Investigating the Impact of Organizational Justice on the Relationship Between Organizational Learning and Organizational Silence in Clinical Nurses: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Background: When nurses feel that the learning processes in their organization are fair and just, they are more likely to feel confident about sharing their knowledge, expressing their concerns, and contributing to the learning process. Conversely, suppose employees perceive a lack of organizational justice. In that case, they may be less likely to speak up and share their valuable input due to concerns about unfair treatment or possible negative consequences.

Objective: Nurses’ silence and organizational learning may have a connection yet to be thoroughly investigated. We are exploring whether organizational justice mediates this relationship by improving nurses’ perception of it and reducing silence among them.

Methods: A study was conducted in Ardabil, Iran, to analyze the correlation between organizational learning, organizational justice, and organizational silence among 319 healthcare professionals from five hospitals. The study utilized three assessment tools: the organizational learning questionnaire, the organizational justice scale, and the organizational silence scale. The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics, and a structural equation model (SEM) was developed using the bootstrap method in AMOS 24.0 to test the proposed model.

Results: Our study found a strong positive relationship between organizational learning and organizational justice and a significant negative correlation between organizational learning and silence. Also, there was a significant negative relationship between organizational justice and silence. SEM showed that organizational learning indirectly affects organizational silence through organizational justice as a mediator, explaining 72.3% of all variance in organizational silence.

Conclusion: Our findings indicated that organizational learning is positively associated with justice but negatively associated with silence. When nurses experience organizational justice, they are less likely to remain silent. Encouraging nurses to share their opinions and concerns reduces silence and improves working conditions, morale, and patient care. Further research is needed to understand the complex interplay between organizational learning, justice, and silence in nursing settings.