Workplace empowerment, collaborative work relationships, and job strain in nurse practitioners.
OBJECTIVE
To test a theoretical model linking nurse practitioners' (NPs) perceptions of workplace empowerment, collaboration with physicians and managers, and job strain.


METHODS
A predictive, nonexperimental design was used to test a model in a sample of 63 acute care NPs and 54 primary care NPs working in Ontario, Canada. The Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire, the Collaborative Behaviour Scale--Parts A (physicians) and B (managers), and the Job Content Questionnaire were used to measure the major study variables.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study support the proposition that the extent to which NPs have access to information, support, resources, and opportunities in their work environment has an impact on the extent of collaboration with physicians and managers, and ultimately, the degree of job strain experienced in the work setting. Primary care NPs have significantly higher levels of workplace empowerment, collaboration with managers, and lower levels of job strain than acute care NPs.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings will benefit NPs and nursing leaders in their efforts to create empowering work environments that enable NPs to provide excellent quality patient care and achieve organizational outcomes.
Almost
Joan
J
School of Nursing, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. jmalmost@uwo.ca
Laschinger
Heather K Spence
HK
D000328:Adult; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D016294:Models, Nursing; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009745:Nursing, Supervisory / Q000458:organization & administration; D009864:Ontario; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*