Title: SelfTranscendence and Work Engagement in Acute Care Staff Registered Nurses
1Self-Transcendence and Work Engagementin Acute
Care Staff Registered Nurses
Beth Palmer DNP, RN, ANP-BC, CNS, CCRN November
13, 2008
2Background
- People frequently choose to become nurses because
caring for others brings meaning to their lives
and gives them a sense that they are making a
difference in the world. - Registered nurses often choose to work in acute
care facilities because they find meaning in
caring for patients who are acutely and/or
critically ill.
3Background
- The desire to find meaning through ones work -
consistent with philosophy of Victor Frankl - Frankl believed striving to find meaning in life
is primary motivational force in mankind - Self Transcendence The ability of human beings
to find meaning in their lives by being directed
toward something, or someone, other than
themselves
4Background
- Self-Transcendence ? meaning
- When nurses derive meaning from caring
experiences ? increased commitment and engagement
with their work
5Problem
- Self-transcendence ? meaning
- Self-transcendence may be connected to nurses
relationship with their work - The relationship between self-transcendence and
work engagement has not been investigated
6Purposes
- To explore the levels and relationships of
self-transcendence and work engagement in Acute
Care Staff Registered Nurses.
7Theory of Self-Transcendence
Adapted from Reed, P. (2003). The Theory of
Self-Transcendence. In M. Smith P. Liehr
(Eds.), Middle Range Theory
for Nursing. New York Springer Publishing
Company, Inc.Adapted with permission of the author
8Research Questions
- What is the level of self-transcendence in Acute
Care Staff Registered Nurses? - 2. What is the level of work engagement in Acute
Care Staff Registered Nurses? - 3. What is the relationship between
self-transcendence and work engagement in Acute
Care Staff Registered Nurses?
9Literature Review
- Self Transcendence (ST)
- Is Universal
- Correlates with
- emotional well-being,
- spiritual well-being,
- sense of coherence,
- self esteem,
- hope,
- purpose in life,
- resilience,
- quality of life,
- health status,
- Nurses experience ST when they have life-changing
encounters with patients
- Work Engagement (WE)
- Correlates with Workplace
- job control
- job resource availability
- service climate
- autonomy
- appreciation
- Correlates with Personality
- extraversion
- mobility
- achievement striving
- In nurses Introspection leads to return to work
engagement
10Research Methods
- Descriptive, correlational study design
- Setting National Teaching Institute (NTI) -
annual national conference of the American
Association of Critical Care Nurses - 2008 held in large city in northern Illinois
- Sample
- Population 9,000 registered nurses
- Power analysis minimum sample size of 64
- (.05 significance level, 80 power, effect
size of 0.3)
11Operational Definitions
- Self-Transcendence
- Independent variable
- Self-Transcendence Scale (STS)
- Validity reported
- Internal reliability coefficient (.73-.93)
- Work Engagement
- Dependent variable
- Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES)
- Validity reported
- Internal reliability coefficient (.91-.96)
12Demographic Questionnaire
- Age
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Years in nursing
- Years of employment
- Educational level
- Work status
- Percentage of time spent in direct patient care
- Area worked
- Work-related role
- Certification status
Additional question To what extent does your
work in nursing give you an awareness of the
vulnerability of human beings?
13Recruitment Procedure
- Exempt status from Case Western Reserve
University IRB - Investigator seated at table in exhibition hall
- Participants who completed surveys received candy
bar
14Sample Characteristics
- Work
- of years in nursing
- 1-15 years (50.5)
- 15-gt30 years (48.2)
- Certification
- (51.7) Certified by AACN
- (10.3) Other Certification
-
- Personal
- Female (94.3)
- Caucasian (81.6)
- Age
- 41-50 years (32.2)
- 51-60 years (28.7)
- Highest Nursing Degree
- Associates Degree (36.8) Bachelors Degree
(48.4) -
-
15Instrument Reliability
- UWES
- Cronbachs alpha .90
- Subscales
- Vigor .80
- Dedication .85
- Absorption .70
16 Research Questions 1 2
- Level of Self-Transcendence
- Mean STS score 3.41, SD.32
- Level of Work Engagement
- Mean UWES score 4.61, SD.61
-
17Research Question 3
Relationship between
Self-Transcendence and Work Engagement
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level
Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level
18Additional Question
- To what extent does your work in nursing give you
an awareness of the vulnerability of human
beings? - Very Much (76)
- Somewhat (23)
- Indicates that these acute care nurses likely
experience vulnerability relating to their work
19DiscussionSample and Instrument Reliability
- Participants fairly representative of the overall
population - Reliability coefficients for study instruments
were acceptable and similar to those in previous
studies
20DiscussionResults of Research Questions
- Level of self-transcendence similar nurses in 2
prior studies - Level of self-transcendence higher than
non-nurses - Level of work engagement in this study
- Total UWES High end of Average
- Vigor Absorption High end of Average
- Dedication High
21DiscussionResults of Research Questions
- Significant positive correlation
-
- Self-Transcendence
-
- Work Engagement
22Limitations
- Use of convenience sample
- Minimally acceptable STS reliability coefficient
- Low UWES absorption subscale reliability
coefficient
23Implications
- Nursing administration - encourage and provide
opportunities for nurses to self-transcend - Clinical Nurse Specialists - model, nurture, and
educate staff about self-transcendence - Nursing educators - support students to
incorporate experiences of vulnerability into
development of self-transcendence ? meaning in
patient-care experiences
24Future Research
- Replication
- Intervention Testing
- Crossover of work-engagement in nurses
- Research must focus on discovering how to support
the positive, fulfilling, work-related state of
mind that will keep nursing a vibrant, fulfilling
and meaningful profession
25Conclusion
- First study exploring relationship between
Self-Transcendence (ST) and Work Engagement (WE) - Significant positive relationship found between
ST and WE - Nurses with higher levels of
self-transcendence had more energy toward and
were more dedicated and absorbed in their work -
- Key finding relating to nursing and nursing
faculty shortage -
- By teaching and nurturing self-transcendence in
nurses we can prepare and retain work-engaged
nurses who will thrive in and benefit our
challenging and constantly changing healthcare
environment.
26Thank you!QuestionsDiscussion