Nurses' Career Commitment and Job Performance - Semantic Scholar

NURSING RESEARCH

Nurses’ Career Commitment and Job Performance: Differences across Hospitals Majd T. Mrayyan, PhD, RN Associate Professor and Dean, Faculty of Nursing The Hashemite University Zarqa, Jordan Ibrahim Al-Faouri, PhD, RN Assistant Professor, Faculty of Nursing The Hashemite University Zarqa, Jordan

Abstract The interrelatedness of nurses’ career commitment and job performance is debated. In nursing, few studies have focused on the relationship between the two concepts. A convenience sample of 640 registered nurses (RNs) from 24 hospitals was recruited. A comparative design was used to assess differences among governmental, teaching and private hospitals in regard to the concepts measured. In general, nurses were found to “agree” that they had a lifelong commitment to their careers, and that they were performing “well” their jobs in accordance with standards. Hospitals in the sample differed in most demographics except in gender, areas of work and decision-making styles. Based on the total scores of nurses’ career commitment, there were no significant differences across hospitals. Based on the total scores of nurses’ job performance, F-tests indicated some differences; the highest mean was at private hospitals. Using dimensional means of nurses’ job performance uncovered no significant differences among hospitals. Individual items of nurses’ job performance subscales differed, in some cases significantly, particularly for nurses working at private hospitals: nurses’ career commitment was correlated positively and significantly with their job performance.

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Nursing Leadership Volume 21 Number 2 • Online Exclusive • 2008

Consistent with the current researchers’ hypothesis, nurses’ career commitment appears to influence job performance and is influenced by the nurses’ characteristics and organizational factors in the workplace. Enhancing nurses’ career commitment and their job performance should produce positive outcomes for nurses, patients and organizations.

Hospitals face increasing pressure to control costs, reduce staff and redesign clinical settings. With these escalating pressures, the remaining employees are usually asked to do more work for less remuneration. Thus, it is important for hospitals and nursing administrators to understand the concept of career commitment (Leal-Muniz 2005). In the literature, the concepts of organizational commitment and career commitment are used interchangeably (Meyer et al. 2002). Some studies suggest that a unique relationship exists between career commitment and job outcomes such as performance (Meyer et al. 2002; Leal-Muniz 2005). Researchers and practitioners seek to understand the factors that influence individuals’ motivation to meet job standards and remain with an employer. An understanding of the variables that influence nurses’ career commitment and the outcomes of that commitment could contribute to delivery of high-quality care, retention of a strong workforce and improved healthcare institutions (Leal-Muniz 2005). The Jordanian healthcare system consists of 30 governmental hospitals, 58 private hospitals, 11 military hospitals, two teaching hospitals and many healthcare centres (58 comprehensive, 370 primary, 406 maternity and paediatric, 274 dental) (Ministry of Health 2007). Accordingly, acute and chronic cases are treated in these settings under various types of health insurance (governmental, self-paid and military). Funding of these settings depends upon their ownership. In relation to the concepts under investigation, an important difference among these organizations is that private hospitals and teaching hospitals have better work environments and organizational climates than governmental hospitals; the latter suffer a huge shortage of registered nurses and, in turn, have heavy workloads. Teaching hospitals, compared to private and governmental hospitals, have restrictive rules and regulations, as these hospitals are university affiliated. Although governmental and military hospitals are characterized by centralized management, nurses preferred to work in them because they offer greater job security. Yet, newly graduated nurses and older nurses who have retired from governmental and military hospitals often enter or rejoin the workforce through private hospitals. With their stronger financial base, private hospitals are better

Nurses’ Career Commitment and Job Performance: Differences across Hospitals

at integrating technology and evidence-based practice into daily clinical practice, and this factor may contribute to more motivating work environments. The purpose of this study was to answer the following research questions: (1) What are the differences among teaching, governmental and private hospitals in term of nurses’ career commitment? (2) What are the differences among teaching, governmental and private hospitals in terms of nurses’ job performance? and (3) What is the relationship between nurses’ career commitment and their job performance? Significance of the Study A literature review revealed no studies that explored the relationships among the concepts of organizational climate, career commitment and job performance. A few studies linked career commitment to job performance (Fort and Voltero 2004; Leal-Muniz 2005; McCloskey and McCain 1988; Somers 2000; Wright and Bonett 2002). The focus on career commitment is scanty in the nursing literature; the concept seems to be “psychology-focused.” In psychology, research on career commitment started in the 1950s. However, in nursing, studies were limited until the 1970s (Gardner 1992). Job performance has been an area of nursing research for the last three decades. Regardless of the topic under study, comparative nursing studies are mainly carried out between teaching and non-teaching hospitals (Polanczyk et al. 2002) or particular types of units or wards (Happell et al. 2003).

