Psychological capital, grit and organizational justice as positive strengths and resources among registered nurses: A path analysis

Abstract

Aim To examine registered nurses' individual strengths (psychological capital and grit) and an organizational resource (organizational justice) as well as associated work‐related outcomes. In a time of a global nursing shortage, there is an urgent need to identify strengths and resources that can have a positive impact on the health, well‐being and retention of registered nurses. Design A cross‐sectional survey. Methods A nationwide convenience sample of 514 registered nurses responded to a survey. Data were collected using a self‐reported questionnaire between March and May 2018. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multivariate path analysis. Results Participants rated their psychological capital and grit moderately high. Grit and organizational justice were found to have significant direct effects on psychological capital. Furthermore, psychological capital had positive direct effects on engagement and the perception of well‐conducted everyday nursing as well as negative direct effects on burnout, the stress of conscience and the intent to leave the profession. Conclusion The results suggest that nurse leaders and managers could consider improving registered nurses' well‐being with two complementary approaches. It might be useful to reinforce positive, individual strengths, such as psychological capital, and at the same time create more favourable nursing work environments, for example by strengthening organizational justice. Implications for the Profession Psychological capital and grit are emerging concepts in nursing workforce research. Identifying registered nurses' positive strengths and resources is important for inventing interventions that enhance nurses' engagement and well‐being as well as reduce turnover intentions. Impact Nurse leaders and managers play crucial roles in managing and developing registered nurses' individual strengths and organizational resources. This has gained even more importance now as the COVID‐19 pandemic could have a long‐term negative impact on nurses' well‐being. Reporting Method The study is reported following STROBE guidelines. Patient or Public Contribution No patient or public contribution.

Psychological Capital and Turnover Intention: The Mediating Role of Burnout among Healthcare Professionals

“…Positive responses to workplace stimuli engender constructive attitudes, such as work engagement, empowerment, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, which substantively contribute to personal and occupational well-being. [59,87,88]. This may elucidate the research community's deep-seated interest in investigating fac-tors that enhance individual psychological resources and mitigate burnout and turnover intentions [88,89].…”

“…[59,87,88]. This may elucidate the research community's deep-seated interest in investigating fac-tors that enhance individual psychological resources and mitigate burnout and turnover intentions [88,89].…”

Registered nurses' psychological capital: A scoping review

“…RNs reporting higher PsyCap scores have also reported higher work engagement in 11 studies (Bonner, 2016;Flinkman et al, 2023;Grover et al, 2018;Jin et al, 2022;Lu et al, 2023;Pan et al, 2017;Shaheen et al, 2019;Tian et al, 2023;Wang et al, 2017;Wu & Lee, 2020;Zhang et al, 2023). Furthermore, RNs indicating higher PsyCap, have reported higher organizational commitment (Huo et al, 2020;Peng et al, 2013;Zhou, Yang, et al, 2018), affective commitment (Brunetto, Rodwell, et al, 2016) and a higher intention to remain in the organization (Luthans & Jensen, 2005).…”

“…PsyCap has correlated negatively with many RNs' undesired work-related outcomes. It correlated negatively with burnout in 12 studies Bae et al, 2021;Bao & Taliaferro, 2015;Flinkman et al, 2023;Kim & Kweon, 2020;Li et al, 2019;Liu et al, 2021;Peng et al, 2013;Tang et al, 2023;Yıldırım et al, 2021;Zhou, Yang, et al, 2018;Zhu, Shen, et al, 2021), with stress in five studies (Hao et al, 2020;Kim & Kweon, 2020;Liu et al, 2021;Xue et al, 2022;Yim et al, 2017) and with psychological distress in three studies (Brunetto, Rodwell, et al, 2016;Xiao et al, 2022;Zhou et al, 2017). health and well-being has been highlighted as an important component in retaining the healthcare workforce (Anderson et al, 2021).…”

Relationship between shift assignments, organizational justice, and turnover intention: A cross‐sectional survey of Japanese shift‐work nurses in hospitals

“…In addition, the psychosocial work environment is an important factor affecting turnover intentions (Hayes et al, 2012;Sheng et al, 2023). In particular, organizational justice is reported to be a strong determinant of turnover and retention intentions (Flinkman et al, 2023;Zhou et al, 2022). Organizational justice is defined as the perception among organizational members about fairness within an organization and is broadly classified into the procedural aspects of organizational decision-making and their consequences (Greenberg, 1987;Leventhal et al, 1980;Moorman, 1991).…”