Nurses' Professional Commitment and Its Effect on Patient Safety


  •  Zaid Al-Hamdan    
  •  Heyam Dalky    
  •  Jehan Al-Ramadneh    

Abstract

AIMS & OBJECTIVES: The project was designed to assess the level of professional commitment among Jordanian Registered Nurses and examine how professional commitment among nurses relates to patients' safety.

BACKGROUND: Professional commitment has received a great deal of interest worldwide. Nurses constitute the largest group of healthcare professionals that spend a majority of their time at the bedside in direct patient care. Nurses have an important role in improving patient safety and providing quality of care.

DESIGN: A descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational design was used to answer the research questions.

METHODS: A convenience sampling of 180 nurses selected from three accredited hospitals (governmental, private and university-affiliated teaching hospitals) completed two questionnaires; Professional Commitment Questionnaire (PCQ) and a Patient Safety Scale. Descriptive statistics, correlation coefficient, independent sample t-test, and one-way ANOVA test were used in data analysis. 

RESULT: Nurses' professional commitment was significantly and positively correlated with patient safety. Registered nurses perceived that their level of commitment was medium (M=3.47; SD=1.58 of a 7 point scale), with the highest mean recorded for nurses working in governmental hospitals (M=3.88; SD=1.53).  The level of perception of issues related to patient safety was slightly higher than the midpoint (M=5.94; SD=1.38 of a 9 point scale). Nurses' professional commitment was influenced by gender t (158 =-2.33; p =.02), nursing experience in current hospitals (r=- 0.193; p=0.01), current hospital sector (F=4.334, p=0.01), and monthly salary (F=12.327, p=0.000). Patient safety was influenced by nurses' educational level (F=3.306, p=0.03).

CONCLUSION: This study provides a preliminary understanding of how professional commitment of registered nurses can enhance patient safety. Managerial support was deemed necessary to enhance nurses' professional commitment, which, in turn, improves healthcare outcomes.


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