Well-Being of Nurses Under a Regimented Organizational Culture

Marlene  R. Padua,; Remedios  Fernando,

Well-Being of Nurses Under a Regimented Organizational Culture

Abstract:

Aim. Primarily, this study described the experiences of military nurses that affected or threatened their well-being in the line of duty. Moreover, it tried to reveal they maintained their stamina and well-being amidst the pressures and demands of military service. Method. This study used active interviewing and followed Glaser and Strauss's grounded-theory design to guide the collecting and coding of interviews to identify emerging categories and generate a substantive theory. Participants were eleven military nurses assigned in the different major service commands, namely: Philippine Army, Philippine Navy, Philippine Air Force, and AFP Wide Service Support Units. Results. “Wellbeing among military nurses under a regimented culture: a transformation from a civilian novice nurse to a professional military nurse to perform complex tasks” emerged as the core category with five sub-categories: (1) customs, traditions, and chain of command; (2) military professionalism and mission accomplishment; (3) tough military pieces of training and deployment; (4) military discipline and strict obedience; (5) and code of conduct and ethics. Military nurses have been molded, oriented, and closely bonded for them to execute complex tasks under challenging and hazardous conditions. Conclusion. Military nurses live by the ethos and culture of the armed forces. They embrace them in their daily lives as their own. They are made to understand, believe, and demonstrate these at all times. They are required to model them in their own actions and teach others to accept and live by them in their daily life, especially in their workplace. The determinants of their wellbeing include personality characteristics, leadership management, social support, or family/marital attachment styles.

References:

George, J.B. (1995). Nursing Theories: The base for professional nursing (4th ed.) USA: Appleton & Lange.
Young, C. & Koopsen, C. (2005). Spirituality, Health, and Healing. Canada: Jones and Barlett Publishers
Walker, L.O & Avant, K.C. (2005). Strategies for theory construction in nursing (4th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Billay, D.B. & Yonge, O. (2004). Contributing to the theory development of preceptorship. Nurse Education Today, 24, 566-574.
Dudley-Brown, S.L. (1997). The evaluation of nursing theory: A method for our madness. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 34 (1), 76-83.
Greenglass, E.R. & Fiksenbaum, L. (2009). Proactive coping, positive affect, and well-being: Testing for mediation using path analysis. European Psychologist, 14 (1), 29-30.
Ramos, X. (2005). Using efficiency analysis to measure individual well-being, an illustration for Catalonia, Spain, 1-42.