Relationship Between Knowledge Management and Quality of Working Life in Nursing Staff of Zahedan Teaching Hospitals, 2014

Abstract

Background: Knowledge management is an attempt to discover the hidden treasure of knowledge in the minds of people and turn this treasure to organizational assets so that people who are involved in the decision making of the organization can use it. Besides, the application of knowledge management, as an organizational improvement technique, is required to assess the quality of working life (QWL). Objectives: This study aimed to determine the association between knowledge management and dimensions of QWL in nurses working in Zahedan teaching hospitals. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, all nursing personnel of six teaching hospitals in Zahedan, 2014, were selected using the stratified random sampling. Data were collected using two standardized Likert-style questionnaires. Data were then entered into SPSS 17.0 software and analyzed using Pearson, t test and the one-way ANOVA test. Results: Knowledge management score in single and younger participants was higher compared to other participants and it was lower in the larger hospitals. Quality of working life score in the smaller hospitals was higher than the larger hospitals (P = 0.002). There was a strong correlation between knowledge management and all dimensions of QWL in teaching hospitals (P = 0.001). Conclusions: Knowledge management can improve the QWL in nursing personnel in Zahedan teaching hospitals. Based on the findings of the study, hospital managers, especially head nurses, could play a crucial role in improving QWL by institutionalization of knowledge management in nursing personnel and sharing and developing knowledge to advance the practice.