Organizational climate and interpersonal interactions among registered nurses in a neonatal intensive care unit: A qualitative study

Abstract

Aim The aim of this work is to describe the organizational climate and interpersonal interactions experienced by registered nurses in a level III neonatal intensive care unit. Background Neonatal nurses have a demanding task in caring for a varied, highly vulnerable patient population and supporting patients' families. Nurses' psychosocial work environment affects quality of care as well as nurses' job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Method Semistructured interviews with 13 nurses, covering numerous aspects of their psychosocial work environment, were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results High staff turnover and a preponderance of inexperienced nurses were described as stressful and detrimental to group cohesion. Work at the unit was considered overly demanding for newly qualified nurses, while senior nurses expressed frustration at the work of training new nurses who might not stay. While some were very satisfied with the group climate, others complained of a negative climate and incivilities from some experienced nurses toward new recruits. Conclusions High turnover and variable competence among staff present challenges for maintaining a positive organizational climate. Implications for Nursing Management Management should communicate a clear sense of the nature of neonatal intensive care when recruiting, foster group cohesion (e.g., by creating stable work teams) and reward commitment to working at the unit.

The perceived effects of generational diversity on supervision of new professional nurses in public hospitals

“…These results concur with this study as it was pointed out that there is a lack of trust among the parties. Furthermore, the results of this study concur with the results of the study conducted in Sweden by Bry and Wigert ( 2022 ). The study reported that senior nurses being the supervisors perceived that there was a generational shift in attitudes concerning the way they communicate with recently graduated nurses as they felt that new professional nurses could not tolerate being corrected and took things as personal (Bry & Wigert 2022 ).…”

“…Furthermore, the results of this study concur with the results of the study conducted in Sweden by Bry and Wigert ( 2022 ). The study reported that senior nurses being the supervisors perceived that there was a generational shift in attitudes concerning the way they communicate with recently graduated nurses as they felt that new professional nurses could not tolerate being corrected and took things as personal (Bry & Wigert 2022 ). There is no doubt that this reported disharmony between the two parties might affect negatively the new professional nurses’ professional growth as well as patient care if not properly handled.…”

How robots impact nurses' time pressure and turnover intention: A two‐wave study

“…Turnover intention is important to nurse managers as it reduces perceived patient‐centered care and aspects of care quality (Huang et al, 2021). Moreover, nurses' turnover increases managerial burdens, for example, to recruit and train new nurses (Bry & Wigert, 2022). The literature has examined various possible means of reducing turnover intention, including an improvement in working environment (Al‐Hamdan et al, 2017; Chang et al, 2019), enhancing affective commitment (Huyghebaert et al, 2019), enhancing emotional intelligence (Al‐Hamdan et al, 2020) and resilience (Yu et al, 2021), and enhancing job satisfaction (Gillet et al, 2018; Halcomb & Bird, 2020).…”