Study On Conceptual Framework And Evaluation Tool Of Nurses’ Perceived Professional Benefits

Objective:To explore what the nurses can benefit from their work in China and develop aconceptual framework of nurses’ perceived professional benefits based on reviewing recentresearch and qualitative interview. To develop a evaluation tool of nurses’ perceivedprofessional benefits based on the conceptual framework, as well as to examine thereliability and validity of the tool, so that we can access the level of nurses’ perceivedprofessional benefits in China and direct the nursing managers and nursing teachers tocarry out interventions on nurses and nursing students to promote their professionalpsychological health in the future.Methods:①A qualitative research approach was adopted. A purposive sampling strategyincorporated with snowballing strategies was used to recruit participants from2primary,2secondary and8tertiary hospitals and1sanatorium in Shanghai. The sample ofparticipants was selected to vary by post, professional title, department and socialdemographic characteristics to ensure the data contained a diverse sample. A total of23nurses were deeply interviewed. All of the interviews were recorded on digital recorders,and the transcribed into word documents. Data analysis method of the grounded theory wasused to coding and refining themes.②Developed the nurses’ perceived professionalbenefits questionnaire. The first draft of the questionnaire was developed according to theconceptual framework, and then the formal questionnaire was formed after the experts’consultation and survey of274nurses. The content validity, construct validity, as well asinternal reliability, split-half reliability were tested. The convenience sampling was usedand the sample for survey comprised274registered nurses. The relationship of nurses’professional benefits and burnout (measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory) wereassessed by correlation matrices and regression analysis.Results:①The professional benefits that have been identified by nurses are multifaceted andgeneral. A conceptual framework of nurses’ perceived professional benefits includes fivethemes. They are positive professional perception, good patient-nurse relationship,recognition from families and friends, a sense of belonging to work team and personal growth. The conception of Nurses’ perceived benefits is defined as “the benefits and gainsnurses perceived from their job, and they approve that being a nurse can promote personaldevelopment.”②Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the Nurses’ perceived professionalbenefits questionnaire ranged from0.828~0.963, split-half reliability ranged from0.799~0.925, and the item-CVI was0.830~1.000. The principal components factoranalysis with orthogonal rotation was conducted and yielded five factors based on thecriteria of Eigenvalues greater than1.00, explaining64.173%of the total sample variance.Scores on the five dimensions of Nurses’ perceived professional benefits questionnairesignificantly correlated with the Maslach Burnout Inventory (r=0.209-0.564; P<0.01). Theresults of multiple stepwise regression analysis indicate that positive professionalperception have an negative effect on emotional exhaustion (Beta=-1.370), and personalgrowth have an negative effect on depersonalization (Beta=-0.402) and a positive effect onpersonal accomplishment (Beta=-0.767).Conclusion:This study defined the conception of nurses’ perceived professional benefits anddeveloped a conceptual framework of it as well. Basing on the five themes of nurses’perceived professional benefits in qualitative research and experts’ consultation, wedevelop a nurses’ perceived professional benefits questionnaire with high reliability andvalidity. The survey illustrated that nurses’ perceived professional benefits had a predictiveeffect on their professional attitude. This study can provide a theoretical basis and toolsupport of cross-sectional study and intervention study of nurses’ perceived professionalbenefits in the future.