Empowering Nurses: Explaining the Role of Organizational Learning and the Dynamics of the Learning Environment

Introduction: Researchers acknowledge that different educational and contextual factors can influence human resource development. Because of stress in hospital wards environment and lack of personnel’s support for student, personnel’s aggressive tempers, the supporting of nursing students is an important factor. Therefore, The present study aims to investigate the role of educational environment dynamics in the relationship between organizational learning and empowerment of nurses. Methods: With respect to study goal the research method is descriptive and correlational in terms of purpose and method of data collection. The statistical population of the study consisted of 582 nursing students in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in the academic year of 2017-2018. Using the Morgan table and random stratified sampling, 232 students were selected. The research tool was three questionnaires that the validity and reliability of the tool were confirmed by content validity and Cronbach's alpha. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, structural equation method and SPSS 23 and Smart PLS 2 software. Result: Findings indicate that organizational learning affects the dynamics of nurses' educational environment and empowerment. The dynamics of the educational environment has a significant and positive impact on nurses' empowerment. The results of path analysis also showed that the dynamics of the educational environment plays a mediating role in the relationship between organizational learning and empowerment of nurses. The findings showed that 48% of the total effect of organizational learning on nurses' empowerment is mediated by the dynamics of the educational environment. Also the value of GOF = 0.69 confirms the very good fit of the research model. Conclusion: Organizational learning leads to learning human resources and involves specific organizational behavior that is performed in the learning organization. That is, organizational learning leads to the dynamics of the nursing education and empowerment environment, which is a human resources management tool that can guide human resources to increase productivity as well as enhance the learning of the whole system, especially the educational system. Keywords: Organizational learning, Educational environment dynamics, Empowerment, nurses