Page 355 - Encyclopedia of Nursing Research

322 n NuRSe eNGAGeMeNT

for example, Magnet hospitals (Lake, 2007; toward work. Absorption entails full con-
Laschinger, Almost, & Tuer-Hodes, 2003). centration, being deeply engrossed in work,
N The dimensions of structural empowerment the quick passage of time, and a reluctance
are access to provision of information, sup- to detach oneself from work (Schaufeli,
port, opportunity, resources, and formal and Salanova, Gonzalez-Roma, & Bakker, 2002).
informal power (Kanter, 1977). Work engagement has been studied in
Preliminary findings from a recently a wide variety of occupational groups and
conducted national study by the author of is associated with many positive outcomes.
this chapter indicate a significant relation- engaged employees are committed to the
ship between nurses’ perceptions of struc- organization, display personal initiative,
tural empowerment and prevalence of have a strong motivation to learn, and are
HCAIs in acute care hospitals in Ireland. Data more likely to remain employed (Demerouti,
were drawn from two sources: (a) a national Bakker, De Jonge, Janssen, & Schaufeli, 2001;
postal survey of nurses’ perceptions of struc- Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004; Sonnentag, 2003).
tural empowerment in acute care hospitals Furthermore, engaged employees respond
Ireland and (b) Third Prevalence Survey of well to change, quickly adapt to a new envi-
Healthcare-Associated Infections in acute ronment, and easily switch from one activ-
care hospitals in Ireland. ity to another (Schaufeli & Salanova, 2007).
The magnitude and scope of the HCAI Work engagement is positively associated
burden worldwide appear to be very impor- with a decrease in health complaints, and
tant and greatly underestimated. Methods there is evidence that it is contagious in
to assess the size and nature of the problem groups (Demerouti et al., 2001; Schaufeli &
exist and can contribute to correct monitor- Bakker, 2004; Schaufeli & Salanova, 2007).
ing and to finding solutions. A lot has been Because work engagement is associated with
written on health care workers hand hygiene many positive employee and organizational
practices as a preventative strategy. Much outcomes, the study of nurse engagement
less has been written on the environment is important to the health and future of the
where health care workers deliver care and nursing profession.
its relationship to the risk of patients acquir- The investigation of work engagement
ing HCAIs. Findings from a national survey emerged after years of research on burn-
of nurses in Ireland make a cogent contribu- out. In fact, prior to 2002, work engagement
tion to extending this body of knowledge. was measured by the opposite pattern of
scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory,
Sile A. Creedon the instrument most often used to assess
burnout (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001).
Schaufeli et al. (2002) asserted that burn-
out and work engagement were not direct
Nurse eNgagemeNt opposites but were conceptually distinct
concepts that should be measured indepen-
dently. They argued that an employee who
Work engagement is defined as a positive, sat- is experiencing burnout is not necessarily
isfying, emotional state while working. It work engaged. Reversibly, an employee who
is characterized by vigor, dedication, and is low on work engagement may not neces-
absorption. vigor is exemplified by high sarily be experiencing burnout. In addition,
energy levels, mental resilience, and the moti- they argued that the relationship between
vation to invest effort at work. Dedication burnout and work engagement could not
is demonstrated by a sense of importance, be empirically studied if measured with the
enthusiasm, inspiration, pride, and challenge same instrument. As a result, they developed