Hospital Restructuring and Nursing Staff Well Being: The Role of Personal Resources¹

Abstract

This study examined the role played by two personal resources (job mobility options, financial resources) among nursing staff during a period of major hospital restructuring and downsizing. Data were collected from 1362 staff nurses using questionnaires. Personal resources were hypothesized to have both direct and indirect effects on job satisfaction and psychological well-being in a model of hospital restructuring and its effects. The model included four variables: extent of hospital restructuring, future threats to the workplace, job satisfaction and psychosomatic symptoms. LISREL analyses indicated that financial resources reduced perceptions of future workplace threats and psychosomatic symptoms, while job mobility options were associated with higher levels of job satisfaction.