Engaging new nurses: the role of psychological capital and workplace empowerment

The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesised model linking perceptions of workplace empowerment and psychological capital (PsyCap) to new graduate nurses’ work engagement by integrating theories of empowerment, PsyCap and work engagement. In response to the nursing shortage, efforts are needed to retain nurses by creating empowering work environments that leverage employee PsyCap to foster work engagement. A secondary analysis of data ( n = 205) from a study by Laschinger et al. (2012) was conducted to test the hypothesised model. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was used to test the influence of empowerment and psychological capital on new graduate nurses’ work engagement. Measures of structural empowerment (Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II), PsyCap (Psychological Capital Questionnaire) and work engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale) were used. The hypothesised model was supported. The combined effect of workplace empowerment and PsyCap explained 38% of the variance in new nurses’ work engagement. Workplace empowerment and PsyCap were significant independent predictors of work engagement ( β = 0.45 and 0.36, p < 0.05, respectively). The results suggest that the combination of personal and organisational resources is related to greater work engagement among new graduate nurses.