Social comparison and perceived envy‐motivated communication involving travel nurses: A qualitative study

Abstract

Aim This study investigated travel nurses’ perception of their communication and relational experiences with other nurses. Background It is common for nurses to offer and to accept help, especially since nurses enter and exit numerous nursing teams throughout their careers and sometimes several times within a single shift. The social norm of reciprocity suggests that nurses supported by other nurses will likely reciprocate in prosocial behaviour. However, when and whom one can or will help highlight differences in individuals’ ability to share and compete for personal and professional resources. Method Thematic analysis on data collected through semi‐structured interviews. Results Four categories of perceived envy‐motivated communication conceptualize nurses’ communication and relational experiences. Conclusion This study underscores the pervasiveness of social comparison and perceived envy‐motivated communication among nurses. Implications for Nursing Management Nurse managers should explore how they might leverage social comparison and the effects of envy to improve unit productivity. One strategy that nurse managers might adopt to promote fairness perception and trust is to communicate expressly how they allocate resources to their nurses. A sequential strategy to level the gap in nurses’ exposure to different ways of overcoming resource deficiencies is to encourage mutual learning as prosocial behaviour.

A scoping review of the nursing workforce's changing demography: Supporting Baby‐Boomer nurses

“…The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia implemented a float‐nurse residency programme as a strategic approach to manage its staffing needs; its central staffing office estimated that its 17 float nurses would help the 541‐bed hospital save $40,000 yearly in averting overtime expenditure alone (Agosto et al., 2017). While a heavy reliance on flexible staffing can lead to resentment among permanent nurses (Gan, 2020b), flexible staffing offers health care organisations viable alternatives to supplement their staffing needs safely.…”

Understanding the causes and consequences of envy among nurses: A scoping review

“…There were three quantitative articles (Da Silva João & Saldanha Portelada, 2019; Gharaei et al, 2020; Zhang et al, 2021), two qualitative articles (Gan, 2020b; Seitovirta et al, 2017) and one mixed methods article (Heikkinen et al, 1998). Two of the research studies took place in Finland.…”

Upward Comparison at the Workplace: A Review

“…Workers use social comparisons to establish self-evaluation, and they take advantage of this knowledge to regulate their attitudes and behaviors, according to the theory of social comparison (Festinger, 1954). (for reviews, see Buunk & Gibbons, 2007).Envy, according to this point of view, comes from social comparisons, usually social comparisons upwards with others, in different elements of the workplace (Braun et al, 2018;Brooks et al,2019;Celse et al, 2016;Dineen et al, 2017;Eissa & Wyland, 2016;Gan, 2019;Ghadi, 2018;Khan et al, 2017;Khan et al, 2014;Kim & Glomb, 2014;Lange et al, 2018;Lee et al, 2018;Li et al, 2017;Mao et al, 2020;Nandedkar, 2016;Navarro-Carrillo et al, 2018;Ng, 2017;Ogunfowora et al, 2019;Reh et al, 2018;Scot et al, 2015;Shkoler et al, 2019;Shu & Lazatkhan, 2017;Tariq et al, 2019;Thiel et al, 2020;Thompson et al, 2016;Treadway, 2019 andWang, 2018).…”

“…Because envious people do not have what envious people have, envious people, feel inferior to envious people. An in-depth study of the conceptualization of envy was conducted by Brooks et al (2019), Dineen et al(2017), Gan (2019), Khan et al(2014), Nandedkar (2016) A typological approach to envy. The third group of eight studies based on Van de Ven, et al(2009) on the concept of envy as a painful emotion caused by the good fortune of others.…”

“…On the one hand, as is customary when investigating envy, twelve studies examine it by attributing it to dysfunctional outcomes for both individuals and organizations. The following dysfunctional results were investigated: socially destructive behavior (Eissa & Wyland, 2016;Reh et al, 2018;Shu & Lazatkhan, 2017); counterproductive work behavior (Khan et al, 2014); exclusion from the workplace and health problems (Scott et al, 2015); lying behavior (Celse et al, 2016); communication problems (Gan, 2019); turnover (Erdil & Muceldili (Kim & Glomb, 2014).…”