Employees' Views of Their Work Experience in Private Hospitals

Abstract

Employees in 10 private for-profit hospitals responded to questionnaires regarding their work experiences, hospital facilities, and employer. Replicated results identified themes of employee opinions, including: Supervision, The Employer, Role Significance, Hospital Image, Competitiveness, Benefits, Cohesiveness, and Work Load. Only scores on the Role Significance scale differed between clinical and non-clinical respondents, with the former scoring higher. Survey methodology can be used to define an organization's culture from the employee's viewpoint. Their perception of this culture helps determine their behavior at work and their conveying the image of their facility in the community. The recent emphasis on quality improvement and 'bottom-up' management presents a particularly well-suited opportunity for the effective use of surveys. Quality improvement efforts involve employee groups which empower workers as active diagnosticians, internal consultants, and decision markers. Survey defined 'action levers' portray avenues along which such constructive efforts might be directed. Also, surveys identify themes through which management can evaluate organizational performance overall and department by department, building in means by which those responsible for units of the hospital can be accountable for achieving measurable results.

Measures for Predictors of Innovation Adoption

“…The Pasmore Sociotechnical Systems Assessment Survey (STSAS) measures employees' perceptions of organizational culture that can influence the employees' commitment and ideals (e.g., responsibility, helping an organization succeed) (Ingersoll et al, 2000). Similarly, the Hospital Culture Questionnaire measures organizational culture based on employee's viewpoints on organizational functions (e.g., workload), self-concept (e.g., hospital image, role significance), and support (e.g., benefits, supervision) (Sieveking, Bellet, & Marston, 1993). …”

“…It consists of 50 items rated on a five-point Likert scale (1=strongly agree; 5=strongly disagree) in eight domains: Supervision, Attitudes, Role Significance, Hospital Image, Competitiveness, Staff Benefits, Cohesiveness, and Workload (Sieveking et al, 1993). …”

Job Satisfaction as a Function of Job Level

“…Upper level managers also do not consistently report higher levels of job satisfaction. Given the relative importance of the actions and attitudes of managers on job satisfaction (Aronson et al, 2003), psychiatric hospitals must address the needs of managers via education and training, job recognition, and professional development opportunities (Numerof & Abrams, 2000;Sieveking, Bellet, & Martson, 1993).…”

“…The current lack of understanding is problematic because there is a well-documented connection between job satisfaction and both employee and psychiatric patient health and well-being (Buffum & Konick, 1982;Landeweerd & Boumans, 1988;Numerof & Abrams, 2000). Psychiatric hospitals, like many hospitals (Sieveking, Bellet, & Martson, 1993;Sieveking & Woods, 1992), have also been identified as difficult places to work (Buffum & Konick, 2000), and have high turnover (Prosser et al, 1999;Wykes, Stevens, & Everitt, 1997). Furthermore, ''burnout'' is common among mental health professionals (Cox & Leiter, 1992;Maslach & Jackson, 1986), but is particularly problematic for psychiatric hospital employees (Thornton, 1982).…”

“…Improving employee satisfaction is one of the most important methods to improve financial standing, since human resources are a hospital's greatest direct cost (Sieveking, Bellet, & Martson, 1993). Furthermore, vital organizational outcomes such as productivity, efficiency, and profit margins are positively related to worker satisfaction (Chan, Gee, & Steiner, 2000;Ellinger et al, 2002;Huselid, 1995).…”