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Demographic diversity, value congruence, and workplace outcomes in acute care
Author(s) -
Gates Michael G.,
Mark Barbara A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
research in nursing and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1098-240X
pISSN - 0160-6891
DOI - 10.1002/nur.21467
Subject(s) - diversity (politics) , ethnic group , nursing , job satisfaction , workforce , cultural diversity , workforce diversity , diversity management , health care , psychology , acute care , medicine , social psychology , sociology , political science , anthropology , law
Nursing scholars and healthcare administrators often assume that a more diverse nursing workforce will lead to better patient and nurse outcomes, but this assumption has not been subject to rigorous empirical testing. In a study of nursing units in acute care hospitals, the influence of age, gender, education, race/ethnicity, and perceived value diversity on nurse job satisfaction, nurse intent to stay, and patient satisfaction were examined. Support was found for a negative relationship between perceived value diversity and all outcomes and for a negative relationship between education diversity and intent to stay. Additionally, positive relationships were found between race/ethnicity diversity and nurse job satisfaction as well as between age diversity and intent to stay. From a practice perspective, the findings suggest that implementing retention, recruitment, and management practices that foster a strong shared value system among nurses may lead to better workplace outcomes. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health 35:265–276, 2012