in Portugal.Results: In nurses, the perception of Psychological Empowerment is associated with the perception of Structural Empowerment. Older nurses and nurses who have a longer nursing career show higher competence and lower opportunity. Nurses who have spent a longer period of time in their current services show higher competence but less opportunity, information, support and, globally, a lower Structural Empowerment. In this professional category, specialist nurses’ opinion about information, resources and informal power is quite different from the one felt by the other nurses.Conclusion: Nurses show high levels of Psychological Empowerment and low levels of Structural Empowerment.
Highlights
O conceito de Empowerment na Enfermagem tem sido utilizado e analisado na literatura académica, conceito digno de exploração e interesse para os enfermeiros, chefes e gestores das organizações de saúde
Based on the data we have collected through the application of the Psychological Empowerment Instrument (PEI) and Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire – II (CWEQ-II) scales, we can confirm that nurses show a higher psychological Empowerment in the “meaning” and “competence” dimensions and a lower Empowerment in the “impact” and “self-determination” dimensions
As far as structural Empowerment is concerned, which was assessed through the CWEQ-II scale, the results show that nurses reveal higher Empowerment levels in the “opportunity” and “informal power” dimensions
Summary
O conceito de Empowerment na Enfermagem tem sido utilizado e analisado na literatura académica, conceito digno de exploração e interesse para os enfermeiros, chefes e gestores das organizações de saúde. Resultados: Nos enfermeiros, a perceção de Empowerment Psicológico está relacionado com a perceção de empowerment Estrutural. Os enfermeiros com mais idade e maior tempo de exercício profissional revelaram maior competência e menor oportunidade. Os enfermeiros com maior tempo no atual serviço, apresentam maior competência, mas menor oportunidade, informação, suporte e globalmente, Empowerment Estrutural. Nurses who have spent a longer period of time in their current services show higher competence but less opportunity, information, support and, globally, a lower Structural Empowerment. In this professional category, specialist nurses’ opinion about information, resources and informal power is quite different from the one felt by the other nurses. Several nursing theories were developed and published, theories in which concepts that reflect the nature and the scope of nursing are selected and interrelate according to different philosophical perspectives (Cianciarullo, 2001)
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