ABSTRACT
There is evidence that relations between physicians and nurses within healthcare institutions might be shaped by informal aspects of such relations and by links to people external to the organization, with an impact on work performance. Social network analysis is underutilized in exploring such associations. The paper aims to describe physicians’ and nurses’ relationships outside their clinical units and to explore what kind of ties are related to job performance. A network analysis was performed on cross-sectional data. The study population consisted of 196 healthcare employees working in a public hospital and a primary healthcare centre in Spain. Relational data were analysed using the UCINET software package. Measures included: (i) sample characteristics; (ii) social network variables; and (iii) team performance ratings. Descriptive statistics (means, medians, percentages) were used to characterize staff and performance ratings. A correlational analysis was conducted to examine the strength of relationships between four different types of ties. Our findings suggest that external ties only contribute to improving the performance of physicians at both the individual and team level. They are focused on the decision-making process about the therapeutic plan and, therefore, might need to seek advice outside the workplace. In contrast, external ties are not relevant for the work performance of nurses, as they need to find solutions to immediate problems in a short period of time, having strong ties in the workplace. Social network analysis can illuminate relations within healthcare organizations and inform the development of innovative interventions.
Subject(s)
Health Personnel/psychology , Social Networking , Work Performance , Cross-Sectional Studies , Delivery of Health Care , Employee Performance Appraisal , Female , Humans , Male , Spain , WorkplaceABSTRACT
The search of new health management formulas focused to give wide services is one of the priorities of our present health policies. Those formulas examine the optimization of the links between the main actors involved in public health, ie, users, professionals, local socio-political and corporate agents. This paper is aimed to introduce the Social Network Analysis as a method for analyzing, measuring and interpreting those connections. The knowledge of people's relationships (what is called social networks) in the field of public health is becoming increasingly important at an international level. In fact, countries such as UK, Netherlands, Italy, Australia and U.S. are looking formulas to apply this knowledge to their health departments. With this work we show the utility of the ARS on topics related to sustainability of the health system, particularly those related with health habits and social support, topics included in the 2020 health strategies that underline the importance of the collaborative aspects in networks.
Subject(s)
Health Behavior , Health Services , Public Health , Social Support , Habits , Health Policy , HumansABSTRACT
La búsqueda de nuevas fórmulas de gestión sanitaria capaces de dar una prestación amplia y sostenible es uno de los objetivos prioritarios de las actuales políticas de salud. Dichas fórmulas exploran cómo optimizar los vínculos entre los actores principales que participan de la salud pública, es decir, los usuarios, los profesionales, los agentes socio-políticos y los agentes empresariales. El objetivo de este artículo es dar a conocer el Análisis de Redes Sociales (ARS) como una herramienta y un método capaz de analizar, medir e interpretar esas conexiones. Conocer cómo son las relaciones entre personas, lo que se denomina redes sociales, en el campo de la salud pública está tomando cada vez más relevancia en la comunidad internacional. De hecho, países como Reino Unido, Holanda, Italia, Australia y EEUU, buscan fórmulas para aplicar estos conocimientos a sus departamentos de salud. Con el presente trabajo ponemos de manifiesto la utilidad del ARS en temas relacionados con la sostenibilidad del sistema sanitario, especialmente en cuanto a los hábitos de salud y al apoyo social, tópicos recogidos en las estrategias de salud 2020, los cuales subrayan los aspectos colaborativos en clave de red(AU)
The search of new health management formulas focused to give wide services is one of the priorities of our present health policies. Those formulas examine the optimization of the links between the main actors involved in public health, ie, users, professionals, local socio-political and corporate agents. This paper is aimed to introduce the Social Network Analysis as a method for analyzing, measuring and interpreting those connections. The knowledge of peoples relationships (what is called social networks) in the field of public health is becoming increasingly important at an international level. In fact, countries such as UK, Netherlands, Italy, Australia and U.S. are looking formulas to apply this knowledge to their health departments. With this work we show the utility of the ARS on topics related to sustainability of the health system, particularly those related with health habits and social support, topics included in the 2020 health strategies that underline the importance of the collaborative aspects in networks(AU)
