Analysis of nursing proactivity in a public university hospital

A cross-sectional study was conducted from April to June of 2015, with 347 workers at a public university hospital in southern Brazil, by means of a questionnaire composed of socio-professional data and the shortened version of the Proactive Behaviors in Organizations Scale. The descriptive and inferential statistics supported the data analysis.

Results:

Proactive behavior was identified in 218 (62.8%) of the participants. The proactivity means were associated with the professional categories and inversely correlated to age, and the period of time working in the health area and in the hospital.

Conclusion:

Individual factors affect proactivity at work and a strong presence of proactive behaviors facilitates the leaders in encouraging their expansion in the context of the work teams.

Keywords
Work performance; Equipe de enfermagem; Leadership; Working environment; Nursing service; hospital

Socio-professional variables		n (%)/mean(SD)/median	Mean/r	p-value
Sex (n=346)				0.536
	Female	280(80.9)	3.67(±0.75)
	Male	66(19.1)	3.60(±0.63)
	Age (years) (n=345)	41.6(±9.8)	-0.108	0.022
Marital status (n=342)				0.769
	With partner	219(64)	3.66(±0.71)
	Without partner	123(36)	3.64(±0.79)
	Number of children (n=346)	1(1-2)	-0.058	0.139
Professional category				<0.001
	Nursing assistants/technicians	273 (78.7)	3.56 (±0.75)
	Nurse	74 (21.3)	3.98 (±0.56)
Education				0.256
	High school	111(32)	3.56(±0.79)
	Higher education	127(36.6)	3.56(±0.73)
	lato sensu (Specialty course)	95(27.4)	3.85(±0.64)
	stricto sensu (master's or doctorate)	14(04)	3.83(±0.61)
	Time working in healthcare (years) (n = 344)	15(7-22)	-0.108	0.023
Work sector				0.269
	Inpatient units	252(72.6)	3.62(±0.72)
	Other	95(27.4)	3.72(±0.76)
	Time working in the institution (years) (n=345)	7(0-14)	-0.103	0.027
Type of employment contract				0.119
	Consolidation of Labor Laws	183(52.7)	3.71(±0.73)
	Contract for public employee (Regime Jurídico Único)	164(47.3)	3.59(±0.74)
Shift worked				0.154
	Morning	107(30.8)	3.64(±0.74)
	Afternoon	91(26.2)	3.85(±0.60)
	Daytime^ Professionals working eight hours a day; Absolute frequency (Relative frequency); Mean (Standard Deviation); Median (interquartile range); t-test; Pearson correlation; Tukey HSD post hoc test; N <347 due to missing values	12(3.5)	4.10(±0.56)
	Nighttime	137(39.5)	3.49(±0.78)
Working in another institution				0.506
	No	196(56.5)	3.63(±0.74)
	Yes	151(43.5)	3.68(±0.73)
	Number of people in the nursing team	06(4-8)	-0.010	0.846

Items	Mean	Mode	SD
01. Actively participate in the institution, analyzing the best work practices	3.03	4	1.348
02. When planning to implement work improvements, I think of how to help my peers to adapt to new practices.	3.92	4	1.087
03. Looking for previous knowledge to plan and implement improvement actions	3.85	4	1.032
04. Putting my improvement ideas into practice	3.67	4	1.010
05. Creating opportunities for action in order to improve this organization	3.62	4	1.096
06. Giving new suggestions to improve this organization	3.54	4	1.089
07. Making changes aimed at organizational improvement	3.27	4	1.175
08. Seeking to learn new knowledge that will bring future benefits to the organization	4.10	5	0.912
09. Improving the organizational systems and practices	3.44	4	1.074
10. Not expecting ready answers, I actively seek alternatives	3.86	4	0.906
11. Observing my work sector routine and thinking about how I could improve it	4.16	4	0.830
12. If I realize that organizational systems or practices can be improved, I suggest new practice ideas that bring improvements to the organization	3.38	3	1.155
13. If I realize that organizational systems or practices can be improved, I suggest new ideas for improvement	3.62	4	1.156
Proactivity	3.65	3.85	0.73

Escola Paulista de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal de São Paulo R. Napoleão de Barros, 754, 04024-002 São Paulo - SP/Brasil, Tel./Fax: (55 11) 5576 4430 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: actapaulista@unifesp.br

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[1] Corresponding author Adrize Rutz Porto Rua Gomes Carneiro, 1, 96010-610, Pelotas, RS, Brazil. adrizeporto@gmail.com