Building and sustaining work engagement – a participatory action intervention to increase work engagement in nursing staff

This study evaluated whether a participatory action research intervention with nursing staff on acute care older people National Health Service wards in the United Kingdom was effective for increasing work engagement. Mediation analyses between job resources (social support, influence in decision-ma...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Knight, Caroline, Patterson, M., Dawson, J., Brown, J.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69940
_version_ 1848762173021487104
author Knight, Caroline
Patterson, M.
Dawson, J.
Brown, J.
author_facet Knight, Caroline
Patterson, M.
Dawson, J.
Brown, J.
author_sort Knight, Caroline
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This study evaluated whether a participatory action research intervention with nursing staff on acute care older people National Health Service wards in the United Kingdom was effective for increasing work engagement. Mediation analyses between job resources (social support, influence in decision-making), job demands, work-related needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness), and work engagement explored the presumed psychological mechanisms underlying the intervention. A non-randomized, matched control group, pretest, post-test design involved three intervention and five control wards. A significant decrease in relatedness, and a borderline significant decrease in competence, was observed in the intervention group compared to the control group, with no effect on work engagement (N = 45). Work-related needs mediated between resources and work engagement, supporting the job demands-resources model and self-determination theory as an underlying explanatory theory. Intervention implementation was difficult, highlighting the need for participant and organizational readiness for change, and strong management support. This is the first known study to apply participatory techniques to increase work engagement in nursing staff and explore the underlying explanatory psychological mechanisms, offering a novel means of taking work engagement research forward. Crucially, it highlights the challenges involved in intervention research and the importance of including evaluations of intervention implementation alongside statistical evaluations to avoid erroneous conclusions.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:43:21Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-69940
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:43:21Z
publishDate 2017
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-699402018-10-08T07:02:49Z Building and sustaining work engagement – a participatory action intervention to increase work engagement in nursing staff Knight, Caroline Patterson, M. Dawson, J. Brown, J. This study evaluated whether a participatory action research intervention with nursing staff on acute care older people National Health Service wards in the United Kingdom was effective for increasing work engagement. Mediation analyses between job resources (social support, influence in decision-making), job demands, work-related needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness), and work engagement explored the presumed psychological mechanisms underlying the intervention. A non-randomized, matched control group, pretest, post-test design involved three intervention and five control wards. A significant decrease in relatedness, and a borderline significant decrease in competence, was observed in the intervention group compared to the control group, with no effect on work engagement (N = 45). Work-related needs mediated between resources and work engagement, supporting the job demands-resources model and self-determination theory as an underlying explanatory theory. Intervention implementation was difficult, highlighting the need for participant and organizational readiness for change, and strong management support. This is the first known study to apply participatory techniques to increase work engagement in nursing staff and explore the underlying explanatory psychological mechanisms, offering a novel means of taking work engagement research forward. Crucially, it highlights the challenges involved in intervention research and the importance of including evaluations of intervention implementation alongside statistical evaluations to avoid erroneous conclusions. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69940 10.1080/1359432X.2017.1336999 fulltext
spellingShingle Knight, Caroline
Patterson, M.
Dawson, J.
Brown, J.
Building and sustaining work engagement – a participatory action intervention to increase work engagement in nursing staff
title Building and sustaining work engagement – a participatory action intervention to increase work engagement in nursing staff
title_full Building and sustaining work engagement – a participatory action intervention to increase work engagement in nursing staff
title_fullStr Building and sustaining work engagement – a participatory action intervention to increase work engagement in nursing staff
title_full_unstemmed Building and sustaining work engagement – a participatory action intervention to increase work engagement in nursing staff
title_short Building and sustaining work engagement – a participatory action intervention to increase work engagement in nursing staff
title_sort building and sustaining work engagement – a participatory action intervention to increase work engagement in nursing staff
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69940