Examination of Relationships among Organizational Characteristics and Organizational Commitment of Nurses in Western and Eastern Region of Nepal

Abstract

Introduction: The objective of this study is to identify relationships between three components of organizational commitment and organizational characteristics of nurses in the western and the eastern region of Nepal. Methods: A self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect data from 310 nurses currently working at various hospitals in the eastern and the western region of the country. The questionnaire included three sections namely 1) personal characteristics 2) organizational characteristics and 3) organizational commitments scale. Descriptive analysis and multiple regression analysis were performed to identify significance in various relationships. Results: Out of the 240 completed questionnaires, 226 were found valid for analysis. The mean age was 27.4 years. For each depended variable affective, continuance and normative commitment, multiple regression analysis was performed with personal Characteristics and organizational characteristics as independent variables. All independent variables were found significantly related to each of the two dependent variables; affective commitment and normative commitment (R2 adjusted=0.24, p<0.01 and R2 adjusted=0.05, p<0.01 respectively). However, they were not significantly related to the continuance commitment. Both support from boss (β=0.138, p<0.05) and satisfaction with training (β=0.301, p<0.05) were found to be positive and significant with affective commitment. On the other hand, satisfaction with training (β=0.191, p<0.05) was also positive and significant with normative commitment. Conclusions: Since both support from boss and training program were found to be positive and significant with affective commitment, hospitals must encourage supervisors to provide more assistance to the subordinate nurses. Moreover, hospitals should develop more training programs to keep nurses motivated.   Keywords: nursing management; organizational commitment; organizational characteristics; retention.