title: Demographic diversity, value congruence, and workplace outcomes in acute care.
abstract: Nursing scholars and healthcare administrators often assume that a more diverse nursing workforce will lead to better patient and nurse outcomes, but this assumption has not been subject to rigorous empirical testing. In a study of nursing units in acute care hospitals, the influence of age, gender, education, race/ethnicity, and perceived value diversity on nurse job satisfaction, nurse intent to stay, and patient satisfaction were examined. Support was found for a negative relationship between perceived value diversity and all outcomes and for a negative relationship between education diversity and intent to stay. Additionally, positive relationships were found between race/ethnicity diversity and nurse job satisfaction as well as between age diversity and intent to stay. From a practice perspective, the findings suggest that implementing retention, recruitment, and management practices that foster a strong shared value system among nurses may lead to better workplace outcomes.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92812-4158, USA.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Gates
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Mark
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003422:Critical Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D006782:Hospitals, Special / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D012945:Social Values; D000078329:Workforce; D017132:Workplace