Latent Profiles of Organizational, Occupational and Supervisor Commitment among Nurses and their Effects on Employee Well-being and Health

Abstract

Purpose Demographic changes have led to a shortage of nurses in the healthcare sector. Nursing staff and patients are getting older and nursing cases are becoming increasingly complex. As a result, nurses’ workloads and stress levels have increased, and employee turnover has risen. Adopting a person-centered perspective, this study examines the effects of nurses’ commitment profiles on their physical and emotional well-beingand other work-related outcomes. The profiles will will be extracted based on nurses’ affective, rational, and normative commitment to their organization, occupation, and supervisor. Design and Methodology A survey was conducted among 1029 nurses from all public hospitals, nursing homes and outpatient care services from the Swiss Canton of Solothurn. A latent profile analysis using Mplus was performed to extract the commtiment profiles and examine their associations with the outcome variables. Results Four commitment profiles were found that differ both quantitatively (in terms of commitment levels) and qualitatively (in terms of shape). Results show, among others, that nurses with a high affective but low rational and normative commitment to all three foci (occupation, organization, supervisor) show higher levels of emotional strain than other profiles (e.g., low commitment levels) but also greater levels of work-life-balance and health. Limitations The cross-sectional nature of the survey precludes causal inferences. Because all data were self-reported, the associations found between profiles and outcomes may be inflated. Implications for research The person-centered approach allows an examination of complex interaction patterns among commitment foci and dimensions and their associations with work-related outcomes. A longitudinalstudy is in order to better understand causal directions and the development of complex commitment profiles over time. Practical implications The study results are relevant to practices in human resource management and retention in the healthcare sector. Because the commitment profiles refer to a broad, within-person observation of nurses, it is important to address the whole individual in interventions targeted at the improvement of unbeneficial commitment profiles. A strict focus on single commitment foci or dimensions may not be enough. Orginality, Value To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive exploration of complex commitment profiles and their association with employee health and well-being in the nursing profession.