Caregivers' job satisfaction and empowerment before and after an intervention focused on caregiver empowerment.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate a training programme aimed at strengthening caregivers' self-esteem and empowering them, and also to study correlations between psychological empowerment and job satisfaction.


BACKGROUND
Structural and psychological empowerment have received increased attention in nursing management, yet few intervention studies on this topic, based on theoretical assumptions, have been conducted in elderly care.


METHODS
Data on self-assessed psychological empowerment and job satisfaction were collected in an intervention (n = 14) and a comparison group (n = 32), before and after the intervention.


RESULTS
When compared over time in the respective groups, there were significant improvements in the intervention group regarding the factor criticism (job satisfaction scale). There were no statistically significant differences in the comparison group. Total empowerment and all factors of empowerment correlated positively with total job satisfaction. Six out of eight factors of job satisfaction correlated positively with total empowerment.


CONCLUSIONS
Caregivers' perception of criticism can improve through an intervention aimed at strengthening their self-esteem and empowering them. Implications for nursing management Intervention focused on psychological empowerment and especially caregivers' communication skills seems to be beneficial for caregivers. Recommendations are to increase the programme's length and scope and to include all staff at the unit. However, these recommendations need to be studied further.
Engström
Maria
M
Department of Caring Science and Sociology, University of Gävle, Kungsbäcksvägen 47, Gävle, Sweden. Maria.Engstrom@hig.se
Wadensten
Barbro
B
Häggström
Elisabeth
E
D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003142:Communication; D003625:Data Collection; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D011209:Power, Psychological; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D016730:Program Development; D011594:Psychometrics; D012649:Self Concept; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors