Perceived organizational climate and level of innovativeness among staff nurses in a private and public hospital in Iloilo

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the personal and work-related characteristics, perceived organizational climate and level of innovativeness of staff nurses in private and public hospitals in Iloilo. It further aimed to determine the personal and work-related characteristics of nurses in terms of age, sex, educational attainment, area of assignment, position length of service and type of hospital; perceived organizational climate in terms of autonomy , social support, teamwork, rewards and recognition and level of innovativeness; determine whether there is significant relationship between personal characteristics and work-related characteristics, perceived organizational climate and level of innovativeness.

This is a descriptive- relational study which involved 183 nurses in private and public hospitals in Iloilo. The data were collected, analyzed using through SPSS version 17 Software program for Windows.

The findings of the study show that majority of the nurses were 26-40 years old, with mean age of 29.28 years old, female, were bachelor’s degree holders, assigned in general wards, regular nurses, served the organization for 4 years and below with mean length of service of 4.38 years and in a private hospital.

Majority of nurses had a moderately favorable perception on organizational climate. A large percentage of nurses had highly favorable perception in terms of exercising autonomy and teamwork. They had a moderately favorable perception on the support by superiors and colleagues and reward and recognition received in the organization.

A greater percentage of nurses were fairly innovative to the organization. They think of ways to improve their daily nursing activities; search out new clinical nursing methods and approaches; encourage fellow coworkers to be enthusiastic and supportive about new methods in the department and pay attention to other activities that are not part of nursing activities.

There was no significant relationship between sex, educational attainment, area of assignment and type of hospital and perceived organizational climate. However, age, position and length of service were found to be significantly related with the nurses’ perceived organizational climate.

There is no significant relationship between age, sex educational attainment, area of assignment, position, length of service, type of hospital and level of innovativeness among nurses.

There was a significant relationship between perceived autonomy, social support, teamwork and rewards and recognition and level of innovativeness.

There was a significant relationship between perceived organizational climate and level of innovativeness among nurses at work.

Conclusions Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were made: 1. Most of the respondents were young, BSN degree holders and new in the organization. Predominantly, nurses were neophytes in the organization which entails an adjustment on their work environment. 2. A moderately favorable perception on organizational climate signifies that most of the nurses view their working environment positively. They affirm that their environment is conducive in carrying out their functions effectively. 3. Most of the nurses had a highly favorable perception in terms of autonomy and teamwork. They perceived that their environment provides nurses with greater chances to making decisions in their work and because they have healthy interpersonal working relationships as they worked well together in the organization. 4. In general they had a moderately favorable perception regarding social support and rewards and recognition. They confirmed that they were fairly supported by their superiors and coworkers as they positively interact with each their according to their performance. They somehow felt their sense of value in the workplace. 5. Personal and work-related characteristics such as sex, educational attainment, area of assignment and type of hospital were not significantly related to perception on organizational climate. Thus, it is likely that nurses have moderately favorable perception on organizational climate regardless of these characteristics. 6. Personal and work-related characteristics of nurses in terms of age, position and length of service were significantly related to perception on organizational climate. Therefore, respondents aged 26-40 years old, regular nurses and served the organization for 4 years and below were likely to have more favorable perception on organizational climate. 7. Personal and work-related characteristics such as age, sex, educational attainment, area of assignment, position, length of service and type of hospital do not have a significant bearing on the nurses’ level of innovativeness. Irrespective of their characteristics, the nurses were fairly innovative. 8. Perceived organizational climate in terms of autonomy, social support, teamwork and rewards and recognition has a significant influence on the level of innovativeness. 9. As a whole, perceived organizational climate is significantly related to the overall level of innovativeness of nurses. It can be deduced that the more favorable the perception of the nurses on organizational climate, the more likely that they can be innovative in the workplace.