A Correlational Study to Assess The Job Adjustment and Service Attitude of Male Nurses Working in Private Hospitals of Udupi and Mangalore Districts, Karnataka

Introduction

The shortage and turnover of nurses is a critical problem worldwide. Compared with female nurses, the number of male nurses is increasing. Many people view nursing as a woman's profession; men have three major gender barriers in the nursing education process such as social isolation, refusal to address individual learning needs and the lack of acknowledgement of men in nursing profession. Male nurses may face the gender stereotype that women are more affectionate than men. Service attitude of nurses may affect their intention to leave and the quality of health care rendered to their patients.¹

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Figure 1

Pie diagram showing job adjustment among male nurses

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Back ground of the study

The shortage and mobility of nurses is a concern for health care administrators worldwide. Compared with female nurses, the number of male nurses is increasing, but it is still at a low proportion in the field. Men represent 10.2% of registered nurses in the UK (Oxtoby 2003) and only 5.9% in the US are male, 3.6% in Denmark and 3.5% in Japan in 2002 (Genua 2005). For the diversity of patient care services, Sherrod et al. (2005) pointed out that people need to forget gender stereotypes and that nurse managers should increase the proportion of male nurses to 50%¹

While nurse turnover has been associated with many factors, low job satisfaction is arguably the most frequently cited one. Although the correlation between job satisfaction and actual turnover is only moderate, the relationship appears stable and can be empirically assessed through the effect of job satisfaction on turnover intent, which has been identified as the most immediate antecedent to turnover.²

A study was conducted by Knoop R in Brock University, Ontario, Canada about the relationship among job involvement, job satisfaction and organizational commitment of 171 nurses. The result showed that the involvement was not related to overall satisfaction but only to two specific things, such as satisfaction with work and promotional opportunities. In contrast, the degree of relationship between overall and various facets of satisfaction and commitment and between involvement and commitment was moderately high³.

A correlational study conducted by Velayudhan A and Gayatridevi S on the impact of daily hassles on job satisfaction of nurses and physiotherapists in Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore found that job satisfaction plays pivotal role in determining the work and personal efficacy of an individual. Results of the study showed that as daily hassles of nurses and physiotherapists increase, their self-esteem, preference towards the working environment and the sense of interpersonal relationship decreases, whereas job security remains the same. The findings revealed that nurses experienced greater share of daily hassles when compared to physiotherapists⁴.

Objectives

• To determine the job adjustment pattern among the male nurses.

• To assess the service attitude among male nurses.

• To find the relationship between job adjustment and service attitude among male nurses.

The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of job adjustment on service attitude of male nurses. This will help the health care organizations and professionals in helping male nurses get adjusted to their job which in turn can improve their service attitude.

Materials and methods

Descriptive correlational survey design was selected for the study to find the relationship between job adjustment and service attitude among male nurses. Simple random sampling was used for the selection of the hospitals from Udupi and Mangalore districts of Karnataka state.From the selected hospitals, all male nurses who fulfilled the sampling criteria were selected as samples. Sample consisted of 146 male nurses who were working as staff nurse for the past six months.

The data collection instruments include demographic proforma, job adjustment scale, and service attitude scale. Tools were developed by the researcher and validated by seven experts. The job adjustment scale consisted of 25 items. Each item was scored on a four point scale to indicate the degree of agreement: strongly agree (4), agree (3), disagree (2), strongly disagree (1). The maximum score was 100 and minimum was 25. The scores were arbitrarily classified as poor job adjustment (25-49), moderate job adjustment (50-74), good job adjustment (75-100).The service attitude scale consisted of 22 items. Each item was scored on a four point scale to indicate the degree of agreement: strongly agree (4), agree (3), disagree (2), strongly disagree (1). The maximum score was 88 and minimum was 22. The level of service attitude was arbitrarily classified as unfavourable service attitude (22-44), favourable service attitude (46-88).

