Link of Patient Care Outcome to Occupational Differences in Response to Human Resource Management: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study on Hospital Doctors and Nurses in China

Chaojie Liu, Timothy Bartram and Sandra G. Leggat
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Chaojie Liu: School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne VIC 3086, Australia
Timothy Bartram: School of Business, RMIT University, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Sandra G. Leggat: School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne VIC 3086, Australia

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: This study assessed the link of patient care outcome to occupational differences in response to human resource management. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in three large regional hospitals in China. A total of 700 questionnaires were distributed to doctors, nurses, allied health workers, and managers and 499 (71%) were completed. Data were analyzed using a final sample of 193 doctors and 180 nurses. Quality of patient care was rated by the participants using a modified version of the Victorian Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire. Human resource management was measured on seven aspects: job security, recruitment, training, transformational leadership, information sharing, job quality, and teams. The differences between doctors and nurses in response to the human resource management practices and their associations with quality of care were compared through independent samples t -tests, correlational analyses, and moderator regressions. Doctors gave a higher rating on quality of patient care than their nurse counterparts. ‘Training’, ‘transformational leadership’, and ‘information sharing’ were more likely to be associated with higher ratings on quality of patient care in nurses. By contrast, a greater association between ‘teams’ and quality of patient care was found in doctors. Although doctors and nurses in China are exposed to the same hospital management environment, professional differences may have led them to respond to management practices in different ways.

Keywords: high performance work systems; quality of care; health professionals; health services management; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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