Relationships of organizational behavior/mission congruence with burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction among nurses

Objective

The current study focuses on organizational culture as a determinant of well-being among nurses.

Background

Nurse well-being is an increasing concern for organizational operations and patient care quality. There are limited studies on the aspects of organizational culture, such as leadership and perception of organizational mission, that relate to clinician well-being.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey study was conducted among nurses in a U.S. hospital. Measures were professional quality of life, organizational culture, and authentic leadership. Statistical methods were used to analyze findings.

Results

Among the nurses (N = 147), after controlling for significant demographic factors, organizational culture and authentic leadership had significant correlations with burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction. In multivariate analyses, organizational culture was a significant predictor for burnout and compassion satisfaction.

Conclusion

This study provides empirical evidence that organizational behavior is important to staff well-being. Organizations that act with fidelity to their missions of caring and quality patient care are more likely to have nursing staff that are emotionally healthy in the workplace.