The variety of hospitals in Jordan – with their diverse organizational climates, decision-making styles, models of nursing care, financial status, job security, technological advancement, staff development and types of patients – can be predicted to influence nurses’ career commitment and job performance. This study is the first nursing research in Jordan that relates nurses’ career commitment to their job performance, and the first international study that compares the concepts of interest among governmental, teaching and private hospitals. This study is a part of a large-scale study conducted in Jordan in 2005. The study as a whole aimed at assessing variables of nurses’ career commitment and their job performance in different clinical settings and hospitals. A comparative study was performed to assess differences among critical care units and wards in regard to the target concepts. In the current study, an exploration of the differences among hospital types sheds light on the influence of organizational climate on nurses’ career commitment and their job performance. Literature Review A review of the nursing literature revealed no consistency in the treatment of the variables of career commitment and job performance. In some studies (e.g.,

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McCloskey and McCain 1988), job performance is treated as an independent variable that influences career commitment, while in others, (e.g., Gardner 1992) it is treated as a dependent variable that is influenced by job performance. In the current study, the assumed relationship between the two concepts is that nurses’ career commitment influences their job performance. The following terms appear in studies of career commitment: organizational, professional, occupational and work commitment (Allen and Meyer 1990; Mueller et al. 1990; Gardner 1992; McNeese-Smith 1997; Meyer et al. 1993; Cohen 1998; Cowin 2002; Ingersoll et al. 2002; Zangaro 2001). For the purpose of this paper, career commitment is defined and used as the attractiveness of nursing as a lifelong occupation (Blau 1985; Gardner 1992; Meyer et al. 1993; Cohen 1998; Zangaro 2001). None of the studies reviewed explored the relationships among organizational climate, career commitment and job performance. However, career commitment was linked to job performance (McCloskey and McCain 1988; Somers 2000). Career commitment has been studied as a dependent variable as well as an independent one. Nurses’ job performance has been studied indirectly in many research studies. For example, a causal relationship was found between job satisfaction and organizational commitment in models of employee turnover (Currivan 1999; Price and Mueller 1981; Tett and Meyer 1993). A similar relationship may exist between nurses’ job performance and their organizational commitment. Career commitment and job performance are interrelated concepts that influence and are influenced by other variables. For instance, job satisfaction and career intent influence organizational commitment (Ingersoll et al. 2000, 2002). Job satisfaction and organizational culture are strong predictors of career commitment (Sikorska-Simmons 2005), and may similarly influence nurses’ job performance. The many variables that influence nurses’ career commitment include gender (Karrasch 2003) and education (Sikorska-Simmons 2005). Nurses’ job performance is defined as actions that can be observed and measured against some standard (McConnell 2003; Schwirian 1978). Supportive communication and feedback (Fort and Voltero 2004), motivation (McConnell 2003), recognition of achievement (Fort and Voltero 2004), age (Reid and Dawson 2001), work satisfaction (McConnell 2003; Tzeng 2004), competent nursing practice (Meretoja et al. 2004), career competencies (Tzeng 2004), workload (Reid and Dawson 2001) and social support (AbuAlRub 2004) are variables that influence nurses’ job performance.


Positive work history, high professionalism, intention to stay in the job and high motivation are important factors because they may predict nurses’ career commitment and, in turn, their job performance (Cohen 1998; Gardner 1992; Leal-Muniz 2005; McCloskey and McCain 1988; Somers 2000; Wright and Bonett 2002; Zangaro 2001). Finally, career commitment and job performance have such positive outcomes as decreased incidence of tardiness and absenteeism from work (Cohen 1998; Corser 1998; Dahlke 1996; Leal-Muniz 2005). Nurses’ job performance is influenced by their career commitment and many other variables. The literature review indicated a need for more research studies in this area. Research Methods Procedures To measure Jordanian nurses’ career commitment and job performance, of a possible 1,100 nurses from all hospitals, a convenience sample of 640 nurses was recruited from 24 hospitals: two teaching hospitals, 11 governmental and 11 private hospitals in the middle, northern and southern governorates of Jordan, for a total response rate of 58.1%. The distribution of the 640 nurses was 416 from teaching hospitals (response rate, 65.0%), 124 from governmental hospitals (response rate, 19.4 %) and 100 from private hospitals (response rate, 15.6%). The varied response rates could be related to the fact that only RNs were included in the study; teaching hospitals employ mainly RNs, while other hospitals employ a mixture of RNs and practical nurses (PNs). Total scores for the concepts of nurses’ career commitment and job performance were created; these may mitigate the effect of varied response rates on the study’s results and conclusions.

