NURSES’ ENGAGEMENT LEVELS IN AN ITALIAN PUBLIC HEALTHCARE TRUST: FINDINGS FROM A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
Published: February 13 2025
Abstract Views: 30
PDF: 20
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
Introduction. Assessing nursing engagement and designing strategies to improve engagement according to the specific needs of the staff have been considered essential to avoid losing nurses, mitigate future shortages and improve patients' outcomes.
Objectives. To explore engagement levels of staff nurses working in an Italian public health-care trust comprising a general hospital, a rehabilitation hospital, district centers and mental health services, and their association with demographic and professional variables.
Methods. The Health Care Advisory Board's Nurse Engagement Survey (NES) was used to measure 547 nurses' engagement levels.
Results. Out of 499 nurses, 8% were engaged, 40% were content, 39% were ambivalent and 13% were disengaged.
According to the multiple linear regression analysis which has showed R 27.3% (R≥ 7.5%) of the variance in the total score of NES, being older than 45 years was associated with an increased likelihood of being work-engaged (B 0.121, [Confidence of Intervall CI 95% 0.066 to 0.457); differently, having the intention to leave the unit in the next three months (B -0.168, C1 95% -0.552 to -0.179), and working at the hospital levels as compared to other settings (e.g., Mental Health Service, B -0.150, CT 95% -0.140 to -0.038) were negatively associated with the WE.
Conclusions. Nursing leaders should prioritize strategies to increase Registered Nurses' engagement. Specific initiatives devoted to younger nurses and to those intending to leave the unit, as well as to those working at the hospital level, are needed given these groups have a higher likelihood to be not or poorly engaged.
Altmetrics
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Citations
1) Bakker AB, Albrecht SL, Leiter MP. Key questions regarding work engagement. Eur J Work Organ Psychol 2011; 20(1):4-28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2010.485352
2) Schaufeli W, Salanova M, Gonzalez-Roma V, Bakker AB. The measurement of engagement and burnout: a two-sample confirmatory factor analytic approach. J Happiness Stud 2002; 3:71-92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015630930326
3) Fiabane E, Giorgi 1, Sguazzin C, Argentero P. Work engagement and occupational stress in nurses and other healthcare workers: the role of organisational and personal factors. J Clin Nurs 2013 Sep; 22(17-18): 2614-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.12084
4) Jenaro C, Flores N, Orgaz MB, Cruz M. Vigour and dedication in nursing professionals: towards a better understanding of work engagement. J Adv Nurs 2010; 67(4): 865-875. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05526.x
5) Keyko K, Cummings GG, Yonge O, Wong CA. Work engagement in professional nursing practice: A systematic review. Int J Nurs Stud 2016; 61: 142-164. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2016.06.003
6) Garcia-Sierra R, Fernandez-Castro J, Martinez-Zaragoza F. Work engagement in nursing: an integrative review of the literature. J Nurs Manag 2016; 24(2): e101-e111. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12312
7) Xanthopoulou D, Bakker AB, Demerouti E, Schaufeli W. Work engagement and financial returns: a diary study on the role of job and personal resources. J Occup Organ Psychol 2009; 82: 183-200. 8) Halbesleben JRB. A meta-analysis of work engagement: relationships with burnout, demands, resources, and consequences. In: Bakker AB, Leiter MP (Eds.), Work Engagement: A Handbook of Essential Theory and Research. New York: Psychology Press, pp. 102-117, 2010. 9) Fasoli DJ. The culture of nursing engagement: a historical perspective. Nurs Adm Q 2010; 34(1): 18-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1348/096317908X285633
10) Bargagliotti LA. Work engagement in nursing: a concept analysis. J Adv Nurs 2012; 68(6): 1414-1428. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05859.x
11) Zwickel K, Koppel J, Katz M, et al. Providing professionally meaningful recognition to enhance frontline engagement. J Nurs Adm 2016; 46(7/8): 355-356. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000357
12) Advisory Board Company. Engaging the Nurse Workforce: Best Practices for Promoting Exceptional Staff Performance. Washington, DC: The Advisory Board Company, 2007.
13) Strumwasser S, Virkstis K. Meaningfully incorporating staff input to enhance frontline engagement. J Nurs Adm 2015; 45(4): 179-182. 14) Advisory Board Company. Advisory Board Nurse Engagement Survey. Washington, DC: The Advisory Board Company, 2014. 15) von Elm E, Altman DG, Egger M, et al. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies. J Clin Epidemiol. 2008; 61: 344e349. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000179
16) Sousa VD, Rojjanasrirat W. Translation, adaptation and validation of instruments or scales for use in cross-cultural health care research: a clear and user-friendly guideline. J Eval Clin Pract 2011; 17(2): 268-274. 17) Balducci C, Fraccaroli E. Comparison between the risk of mobbing at work and conditions of job strain and effort-reward imbalance in relation to stress-related disorders: a study in the public administration. Med Lav 2013; 104(1): 44-54. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2753.2010.01434.x
18) Guardini I, Deroma L, Salmaso D, Palese A. Assessing the trend in the aging of the nursing staff at two hospitals of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region: application of a deterministic mathematical model. G Ital Med Lav Ergon 2011; 33(1): 55-62.
19) De Simone S1, Planta A. The intention to leave among nurses: the role of job satisfaction, self-efficacy and work engagement. Med Lav 2017 Apr 21; 108(2): 87-97.
