Conscientiousness, openness to experience and extraversion as predictors of nursing work performance: a facet-level analysis.

AIM: This study examined the relationships between the personality traits of conscientiousness, openness and extraversion at trait and facet-levels and three indicators of work role performance; proficiency, 'adaptivity' and proactivity measured at individual, team and organisational levels. BACKGROUND: This is one of the first studies to explore the relationship between personality, measured at trait and facet-level and performance using a comprehensive range of performance indicators. METHOD: An online survey of 393 nurses from health-care organisations across Australia was conducted to test hypothesised relationships. RESULTS: Path analyses revealed numerous relationships between personality, measured at both trait and facet-levels, and work role performance. Conscientiousness was highlighted as the strongest driver of work role performance across all the indicators, with extraversion also strongly associated with work role performance. Openness to experience, previously considered a week predictor of performance, was, when examined at the facet-level, related to all of the work role performance indicators. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggests a bandwidth effect, where the personality traits drive global performance while the facets drive specific performance. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Better understanding of the relationship between personality and work role performance will help nurse managers to foster the fit between individual and organisation, improving job satisfaction, engagement, retention and performance in role.

The utility of a workplace injury instrument in prediction of workplace injury.

Workplace injuries are common and destructive to persons, organisations, and society. Various instruments presently exist that are designed to assess the factors underlying workplace injury. The study reports on the construct and predictive validity of a 46-item instrument, the safety perception survey (SPS), currently used to assess safety climate in industrial organisations throughout Australia. Initially, factor analysis was conducted on the data from a sample of 1238 employees from nine organisations, which indicated a one-factor solution, was the best fit. A structural equation model (SEM) linking injury rates to the safety climate measure for 16 sub-groups of six industrial organisations indicated that the measure contributed just 23% of the variance in injury rates. Interestingly, the results indicated that the number of employees was a better and more significant predictor of injury (R(2)=0.48). It is proposed that the SPS as is would need to be modified significantly from its current form to produce improvements in validity, as in its current form the survey is no more predictive of injury than organisational size. Future research into safety climate measures should incorporate predictive validity analysis on injury rates, as for many organisations; this is a performance outcome measure.

Work readiness of graduate health professionals.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The current exploratory study investigated work readiness among graduate health professionals. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: A critical incident technique was used to elicit perceptions regarding: strategies and skills that constitute work readiness among health professionals and the work readiness factors that help or hinder health graduates' transition and integration into the workplace. Fifteen medical graduates, 26 nursing graduates and five organisational representatives from a regional hospital in Victoria, Australia participated. METHOD: Data were collected via qualitative interviews. RESULTS: Participants discussed a total of 92 critical incidents; 52 related to helping and 40 to hindering work readiness factors that impacted graduates' transition and integration experiences. A follow-up thematic analysis indentified four critical work readiness factors: social intelligence, organisational acumen, work competence and personal characteristics. While graduates and organisational representatives considered each factor important, some differences between the groups emerged. Organisational representative's perceived social intelligence and clinical skills critical graduate competencies, yet graduates were unprepared in these areas. CONCLUSION: The identified work readiness factors were consistent with past research and warrant further investigation of work readiness among a larger group of graduate health professionals in a range of contexts.