A demographic form was designed by the first author consisting of questions about gender, marital status, shifts worked, time commitment for work, level of education, age, experience, area of work, average daily census, organizational structure (vertical: tall and hierarchical organizational relationships within the hospital; horizontal: flat organizational relationships within the hospital; matrix: hierarchical and consultative relationship within the hospital), model of nursing care (primary: one nurse responsible for the holistic care of each patient assigned to her/him; team: patient care assigned by the charge nurse or leader, nursing team responsible for holistic patient care; functional: nurses assigned to a number of patients on the basis of tasks) and decision-making style (authoritarian: manager controls all decisions without consulting nurses; participatory: manager shares decision-making with nurses; mixed: manager makes decisions with participation of nurses based on situational factors).

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As indicated by a pilot study, Gardner’s nurses’ career commitment scale (1986) and Schwirian’s Six Dimension (6-D) Scale of Nursing Performance (1978) were suitable and applicable to the Jordanian healthcare system; scales were used without modifications. Because nursing education in all Jordanian universities and community colleges is provided in English, nurses were familiar with the concepts of the scales used. Gardner’s career commitment scale is a self-assessment tool that consists of 10 items ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). This scale is unidimensional, has good reliability and validity. Gardner’s scale has internal consistency, as evidenced by Cronbach’s alpha, which ranged from .80 to .82. In the current research, the reliability coefficient of the scale was .85. Schwirian’s Six Dimension (6-D) Scale of Nursing Performance (1978) is a selfassessment tool that consists of 52 items grouped into six subscales: Leadership, Critical Care, Teaching/Collaboration, Planning/Evaluation, Interpersonal Relations/Communication and Professional Development. This scale ranges from 0 (not at all) to 4 (very well). The Professional Development subscale ranges from 0 (never) to 4 (consistently). The original scale has external, convergent and discriminant validity, and it has internal consistency as evidenced by Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .84 to .98. In the current study, the reliability coefficients of the subscales were: Leadership = .72, Critical Care = .70, Teaching/Collaboration = .83, Planning/Evaluation = .75, Interpersonal Relations/Communication = .84 and Professional Development = .74; the overall scale was .93. Ethical considerations In 2005, the first step in conducting this research was to obtain the approval of the research council of the university where the researchers are currently working. Approvals to conduct the study were obtained also from the hospitals’ administrators and nurses. Nurses were approached through their nurse managers. Nurses were told that answering and returning the questionnaires would constitute their consent forms to participate in the study. Nurses were asked not to include their names and were provided with envelopes that could be sealed. Returned questionnaires were placed in the nursing office and were collected by a research assistant. These procedures were followed to ensure participants’ anonymity. All nurses’ data were kept confidential. Data analysis The Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) (version 11.5) (2001) was used to generate descriptive and inferential statistics at a significance level of .05. Means, standard deviations and frequencies were reported for the studied variables. On a 5-point Likert scale, any mean value above 3 was considered a positive aspect of nurses’ career commitment. On a 4-point Likert scale, any mean value above 3 was considered a positive aspect of nurses’ job performance. To make compari-


sons among the three types of hospitals, F-tests were used because items on the subscales were treated as continuous variables (Polit and Beck 2004). When F-tests were significant, Scheffe post hoc tests were performed to detect areas of significant differences. Results Characteristics of the sample Table 1 shows the demographics of the sample and the differences, with their significance, among the three types of hospitals in terms of the following variables:

• Marital status (p=.003): the majority of single nurses were employed in private hospitals; • Shifts worked (p=P

