Development of an instrument for measuring clinicians’ power perceptions in the workplace

Abstract

We report on the development of an instrument to measure clinicians' perceptions of their personal power in the workplace in relation to resistance to computerized physician order entry (CPOE). The instrument is based on French and Raven's six bases of social power and uses a semantic differential methodology. A measurement study was conducted to determine the reliability and validity of the survey. The survey was administered online and distributed via a URL by email to 19 physicians, nurses, and health unit coordinators from a university hospital. Acceptable reliability was achieved by removing or moving some semantic differential word pairs used to represent the six power bases (alpha range from 0.76 to 0.89). The Semantic Differential Power Perception (SDPP) survey validity was tested against an already validated instrument and found to be acceptable (correlation range from 0.51 to 0.81). The SDPP survey instrument was determined to be both reliable and valid.

The association between perceived personal power, team commitment and intrinsic motivation for permanent and temporary workers

“…Power. We measured power from the perspective of the employee using a semantic measure developed by Bartos et al (2008). The Semantic Differential Power Perception (SDPP) survey uses a semantic differential methodology using bipolar word pairs to map identification and localization of attitudes in a subject's thought process.…”

“…The survey measures subjects' perceptions of their power using positive and negative meanings of power by asking respondents to indicate where their attitudes lie with respect to different aspects of power. Word pairs were derived from the literature on social power and antonyms were derived from a thesaurus (Bartos et al, 2008). Examples of word pairs are Secrets/Communication, Honesty/Dishonesty and No Authority/Authority.…”

Power and trust in organizational relations: an empirical study in Turkish public hospitals

“…Physicians are the main actors in the hospital sector, and other health personnel, such as nurses, have secondary roles, supporting physicians in handling the main medical tasks (Isosaari, ). Physician power resides more so in expertise, competences and liabilities than in formal authority (Bartos et al ., ). The dominance of physicians' authority depends on their expertise, specialized knowledge and resource handling.…”

“…The sources of physicians' power are more complex in a hospital environment. For instance, legitimate power stems not only from their structural position but also from their legal authority within their field of expertise (Bartos et al ., ). Apart from legitimate power, an expert base is one of the most prominent bases for physicians, as knowledge, clinical skills and expertise are widely esteemed by all in healthcare settings.…”

“…Apart from legitimate power, an expert base is one of the most prominent bases for physicians, as knowledge, clinical skills and expertise are widely esteemed by all in healthcare settings. Referent power is also significant because of the supervisory role adopted for training subordinates and gaining patients' confidence (Bartos et al ., ). In addition to their clinical duties, administrative responsibilities shape the power base on which physicians rely while performing clinical and administrative tasks.…”