Differences of Hospitals’ Organizational Traits in Jordan: Nurses’ Perspectives

Aims: This study aims at comparing hospitals’ organizational traits and nurses and hospitals’ characteristics between teaching, governmental, and private hospitals in Jordan, as perceived by Registered Nurses (RNs). Methods: The Revised Nursing Work Index (NWI-R) 1 was used to collect data from a convenience sam of 295 nurses who were employed in two teaching hospitals, four governmental hospitals, and three pri hospitals. The total response rate of the current study was 59%. Findings: Significant differences were reported between the three types of hospitals in the following nurses and hospitals’ characteristics: shift worked, level of education, ages, average daily census, organizational structures, models of nursing care, decision-making styles, and areas of work. Based on means of the subscales, nurses' autonomy and their control over practice settings were the highest in teaching hospitals but the lowest in private hospitals. The strongest nurse-physician relationships were in governmental hospitals but the weakest were in teaching hospitals. Organizational support for nurses was the highest in teaching hospitals but it was the lowest in private hospitals. Based on the individual items of the scale, F-tests revealed that there were significant differences between the three types of hospitals in some organizational traits. Conclusions: There should be useful managerial tools that help in developing positive organizational traits such as improving nurses' autonomy and nurses' control over practice, enhancing nurse-physician relationships, and enhancing organizational support for nurses. These are considered important traits to produce positive outcomes for nurses, patients, and organizations.