Organizational commitment among physicians: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Purpose Physicians work increasingly in larger organizations across different health care delivery systems. This systematic review examines the published empirical literature on organizational commitment among physicians within an international context. Design A systematic, PRISMA-guided review examining studies of organizational commitment among physicians published over time. Four article databases and a combination of appropriate search terms aided in identifying relevant articles. Findings Key findings include: (a) physicians, regardless of country, personal characteristics, type of job, or place of employment generally have lower levels of organizational commitment than other health care workers; (b) work- and job-related variables, particular age and job satisfaction, shape physicians’ organizational commitment; and (c) organizational commitment and the factors that shape it are similar across physicians working in different health systems. Review implications: Organizational commitment should remain central for researchers to study in most health systems internationally. Larger samples, longitudinal research, and greater use of theory are design improvements that will strengthen the extant research. The findings imply that if healthcare organizations create workplaces that make physicians feel in control, do not overwhelm them with work, provide a supportive culture, enhance their ability to give input, and keep them job satisfied, they may gain enhanced organizational commitment. Originality and value: To our knowledge, this is the first review of research examining organizational commitment among physicians. It is a resource for researchers and managers interested in learning more about aligning physician thinking and behavior with health care organizations.

Psychological Safety and Affective Commitment Among Chinese Hospital Staff: The Mediating Roles of Job Satisfaction and Job Burnout

“…Dawon Baik et al’s research focused on nurses also supported our results and suggested a supportive team atmosphere, such as sufficient psychological safety, could mitigate workplace frustration and make employees more satisfied with their jobs and more likely to stay in their jobs. 19 Our findings also echo Hoff et al’s observation 11 that workplaces in which physicians felt in control of their jobs without undue stress and were satisfied with their jobs were likely to gain enhanced commitment. As negative psychological processes often have stronger effects than positive ones, 55 (reducing) job burnout offers a substantial way to counteract commitment issues induced by the lack of psychological safety.…”

“…9 , 10 The disparity between professional commitment and organizational commitment creates a paradox where those who benefit more from training may have a higher possibility of turnover because of high job marketability and low affective commitment. 8 , 11 …”

“…Employees with high job satisfaction are more likely to have positive attitudes and a strong sense of identity and belonging to their organizations than those with low satisfaction. 11 A positive and satisfying work experience also implies that employees’ ex-ante job expectations are met or exceeded, and these fulfilled expectations contribute to employees’ commitment. 27 Previous studies confirmed that nurses with high job satisfaction reported strong affective commitment to their hospital.…”

Model of Organizational Commitment Applied to Health Management Systems

“…Physicians tend to have lower levels of organizational commitment than other health care workers, regardless of country, personal characteristics, type of work, or place of employment [ 87 ]. However, they tend to be more satisfied with their work than nurses in the same hospitals [ 88 ].…”

“…However, they tend to be more satisfied with their work than nurses in the same hospitals [ 88 ]. In their case, the variables related to organizational commitment are: age and job satisfaction [ 87 ]. On the other hand, nurses tend to be more satisfied with their work climate and more committed to their organization [ 43 ].…”