Comparing the impact of management on public and private sector nurses in the UK, Italy, and Australia

The research examined the impact of management upon employee outcomes (perceptions of discretionary power, well-being, engagement, and affective commitment), comparing public and private sector nurses in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Overall, 1,945 nurses participated in a self-report survey within these core- and laggard-New Public Management countries. While management influenced employee outcomes for each country, there were significant differences between the public and private sectors, with private sector nurses reporting higher perceptions of outcomes. Importantly, nurses’ engagement was affected by management practice for each country. This study raises important implications for nurse managers, especially public sector managers, described within

Coordination in climbing: effect of skill, practice and constraints manipulation

BACKGROUND: Climbing is a physical activity and sport involving many subdisciplines. Minimization of prolonged pauses, use of a relatively simple path through a route and smooth transitions between movements broadly define skilled coordination in climbing. OBJECTIVES: To provide an overview of the constraints on skilled coordination in climbing and to explore future directions in this emerging field. METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted in 2014 and retrieved studies reporting perceptual and movement data during climbing tasks. To be eligible for the qualitative synthesis, studies were required to report perceptual or movement data during climbing tasks graded for difficulty. RESULTS: Qualitative synthesis of 42 studies was carried out, showing that skilled coordination in climbing is underpinned by superior perception of climbing opportunities; optimization of spatial-temporal features pertaining to body-to-wall coordination, the climb trajectory and hand-to-hold surface contact; and minimization of exploratory behaviour. Improvements in skilled coordination due to practice are related to task novelty and the difficulty of the climbing route relative to the individual's ability level. CONCLUSION: Perceptual and motor adaptations that improve skilled coordination are highly significant for improving the climbing ability level. Elite climbers exhibit advantages in detection and use of climbing opportunities when visually inspecting a route from the ground and when physically moving though a route. However, the need to provide clear guidelines on how to improve climbing skill arises from uncertainties regarding the impacts of different practice interventions on learning and transfer

The need for fresh blood: understanding organizational age inequality through a vampiric lens

YesThis article argues that older age inequality within and across working life is the result of vampiric forms and structures constitutive of contemporary organizing. Rather than assuming ageism occurs against a backdrop of neutral organizational processes and practices, the article denaturalizes (and in the process super-naturalizes) organizational orientations of ageing through three vampiric aspects: (un)dying, regeneration and neophilia. These dimensions are used to illustrate how workplace narratives and logics normalize and perpetuate the systematic denigration of the ageing organizational subject. Through our analysis it is argued that older workers are positioned as inevitable ‘sacrificial objects’ of the all-consuming immortal organization. To challenge this, the article explicitly draws on the vampire and the vampiric in literature and popular culture to consider the possibility of subverting existing notions of the ‘older worker’ in order to confront and challenge the subtle and persistent monstrous discourses that shape organizational life

A model of older workers\u27 intentions to continue working

Purpose – This study aims to conceptualise the notion of “older workers\u27 intentions to continue paid working” (OWICW) and to validate a scale for measuring the impact of work-related factors on older workers\u27 intentions to continue in employment. Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical framework for this investigation was the meaning of working (MOW) model. The study uses a cross-sectional, survey-based, self-report strategy to gather data. Findings – The findings were that OWICW is a function not only of factors previously tested (health and financial factors), but also of four work-related variables – the importance of working to the individual, the flexibility of working arrangements, the individual\u27s interests outside of work, plus management and organisational factors (such as supervision, bureaucracy and the work environment). Practical implications – The implications of these findings include providing a framework to begin addressing the challenge of retaining valued older workers so as to attend to the growing shortage of labour across OECD countries. Originality/value – This paper extends the Meaning of Work model to explain the impact of work-related factors on the intentions of older workers to continue in employment, and at the individual level of analysis

The intention to continue nursing: work factors affecting three nurse generations in Australia

