Empowerment, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment: comparison of permanent and temporary nurses in Korea

Abstract 

Aim

This study was conducted to describe and compare empowerment, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment between permanent and temporary nurses in Korea.

Background

Since Korea's economic crisis of 1997, Korea's labor market has been undergoing dramatic modification, and the rate of temporary nurses employed in health care organizations has gradually increased. However, studies focusing on nurses' employment status, which potentially affect the individual and hospital organization, have been rarely conducted.

Methods

This was a descriptive comparative study. The convenient sample of 416 nurses from 19 hospitals in Korea completed a structured questionnaire.

Results

Overall, permanent nurses presented higher levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and empowerment than did temporary nurses.

Conclusions

The results of this study indicated that health care administrators should develop strategies to close the gap of perceptions between permanent and temporary nurses in Korea. The results of this study also imply that such opportunities and compensation plans related with administrative recognition should be made available to the temporary nurses to manage their workforces more efficiently.