Correlating nurses

Page 1 of 14 Original Research Correlating nurses’ levels of Psychological Capital with their reward preferences and reward satisfaction Authors: Stacy A. Shelton1 Michelle Renard1 Affiliations: 1 Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa Correspondence to: Stacy Shelton Email: Postal address: PO Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa Dates: Received: 06 Feb. 2015 Accepted: 19 May 2015 Published: 16 Sept. 2015 How to cite this article: Shelton, S.A., & Renard, M. (2015). Correlating nurses’ levels of Psychological Capital with their reward preferences and reward satisfaction. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology/SA Tydskrif vir Bedryfsielkunde, 41(1), Art. #1271, 14 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ sajip.v41i1.1271 Copyright: © 2015. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS OpenJournals. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Read online: Scan this QR code with your smart phone or mobile device to read online. Orientation: Psychological Capital (PsyCap) is crucial for the effective performance of nurses, and may be influenced by rewarding employees according to their individual preferences. Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to establish whether relationships exist between nurses’ levels of PsyCap and both their reward preferences and levels of reward satisfaction. It also aimed to investigate whether demographic differences occurred across these variables. Motivation for the study: Currently there is limited research relating to PsyCap within the South African context, and none to date specifically related to the medical industry in South Africa. Moreover, it is vital that the reward preferences of nurses are taken into account when designing their rewards packages, in order for them to be satisfied within their respective medical institutions. Research approach, design and method: This quantitative study was conducted using nonprobability sampling, with 116 nurses within the public and private sectors of the Nelson Mandela Metropole medical industry completing the questionnaire. The instruments utilised were the Psychological Capital Questionnaire and the Reward Preferences Questionnaire. Main findings: It was found that the majority of the sample exhibited high levels of PsyCap. Correlations existed between PsyCap factors and certain reward preference and reward satisfaction factors. Significant differences occurred across the demographic variables of age, marital status, education level, tenure and sector. Practical/managerial implications: In order to maintain high PsyCap levels and ensure that nurses are satisfied, medical institutions should take individual reward preferences into account and reward their nurses accordingly. Contribution/value-add: These findings add to the current body of South African literature regarding PsyCap and reward preferences, and provide valuable insight into the use of rewards in improving levels of PsyCap within the medical setting. The consideration of nurses’ reward preferences when designing rewards packages can lead to enhanced PsyCap and improved reward satisfaction amongst nurses, possibly resulting in enhanced patient care. Introduction Nursing is an incredibly important profession to study as nurses’ performance will have a great impact on the care provided to patients (Othman, Ghazali & Ahmad, 2013). BeševićĆomić, Bosankić and Draganović (2014) state that nurses may experience high levels of job exhaustion and work overload and this provides an explanation as to why there is currently a global problem with nurses experiencing burnout. These authors provide evidence that nurses are experiencing low to moderate levels of burnout and high levels of depersonalisation in the service they provide to their patients. However, Peng et al. (2013) state that nurses who are hopeful, optimistic, resilient and have high levels of self-efficacy (that is, exhibit high levels of Psychological Capital – PsyCap) are more likely to excel at work and have positive work attitudes, and are less likely to depersonalise their service and experience burnout. Wang, Chang, Fu and Wang (2012) also provide evidence that PsyCap may drastically decrease levels of burnout experienced by nurses. Avey, Luthans and Jensen (2009) explain that PsyCap largely involves organisations concentrating on employees’ strengths and developing their weaknesses, rather than focusing on their vulnerabilities. Luthans, Youssef and Avolio (2007), as cited by Luthans, Norman, Avolio and Avey (2008), describe PsyCap as an individual’s positive mental state of development, which is characterised by having the confidence to take on challenging tasks (self-efficacy) and making a positive attribution about succeeding now and in the future (optimism). PsyCap also includes http://www.sajip.co.za doi:10.4102/sajip.v41i1.1271 Page 2 of 14 persevering towards goals and specifying paths to goals in order to succeed (hope) as well as sustaining and ‘bouncing back’ from problems or adversity in order to attain success (resiliency). Self-efficacy is defined as an individual’s belief about their abilities to mobilise the motivation, cognitive resources and courses of action required to successfully execute a specific task within a given context (Stajkovic & Luthans, 1998), whereas hope is defined by Snyder (2002, p. 249) as ‘the perceived capability to derive pathways to desired goals, and motivate oneself via agency thinking to use those pathways’. Moreover, Luthans (2012) defines optimism as a process in which internal attributions for success are triggered and a sense of positive expectations for the future develops. Finally, resilience is defined as ‘the positive psychological capacity to rebound, to “bounce back” from adversity, uncertainty, conflict, failure, or even positive change, progress, and increased responsibility’ (Luthans, 2002a, p. 702). As employees are individuals, they will have different demands and needs, and thus their reward preferences differ. Rewards are described by Chen and Hsieh (2006) as everything that employees perceive to be valuable as a result of the employment relationship. It typically includes cash compensation and benefits, as well as other non-cash rewards and the work experience (Chen & Hsieh, 2006). According to Linkow (2006) one way in which organisations can respond to the demands of employees is to begin to understand their reward preferences. Moore and Bussin (2009) highlight the importance of having remuneration packages that are tailored to the needs of the organisation’s employees by stating that this is likely to result in high levels of performance and overall job satisfaction. Chiang and Birtch (2012) state that reward preferences stem from a combination of motivations, preferences and values, and this may account for why reward preferences may be so varied from person to person. As st (...truncated)