Aims.  The aims of the study were to examine how seven variables impacted upon the intention of hospital nurses to continue working as nurses and to investigate whether there are generational differences in these impacts. Background.  There is a critical shortage of trained nurses working as nurses in Australia, as in many other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries. The retention of nurses has been examined from the traditional management perspectives; however, this paper presents a different approach (Meaning of Working theory). Methods.  A self-report survey of 900 nurses employed across four states of Australia was completed in 2008. The sample was hospital nurses in Australia from three generational cohorts – Baby Boomers (born in Australia between 1946 and 1964), Generation X (1965–1979) and Generation Y (1980–2000). Results.  Six variables were found to influence the combined nurses’ intentions to continue working as nurses: work–family conflict, perceptions of autonomy, attachment to work, importance of working to the individual, supervisor–subordinate relationship and interpersonal relationships at work. There were differences in the variables affecting the three generations, but attachment to work was the only common variable across all generations, affecting GenYs the strongest. Conclusion.  The shortage of nurses is conceptualized differently in this paper to assist in finding solutions. However, the results varied for the three generations, suggesting the need to tailor different retention strategies to each age group. Implications for management and policy planning are discussed

Managing older worker exit and re-entry practices: A 'revolving door'?

This paper reports findings from an Australian study about the post-employment experiences of older persons who had left the full-time workforce (either voluntarily or involuntarily). It examines their perceptions about seeking re-employment in terms of

The impact of supervisor-subordinate relationships upon nurse engagement, wellbeing, organisational commitment and turnover intentions in Australia

Australia, similar to many other countries, suffers a shortage of skilled nurses. Calls have been made for contributions to effectively managing this turnover challenge. Using Social Exchange Theory, this paper therefore examines the impact upon turnover intentions of satisfaction with supervisor-nurse relationships and training, levels of engagement and organisational commitment, for nurses working in Australian hospitals. This paper reports findings from 520 nurses working at 12 Australian hospitals. Data was collected using a survey-based, self-report strategy. Our findings suggest that almost half of nurses’ organisational commitment and turnover intentions can be explained by the quality of their relationships with their supervisors, their satisfaction with training and development opportunities, and their levels of engagement. Discussion of these findings in included

The impact of supervisor-subordinate relationships on nurses\u27 ability to solve workplace problems: implications for their commitment to the organization

This chapter uses the structural and relational dimension of social capital theory (SCT) as a lens for examining the impact of the supervisor–subordinate relationship on nurses\u27 perceptions of the usefulness of their workplace networks, sociability, and affective commitment. A survey was used to collect data from 1,064 Australian nurses. The findings suggest that nurses rely on very small workplace networks (typically only one other person) with which they have strong ties. Further, in over half of the cases, the supervisor (the Nurse Unit Manager (NUM)) holds the centric position. Moreover, for those nurses who did not include the NUM in their workplace network, their position appears even worse. For example, the usual reason given by nurses for not including the NUM was that the NUM was unavailable. This is a concern for health care management because the past two decades have delivered many changes to the nursing profession, including a reduction in the number of nursing positions and subsequent higher workloads. The consequences suggest that without effective workplace networks, nurses are working under conditions where solving problems is more difficult

The impact of supervisor-subordinate relationships on morale: implications for public and private sector nurses\u27 commitment

This paper used leader-member exchange theory as a lens for comparing the impact of the supervisor- subordinate relationship on public and private nurses\u27 perceptions of morale and affective commitment. Many countries that are part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development are experiencing nurse shortages, and this theoretical framework proved insightful into factors contributing to turnover. The findings suggested that private sector nurses are significantly more satisfied with their supervision, enjoy greater morale and are more committed to their organisations. However, both groups were only slightly satisfied with their supervisor-subordinate relationships, implying that present management practices are not ideal for promoting effective workplace relationships. Implications for health-care management are discussed

Communication, training, well-being, and commitment across nurse generations

Within a context of global nurse shortages, replacing nurses is difficult; training and retention is a critical concern for healthcare management. Similarities and differences in the impact of supervisor-nurse relationships upon satisfaction with training and development, well-being and affective commitment were examined across 3 different nursing generations in Australia. Nine hundred nurses from 7 private hospitals (small, medium, and large) across Australia responded. Path analysis, using an ordinary least squares approach, and multivariate analysis were used to test the hypotheses. Three factors accounted for almost half the variance of Generation Xs’ and Baby Boomers’ and a third of Generation Ys’ affective commitment. Practical implications for hospital management include differences in generations and the pivotal role of nurse supervisors. For all 3 generations of nurses, supervisor-subordinate communication relationships are important because they contribute to satisfaction with training and development and well-being, but also significantly impact affective commitment