7.28

Full-time

81

65.9

318

77.2

88

88.0

Part-time

42

34.1

94

22.8

12

12.0

Level of Education 40

32.5

63

15.3

12

12.0

Baccalaureate

80

65.0

328

79.4

86

86.0

Master’s and above

3

2.5

22

5.3

2

2.0

Age 49

39.8

207

50.0

50

50.0

25–34 years

50

40.7

166

40.1

42

42.0

35–44 years

24

19.5

40

9.7

7

7.0

.023 E>G, G>E

3.98

Less than 25 years

.001 P>G, G>P

3.77

Diploma

G, G>E


45–54 years and above

–

–

1

.2

1

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1.0

Experience

7.19

Less than 1 year

22

17.9

104

25.4

14

14.0

1–2 years

23

18.7

105

25.7

38

38.0

3–4 years

27

22.0

92

22.5

26

26.0

5–9 years

21

17.1

62

15.2

15

15.0

10 years or more

30

24.3

46

11.2

7

7.0

Unit’s Average Daily Census

E&P>G, G>E, G>P

10.54

1–5 patients

12

9.9

88

21.7

13

13.4

6–10 patients

24

19.8

99

24.4

32

33.0

11–15 patients

15

12.4

59

14.5

19

19.6

16–20 patients

19

15.7

70

17.2

17

17.5

More than 20 patients

51

42.2

90

22.2

16

16.5

Units’ or Wards’ Organizational Structure 29

24.0

147

36.8

34

35.4

Horizontal

32

26.4

123

30.8

25

26.0

Matrix

22

18.2

81

20.2

26

27.1

Unclear

38

31.4

49

12.2

11

11.5

Model of Nursing Care Provision 15

12.5

135

33.4

30

30.6

Team

59

49.2

172

42.6

49

50.0

Functional

32

26.7

64

15.8

16

16.3

Unclear

14

11.6

33

8.2

3

3.1

G, G>E, G>P

10.40

Primary

G, G>E, G>P

10.06

Vertical

.001

G, G>E, G>P

* The totals for some categories do not equal 640 or, in turn, 100% owing to missing data. ** An equal variance is not assumed. *** Scheffe post hoc tests.

F-tests revealed significant differences among nurses in the three types of hospitals in the following items on the nurses’ career commitment scale: nurses plan to be continuously active in the nursing career throughout their lives (p=.008), and nurses’ present work assignment aligns closely with their career interests and goals (p=.040) (Table 3). Nurses who were working in private hospitals had the highest means for all reported significant differences.

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Table 2.

Comparisons of total scores of nurses’ job performance and career commitment among whole sample, governmental, teaching and private hospitals (N=640). Nurses in the Whole Sample N = 640

Total Scores

Nurses in Governmental Hospitals *N = 124

Nurses in Teaching Hospitals N = 416

Nurses in Private Hospitals N = 100

V

SD

V

SD

V

SD

V

SD

*Ftest

Sig.

Nurses’ Career Commitment

3.53

0.78

3.42

0.81

3.54

0.77

3.64

0.76

2.28

.102

Nurses’ Job Performance

2.75

0.54

2.65

0.61

2.75

0.53

2.85

0.49

3.16

.043**

* An equal variance is not assumed. ** Private hospitals when compared to the governmental ones; Scheffe post hoc tests.

Table 3.

Significant differences in variables of nurses’ career commitment across governmental, teaching and private hospitals (N=640).

Variables of Nurses’ Career Commitment




V

SD

V

SD

V

SD

*Ftest

Sig.

Nurses plan to be continuously active in the nursing career throughout their lives

3.33

1.40

3.68

1.26

3.84

1.18

4.86

.008 P&E>G, G>E, G>P

Nurses’ present work assignment is closely aligned with their career interests and goals

3.33

1.27

3.53

1.15

3.73

0.930

3.22

.040 P>G, G>P

* The totals for some categories do not equal 640 or, in turn, 100% owing to missing data. ** An equal variance is not assumed.

Based on total scores, the mean of nurses’ job performance in the sample as a whole was 2.75, and the means of nurses’ job performance across hospitals were 2.65 in governmental hospitals, 2.75 in teaching hospitals and 2.85 in private hospitals. These figures show that nurses assessed themselves as performing “well” their jobs, that is, in activities that could be measured in accordance with standards. There were no significant differences across different types of hospitals in nurses’ career commitment. However, hospitals differed in the total scores of nurses’ job performance (p=.043); the highest mean was at private hospitals (Table 2). In nurses’ job performance, and taking into consideration that there were no extreme differences among standard deviations, means of dimensions revealed no


extreme differences among the three types of hospitals. However, using individual items on the scale, F-tests revealed some significant differences across hospitals. The highest means of nurses’ job performance across hospitals are reported in Table 4. Hospitals differed in terms of the following items on the nurses’ job performance scale: • Leadership: nurses were given praise and recognition for achievement by their managers (p=.004), and nurses accepted responsibility for the level of care provided (p=.029); • Planning/evaluation: nurses initiated planning and evaluation of nursing care with others (p=.045); • Interpersonal relations/communication: nurses promoted the inclusion of patients’ decisions and desires concerning their care (p=.004), and nurses communicated acceptance of each patient and concerns for patients’ welfare (p=.001); • nurses helped patients to communicate with others (p=.039). Nurses who worked in private hospitals had the highest means for all reported significant differences.

