Empowerment and its effects on clinical nurses in central China

Background: Chinese healthcare institutions have undergone constant changes in recent years. A large number of research studies conducted on work-related factors revealed that nurses in China experienced a low level of job satisfaction and a high level of turnover intention. Empowerment is one of the most important concepts in nursing and is most relevant to the study of nursing professionals' job-related outcomes. Aim: The aim of this study was to test the Job Characteristics Model and the mediating role of structural empowerment on the relationships between the job characteristics and work-related outcomes among clinical nurses from central China. Methods: Three self-reported questionnaires were administered to a sample of 238 clinical nurses from two hospitals in central China. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation analysis and multiple linear regressions. Findings: Correlations were significant between job characteristics and job-related outcomes, and the estimated model on the effect of empowerment reduced the unique contribution of job characteristics on internal work motivation (from 17.2% to 13.0%) and general job satisfaction (from13.4% to 10.1%), and eliminated the unique contribution of job characteristics on growth satisfaction (from 18.4% to 0%). Conclusions: The results supported the Job Characteristics Model in a nursing sample and empowerment mediated the impact of job characteristics on internal work motivation and general job satisfaction partially and on growth satisfaction completely.