20) Rivera RR, Fitzpatrick JJ, Boyle SM. Closing the RN engagement gap: which drives of engagement matter? J Nurs Adm 2011; 41(6): 265-272. 21) Kuykendall JW, Marshburn DM, Poston CW, Mears A. Experienced nurses' level of engagement. J Nurs Adm 2014; 44(10): 546-551. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0b013e31821c476c
22) Fortunato E. Gli infermieri in Italia: quanti sono, che età hanno e come sono distribuiti. L'infermiere, Notiziario Aggiornamenti Professionali 2013; 57(4).
23) Gatti P, Ghislieri C, Cortese CG. Relationships between followers' behaviors and job satisfaction in a sample of nurses. PLoS One 2017 Oct 5; 12(10): e0185905. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185905
24) Advisory Board Company. The National Prescription for Nurse Engagement. Washington, DC: The Advisory Board Company, 2014. 25) Palese A, Vianello C, Cassone A, et al. Financial austerity measures and their effects as perceived in daily practice by Italian nurses from 2010 to 2011: A longitudinal study. Contemp Nurse 2014; 48(2): 168-180. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10376178.2014.11081938
26) Di Giulio P, Basso I. La voce degli infermieri sui tagli e le ristrutturazioni dei sistemi sanitari. Assist Inferm Ric. 2018; 37(1): 42-46.
27) Zwickel K, Koppel J, Katz M, et al. Translating market forces into frontline terms. J Nurs Adm 2016 Nov; 46(11): 552-554. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000402
28) Koppel J, Virkstis K, Strumwasser S, et al. Regulating the flow of change to reduce frontline nurse stress and burnout. J Nurs Adm 2015; 45(11): 534-536. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000258
29) Stevanin S, Palese A, Bressan V, Vehviläinen-Julkunen K, Kvist T. Workplace-related generational characteristics of nurses: A mixedmethod systematic review. J Adv Nurs 2018 Jun; 74(6): 1245-1263. doi: 10.1111/jan.13538. Epub 2018 Feb 28.
30) Koppel J, Virkstis K, Strumwasser S, et al. Broadering access to nontraditional development opportunities to drive frontline engagement. J Nurs Adm 2016; 46(2): 61-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000304
31) Bulfone G, Fida R, Alvaro R, Palese A. Job search behaviour, networking and outcomes among employed and unemployed Italian new graduate nurses. Nurs Econ. in press.
How to Cite
NURSES’ ENGAGEMENT LEVELS IN AN ITALIAN PUBLIC HEALTHCARE TRUST: FINDINGS FROM A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY. (2025). Giornale Italiano Di Medicina Del Lavoro Ed Ergonomia, 42(1), 35-43. https://doi.org/10.4081/gimle.437
Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Similar Articles
- Cristina Arrigoni, Rosario Caruso, Francesca Campanella, Francesca Gigli Berzolari, Daniela Miazza, Gabriele Pelissero, Investigating burnout situations, nurses’ stress perception and effect of a post-graduate education program in health care organizations of northern Italy: a multicenter study , Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia: Vol. 37 No. 1 (2015)
- Giulia Venturi, Giorgio Mattei, Barbara Pistoresi, Arturo Nora, Tindara Addabbo, Gian Maria Galeazzi, Work policies and mental health: social welfare integration As a tool to foster pathways to recovery , Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia: Vol. 43 No. 1 (2021)
- Fabriziomaria Gobba, Alberto Modenese, [New approaches and criteria for the development of the new guidelines of the Italian Association of Medical Radioprotection (AIRM) for the protection of the workers exposed to electromagnetic fields related risks] , Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia: Vol. 42 No. 4 (2020)
- Anna Ruggieri, Elisabetta Straface, Eugenio Sorrentino, [The Istituto Superiore di Sanità's focus on gender differences in the prevention and promotion of workers' health] , Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia: Vol. 39 No. 3 (2017)
- Alfredo Raglio, Stefania Bai, Camilla Figini, Marina Manera, Chiara Imbriani, Cira Fundarò, Michelangelo Buonocore, Music listening for people living with dementia: a systematic review , Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia: Vol. 44 No. 1 (2022)
- Ivan Borrelli, Roberta Pastorino, Paolo Emilio Santoro, Maria Rosaria Gualano, Maria Francesca Rossi, Rodolfo Buccico, Antongiulio Perrotta, Umberto Moscato, Nitrous oxide occupational exposure in conscious sedation procedures in endoscopic ambulatories: a pilot retrospective observational study in an Italian hospital , Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia: Vol. 44 No. 3 (2022)
- Silvana Salerno, Laura Dimitri, Lucilla Livigni, Andrea Magrini, Irene Figà Talamanca, [Mental health in hospitals. Analysis of risk conditions by department, age and gender aimed at developing good practices for nurses' health] , Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia: Vol. 37 No. 1 (2015)
- Marco Italo D'Orso, Ilaria Invernizzi, Stefania Di Mauro, Giancarlo Cesana, [The role of the Occupational Health Nurse in the supervision and training of workers: national and international overview] , Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia: Vol. 38 No. 4 (2016)
- Fabrizio Cedrone, Omar Enzo Santangelo, Sandro Provenzano, Enrico Alagna, Giulia Dallagiacoma, Angelo D'Ambrosio, Gianluca Voglino, Vincenza Gianfredi, ATTITUDE OF STUDENTS OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS TOWARDS A HEALTH CARE WORKERS’ MANDATORY VACCINATION: A MULTI-CENTER CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY , Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia: Vol. 42 No. 2 (2020)
- Rosario Caruso, Daniela Miazza, Francesca Gigli Berzolari, Anna Maria Grugnetti, Danuta Lichosik, Cristina Arrigoni, Gender differences among cancer nurses’ stress perception and coping: an Italian single centre observational study , Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia: Vol. 39 No. 2 (2017)
1-10 of 244
Next
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.