Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
Back to contents page
PERCEPTIONS OF ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATE:
ARE NURSES IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND SATISFIED
WITH THE CLIMATE OF THEIR ORGANISATIONS?
Elizabeth A. Curtis, P.hD.; M.Ed.; Dip. Research Methods; Dip.
Community Health and Health Promotion; RGN; ONC.
School of Nursing and Midwifery
Trinity College Dublin
24 D’Olier Street
Dublin 2, Ireland.
Contact Details: Telephone 896-3533 e-mail: curtise@tcd.ie
Background: This presentation is based on a large study which
examined organisational climate and job satisfaction among nurses
in the Republic of Ireland.
Organisational climate refers to the collective perceptions of
employees about the internal environment of an organisation and is
a major determinant of employee performance. A substantial
amount of research on organisational climate has been carried out
in educational institutions and business organisations. Few research
studies, however, have examined this important topic within
healthcare. Moreover, no known studies of this kind have been
completed within healthcare in the Republic of Ireland.
Aims: The study had several aims but only two are relevant to this
presentation. These are: to determine nurses’ perceptions of the
climate in the organisations where they work and to identify which
of six organisational climate factors nurses considered to be
satisfactory and which they regarded as unsatisfactory.
Method: This presentation represents the descriptive findings of a
study that utilised a mixed method design. Data relevant to
organisational climate were collected by means of a postal survey
and probability sampling was used to select the sample. This
sampling approach was used because it offers more accurate
generalisation to the target population.
Findings: Findings confirmed low to moderate satisfaction with
organisational climate. Specifically, respondents were moderately
satisfied with climate components such as humanistic thrust
(behaviour by the leader to move the organisation forward) and
disengagement (behaviour that describes a group that is not
focused on the tasks in hand) and less satisfied with components
- 185 -