Impact of professional commitment on professional capability improvement and care quality dimensions: A multi-wave study
Journal
Journal of Clinical Nursing
Journal Volume
30
Journal Issue
44814
Pages
1285-1294
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Abstract
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine how the three dimensions of professional commitment impact professional capabilities improvement and five key dimensions of care quality. BACKGROUND: While professional commitment is known to retain nurses, we do not know how its three dimensions-affective, continuance and normative commitment-formulate five care quality dimensions: assurance, reliability, responsiveness, empathy and tangibles. DESIGN: We used a three-wave, follow-up design to follow a sample of nurse participants. METHODS: We collected responses from 430 nurses who worked for a medical centre in Northern Taiwan during 2017-2019. Most (78.9%) of the respondents had an age between 20-40 years. We used Professional Commitment Scale of Meyer et al. (Journal of Applied Psychology, 1993, 78, 538) and Care Quality Scale of Teng et al. (Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 2010, 41, 301). STROBE statement was chosen as EQUATOR checklist. RESULTS: We found that affective professional commitment is positively related to intention to improve professional capabilities, action to improve professional capabilities and thus to four dimensions of care quality: assurance, reliability, responsiveness and empathy. CONCLUSIONS: Our model explains how three key dimensions of professional commitment contribute to care quality. Our findings support the link between action to improve professional capabilities and dimensions of care quality. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nursing managers can inform nurses of positive patient feedback, thus enhancing nurses' affective professional commitment, which would likely motivate their devotion to upgrading their professional capabilities, thus further contributing to the quality of the care they provide.
Type
journal article