Factors associated with the psychological empowerment of nursing in hemodialysis services

Abstract

Objective: To explore the associations between psychological empowerment of nursing professionals and the practice environment, safety climate and sociodemographic and labor variables. Methods: This is a quantitative and correlational study. The population consisted of 64 nursing professionals working in four hemodialysis services located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. For data collection, the following were applied: sociodemographic and labor characterization questionnaire, the Brazilian versions of the Psychological Empowerment Instrument, the Practice Environment Scale and the Safety climate domain of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, association tests and linear regression. Results: The overall mean of psychological empowerment was 68.7 (SD=10.8), of the practice environment, 2.9 points (SD=0.8), and of safety climate, 71.1 (SD=19.5). Evidence of positive and strong associations between psychological empowerment and the practice environment (r=0.57; p<0.001) and safety climate (r=0.62; p<0.001) were found. Each point in the domain of safety climate and in the practice environment increased, respectively, 0.24 (p<0.001) and 4.17 (p=0.021) in mean the values of psychological empowerment. At the same time, the practice environment and safety climate values influenced psychological empowerment by 44%. Self-determination (p=0.007) and impact (p=0.019) were higher among nurses. Conclusion: The psychological empowerment of nursing professionals is influenced by the practice environment characteristics, safety climate and professional category.