The reliability of the toolswas established by using Cronbach's alpha. The reliability coefficient of the job adjustment scale was (α= 0.78) and service attitude scale was (α= 0.77). Data were collected during January and February 2013 after obtaining administrative permission and participant's informed consent. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the analysis of the data, on the basis of objectives and hypotheses using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 16.

Data were analyzed for normal distribution by using Kolmogorov-Smrinov test. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used as the data was not following normal distribution. In order to find the association between job adjustment and selected variables; likely hood ratio was used as the data was not following normal distribution.

Results

Section 1: Description of the sample characteristics

The data presented in table 1 shows that majority 90 (60.80%) of the male nurses belongs to the age group of 20-25 years. Most 60 (40%) of them were with clinical experience of 6months to 2 years. 67(43.30%) of them were with the educational qualification of BSc Nursing and 64 (42.20%) of them were with GNM qualification. Majority 69 (46.60%) were Christians and 67(45.30%) were Hindu by religion. Description of job adjustment among the male nurses

The pie diagram presented above shows that majority 107(72.3%) of the male nurses belongs to the moderate job adjustment level, 38(25.7%) of them belongs to the good job adjustment level, and only 1(0.70%) belongs to poor adjustment.

Description of service attitude among male nurses

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Figure 2

Pie diagram showing service attitude among male nurses.

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The above pie diagram shows that majority 145(99.30%) of the male nurses had favourable service attitude and 01(.07%) of them had unfavourable service attitude.

Relationship between job adjustment and service attitude

Data presented in the table 2 shows that there is significant positive relationship between job adjustment and service attitude. Therefore it is inferred that as the job adjustment increases the service attitude also increases.

Discussion

Job adjustment

In the present study majority 107(72.3%) of the male nurses belongs to the moderate job adjustment level, 38(25.7%) of them belongs to the good job adjustment level, and only 1(0.70%) belongs to poor adjustment

The findings of the present study were supported by a study conducted by Yi M and Jezewski MA on Korean nurse's adjustment to hospitals in the United States of America. Grounded theory method was used for sampling procedure, data collection and analysis and the five categories which composed the process were: (1) relieving psychological stress; (2) overcoming the language barrier; (3) accepting USA nursing practice; (4) adopting the styles of USA problem-solving strategies; and (5) adopting the styles of USA interpersonal relationships. From the perspective of the nurses in the study, the initial stage lasts about 2 to 3 years. The remaining two categories are principal components of the later stage. It takes an additional 5 to 10 years to complete this stage. The study highlighted both distress and accomplishments of Korean nurses during their adjustment to USA hospitals.⁵

Relationship between job adjustment and service attitude

The present study revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between job adjustment and service attitude. The finding is supported by a study conducted by Lou JH, Li RH, YuHY and ChenSH to explore the relationship between lob adjustment and service attitude of male nurses in Taiwan. Data were collected from 284 male nurses using the job adjustment scale and service attitude scale. Results showed a significant positive relationship between job adjustment and service attitude. (r= 0.07, p< 0 .01).¹

A cross sectional study was conducted by Johnson A, Hong H, Groth M and Parker SK to assess the impact of learning and development on nurse's performance and work attitudes also supports the present study findings. The study was conducted at a large metropolitan hospital in Australia. Eighty-five per cent of participants were female, with an average age of 36 years (ranging from 19 to 64 years) and average tenure at the hospital of 5.7 years.

Eighty-one per cent of participants worked full-time, 16% part-time and 3% were casual workers. The results showed a clear association between learning and development activities and work attitudes and performance. Developing clinical practice improved self-rated performance and coaching improved work attitudes. In addition, role breadth self-efficacy and flexible role orientation mediated these relationships and emerged as important mechanisms in the link between learning and development and work attitudes and performance.⁶

Conclusion

The following conclusions can be drawn on the basis of the findings of the present study: Majority of the male nurses had moderate level of job adjustment and were with favourable service attitude. There was a significant relationship between job adjustment and service attitude.