Discussion and Implications Nurses “agreed” that they were committed to their careers (nursing as a lifelong occupation) and considered that they were performing “well” in their jobs (compared to standards). The results of the current research are inconsistent with those of Gardner (1992), who reported in her study that career commitment scores dropped significantly over the first year of a nurse’s employment. As evidenced in the current research and supported by other studies, there is a significant correlation between nurses’ career commitment and their job performance (Fort and Voltero 2004; Leal-Muniz 2005; McCloskey and McCain 1988; Wright and Bonett 2002). Committed nurses exhibit many positive characteristics; these include, but are not limited to, positive work history, high professionalism, intention to remain in the job and high job motivation. In turn, these characteristics are predictive of high job performance. These findings mandate the creation of supportive work environments that promote career commitment and job performance. Such environments foster autonomy, leadership, good benefits packages and opportunities for advancement. High career commitment and job performance will result in positive outcomes for nurses, patients and organizations. These outcomes include patient and nurse satisfaction, and the reputability and marketability of the organization.

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Table 4.

Significant differences in variables of nurses’ job performance across governmental, teaching and private hospitals (N=640).

Variables of Nurses’ Job Performance




V

SD

V

SD

V

SD

*F-test

Sig.

Gives praise and recognition for achievement to those under your direction

2.13

1.15

2.42

1.09

2.61

1.00

5.66

.004 E&P>G, G>E, G>P

Accepts responsibility for the level of care provided by those under your direction

2.30

1.18

2.72

1.79

2.73

0.990

3.55

.029 E>G, G>E

Overall Mean

2.43

1.14

2.65

1.16

2.71

1.01

2.82

1.33

2.85

1.14

3.01

1.01

2.56

1.01

2.44

0.995

2.61

1.04

Initiates planning and evaluation of nursing care with others

2.56

1.07

2.57

1.01

2.85

0.978

3.10

.045 P>E, E>P

Overall Mean

2.65

1.04

2.70

1.17

2.92

0.971

Promotes the inclusion of the patient’s decisions and desires concerning his/her care

2.38

1.14

2.68

0.971

2.80

0.926

5.65

.004 E&P>G, G>E, G>P

Communicates a feeling of acceptance of each patient and a concern for the patient’s welfare

2.36

1.03

2.70

0.947

2.80

1.05

6.95

.001 E&P>G, G>E, G>P

Helps a patient to communicate with others

2.62

1.03

2.77

0.941

2.96

1.01

3.25

.039 P>G, G>P

Overall Mean

2.72

1.03

2.86

1.01

2.94

0.942

2.85

0.950

2.88

1.07

3.01

0.864

Leadership

Critical Care Overall Mean Teaching/Collaboration Overall Mean Planning/Evaluation

Interpersonal Relations/Communication

Professional Development Overall Mean

* An equal variance is not assumed. Means and standard deviations in boldface are for the dimensions of the scale.


Although Gardner (1992) reported that career commitment did not correlate with turnover, in light of the current worldwide escalating nursing shortage, career commitment may be in jeopardy. To pursue their goals and to have more secure jobs and good salaries, nurses may leave their jobs for positions in other countries, or may even change careers. Thus, managerial and leadership interventions must be put in place to prevent attrition. As indicated by the total scores of the nurses’ career commitment, there were no significant differences across hospitals. This trend could be valid, given that Jordanian nurses are typically responsible for supporting their extended families, and thus nurses did not differ in this respect across hospitals. Based on total scores, hospitals did differ in their nurses’ job performance; the highest mean was at private hospitals. In Jordan, better job performance at private hospitals could be related to the presence of advanced technology and adequate supplies for nurses to perform “well” in their jobs. Dimensional means of nurses’ job performance scale indicated no significant differences among the three types of hospitals. However, unlike nurses in governmental and teaching hospitals, nurses in private hospitals planned to be continuously active in the nursing career throughout their lives, and perceived that their current work was closely aligned with their career interests and goals. This finding could be related to some supportive aspects of work environments and organizational climates that promote nurses’ autonomy and enthusiasm, which have been linked to decentralized decision-making (Tzeng 2004). Such a decision model is encouraged through the use of horizontal and matrix organizational structures, and primary and team models of nursing care. Job involvement predicts nurses’ career commitment (Leal-Muniz 2005). This study was applied in academia; however, its results may apply for clinical setting. Enthusiasm towards nursing and the favourable perception of workload may indicate long-term career commitment, which is likely to be reflected in positive job performance. Continuous involvement in the nursing career is a basic step in nurses’ career commitment, which could be achieved through the active involvement of nurses in their nursing organizations (Leal-Muniz 2005) and by granting them time for professional and personal development. Unlike nurses in governmental and teaching hospitals, nurses in private hospitals were better leaders; nurses were given praise and recognition for

