The influence of workplace environment on psychological empowerment among nurses in Jordanian governmental hospitals: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Nurses manage nursing care within an organization work environment, which influences professional practice, quality of care, and staffing. A supportive environment and empowerment contribute to clinical leadership skills, enhanced performance, and patient engagement, which facilitate organizational objectives. The aim of the study is to assess Jordanian nurses perceptions of the work environment, their psychological and structural empowerment, the relationship between the work environment and empowerment, and whether socio-demographic variables can predict empowerment. A descriptive cross-sectional correlational research design. A power analysis was conducted using G*Power software. A medium effect size (Cohen d = 0.5), an alpha level of 0.05, and a desired power of 0.80, for a 2-tailed independent samples t test. A study surveyed 405 nurses from 32 Jordanian governmental hospitals across 3 regions, achieving a response rate of 47% (405 out of 930). an online self-reported questionnaire was utilized in the data collection procedure, which the questionnaire encompassed 2 major instruments, the psychological empowerment scale and the work environment scale. The participants had a mean age of 34 years (±5.13), with females comprising the majority. Overall, nurses work environment and psychological empowerment scores were at a moderate level. Significant differences were observed between the mean scores of the main variables and the established cutoff points (P < .001). A weak positive correlation was identified between work environment and psychological empowerment among registered nurses in hospitals (r = 0.128; P ≤ .05). Additionally, female nurses exhibited lower psychological empowerment scores compared to male nurses, with a mean difference of β = -0.492 (P = .007). The findings highlight the critical role of fostering positive and supportive work environments to enhance nurses psychological empowerment. Such empowerment contributes to improved performance, higher quality patient care, and the achievement of organizational objectives. Moreover, a healthy work environment can reduce staff turnover, increase job satisfaction, and sustain the delivery of high-quality care.