Link of Patient Care Outcome to Occupational Differences in Response to Human Resource Management: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study on Hospital Doctors and Nurses in China

Abstract

This study assessed the link of patient care outcome to occupational differences in response to human resource management. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in three large regional hospitals in China. A total of 700 questionnaires were distributed to doctors, nurses, allied health workers, and managers and 499 (71%) were completed. Data were analyzed using a final sample of 193 doctors and 180 nurses. Quality of patient care was rated by the participants using a modified version of the Victorian Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire. Human resource management was measured on seven aspects: job security, recruitment, training, transformational leadership, information sharing, job quality, and teams. The differences between doctors and nurses in response to the human resource management practices and their associations with quality of care were compared through independent samples t-tests, correlational analyses, and moderator regressions. Doctors gave a higher rating on quality of patient care than their nurse counterparts. ‘Training’, ‘transformational leadership’, and ‘information sharing’ were more likely to be associated with higher ratings on quality of patient care in nurses. By contrast, a greater association between ‘teams’ and quality of patient care was found in doctors. Although doctors and nurses in China are exposed to the same hospital management environment, professional differences may have led them to respond to management practices in different ways.

A systematic review exploring the impact of focal leader behaviours on health care team performance

“…Nursing leaders who enacted transformational leadership behaviours facilitated professional development and high quality of care (Cheng et al, 2016; Rosengren et al, 2007) improved team climate and reduced burnout and turnover intention by strengthening social identification (Cheng et al, 2016). Transformational leadership improved patient safety metrics, including nurses' hand hygiene compliance (Huis et al, 2013), quality of patient care ratings (Liu et al, 2020), pressure ulcer performance and approaches to addressing operational failures (Frumenti & Kurtz, 2014). Results from a leadership training intervention illustrated that when compared to general transformational leadership, safety‐specific transformational leadership had significant effects on managers ratings of safety attitudes, intent to promote safety and self‐efficacy and on employee perceptions of safety climate outcomes (Mullen, 2005; Mullen & Kelloway, 2009).…”

How does social support affect public service motivation of healthcare workers in China: the mediating effect of job stress

“…For nurses and other healthcare workers, the impact of coworker support on PSM was not significant, that is, the challenge stress played a completely intermediary role. This is because they generally play a supporting role in the team and need the help from other coworkers to reduce the challenge stress like job load [ 78 ]. With less job load, they can perform better and feel happy with their work to satisfy the psychological needs and increase the complementary fit between the individual and organization, which strengthens their motivational base for public service [ 19 ].…”

Job Satisfaction and Hospital Performance Rated by Physicians in China: A Moderated Mediation Analysis on the Role of Income and Person–Organization Fit

“…There is a paucity in the literature documenting the effect of P-O fit on hospital performance despite some studies on its impacts on employees, especially nurses [ 16 , 17 ]. It is important to note that occupational differences also exist between medical doctors and nurses in their responses to management measures [ 22 ]. This study aims to test the effect of P-O fit on hospital performance in a sample of hospital doctors in China based on the following hypotheses:…”