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achievement by their supervisors, and in turn, they accepted responsibility for the level of care. This finding could also be related to supportive work environments and organizational climates that promote leadership, enthusiasm, autonomy, recognition of achievement and professional and educational advancement. For example, leadership encourages nurses to accept and ask for responsibility, which is a step towards nurses’ autonomy (Sengin 2003; Snow 2001) and in turn will be positively reflected in nurses’ job performance. Nurses differed in the planning/evaluation aspect of job performance, just as they differed in initiating planning and evaluation of nursing care with others. Knowledgeable and autonomous nurses may be predicted to perform well in their job (Wade 1999). Nurses also differed in terms of their interpersonal relations and communication, particularly with regard to their patients and their patients’ families. Family/community involvement was significantly correlated with nurses’ job performance (McCloskey and McCain 1988): the greater the nurse’s involvement in family and community, the higher the nurse’s predicted job performance. To make a difference in all aspects of patient care and develop the nursing profession, nurses must be committed to their careers (Gardner 1992). Although they are in the first line of care and communication with patients and patients’ families, nurses’ roles are invisible when they are overshadowed by physicians’ roles (Buchan and Edwards 2000; Dracup and Bryan-Brown 1998; Fagin 1987). The dominance of the medical role is perceptible in most Jordanian healthcare settings. From a cultural perspective, medicine as an area of study and specialization is highly valued in Jordan, unlike nursing. However, instead of focusing on the imbalance between the status of medicine and that of nursing, nurses and nurse managers should focus on how to strengthen the profession, such as through enhancing nurses’ qualifications (McNeese-Smith 2000, 2001; Tzeng 2004). Although the nurses in this study sample displayed characteristics typical of nurses throughout Jordan, the results of the current study should be interpreted with caution; they may not be generalizable to the whole population. Further research would benefit from random sampling techniques and longitudinal research design. A wide array of variables in nurses’ job performance need to be explored, starting with nurses’ competencies but including organizational factors, such as the organizational climates of various healthcare settings (Tzeng 2004). And as this study’s nurses reported their current work assignment to be closely aligned with their career inter-


ests and goals, further research is required to investigate the influence of workload and staffing on nurses’ career commitment. To strengthen nurses’ career commitment and enhance their job performance, the work environments and organizational climates typical of private hospitals should be promoted in other types of hospitals. Teaching and governmental hospitals should focus more on developing nurses’ autonomy and decentralized decision-making, leadership, enthusiasm, autonomy, recognition of achievements and professional and educational advancements. Teaching and governmental hospitals should utilize horizontal and matrix organizational structures and primary and team models of nursing care to promote nurses’ career commitment and job performance. Summary and Conclusions Nurses “agreed” that they were committed to their careers and were performing “well” their jobs. Total scores revealed no significant differences among hospitals in terms of nurses’ career commitment. Dimensional means revealed no significant differences across the three types of hospitals in nurses’ job performance. However, in terms of the individual items on the scale, the three types of hospitals differed in some aspects of nurses’ job performance; the highest means were found among nurses working in private hospitals.

Nurses’ job performance can and should be enhanced in all types of hospitals. As the findings from private hospitals indicate, technology and sufficient supplies are important for better performance of the nurse’s job. Such facilities should be available to all nurses working in a hospital setting. However, given the weaker economic status of governmental and some teaching hospitals in Jordan, such broad enhancements may not be feasible. As in private hospitals, supportive work environments and organizational climates can and should be promoted in governmental and teaching hospitals.

Acknowledgements The researchers would like to thank The Hashemite University for funding this research, as well as all nurses who participated in the current study.

Correspondence may be directed to: Majd T. Mrayyan, PhD, RN, Associate Professor and Dean, Faculty of Nursing, The Hashemite University, Zarqa 13115, Jordan; tel. 962-5-3903333, ext. 4382; fax: 962-5-390-3337; e-mail: [email protected].

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