A quasi-experimental study on a quality circle program in a Taiwanese hospital.

OBJECTIVE To explore the impact of quality circles on job satisfaction, absenteeism, and turnover among hospital nurses in Taiwan. DESIGN A quasi-experimental research design. SETTING In November 1995, a study was initiated to establish quality circles in a 500-bed community hospital in Taiwan. After the administrative process and a pilot study, three of the experimental units began implementing the quality circle program in January 1997. For the comparison group, three non-quality circle medical-surgical units were selected from another building. STUDY PARTICIPANTS All registered nurses on the three selected units who met the criteria of having worked full-time on those units for > or = 6 months were included in the study. There were 53 full-time registered nurses (49 female, four male) who met the criteria and 100% participated. There were no significant differences between the quality circle group and the non-quality circle group in terms of sex, age, and number of years of working experience, education or marital status. INTERVENTIONS After obtaining administrative approval and support, the pilot study began with 3-month quality circle courses and 3-month quality circle process training for the experimental group nurses. Each circle has been meeting for 1 hour each week to identify problems, barriers, and solutions for effective implementation since 1997. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES (i) Demographic data questionnaire; (ii) Stamps and Piedmont's Index of Work Satisfaction; (iii) hospital records for absenteeism and turnover data. RESULTS The data reveal that nurses of the three quality circle units felt more satisfied (P < 0.01) than did nurses from the three non-participating units. In the non-participating group, 36% had considered leaving the units, compared to 10% of nurses from the quality circle group. The turnover rate was significantly higher for the non-participating group (40%) than for the quality circle group (13%). CONCLUSION This quality circle program in a Taiwanese hospital significantly improved satisfaction, reduced absenteeism, and lowered turnover of nurses. The findings support other studies reported in the literature.