Co-worker relationships and their impact on nurses in Irish public healthcare settings

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a secondary analysis of data arising from a quantitative study of 3769 nurses on co-worker relationships and their impact on nurses working in public healthcare settings in Ireland. The overall findings from this analysis suggest moderate to high levels of satisfaction with co-worker relationships, with an average scale mean of 77%. Statistically significant lower scale means were identified in respect of nurses whose basic nursing qualification was awarded in a country outside the EU, among students and among those working in the west of Ireland. Respondents intending to leave the healthcare workforce reported significantly lower scores (74%) on this index compared with those intending to stay (79%). Significant positive correlations between co-worker relationships and workplace engagement (0.233), job satisfaction (0.225), organisational commitment (0.221) and perception of managers (0.259) were identified. These findings have implications for the retention of nurses working in Irish public healthcare services.