RESUMO
AIM: To identify the level of professional empowerment in hospital nurses and describe the relationship between sociodemographic variables and professional empowerment. BACKGROUND: Professional empowerment is positively related to work effectiveness, job satisfaction and organisational and professional commitment. METHOD: Data on professional empowerment were collected by surveying 365 nurses in a Portuguese hospital, with the Portuguese versions of 'Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II' and the 'Psychological Empowerment Instrument'. RESULTS: Overall, psychological empowerment scored 66.2 (standard deviation = 8.9, with 'meaning' scoring highest and 'impact' scoring lowest), whereas structural empowerment scored 18.6 (standard deviation = 3.3, with 'opportunity' and 'informal power' scoring highest and 'resources' scoring lowest). The factor 'age' correlated positively with 'self-determination', 'impact' and 'psychological empowerment', as well as with 'informal power', 'resources' and 'structural empowerment'. Lastly, 'competence' correlated negatively with 'formal power', 'information' and 'structural empowerment'. CONCLUSION: There is a relationship between demographic variables and empowerment, and between structural and psychological empowerment. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Professional empowerment is related to organisational results, so it is important to reinforce and optimize organisational structures. Empowerment can be achieved with access to structures that promote empowerment, particularly resources.