New Article: Benjamin, Negotiating Job Quality in Contracted-Out Services

Benjamin, Orly. “Negotiating Job Quality in Contracted-Out Services: An Israeli Institutional Ethnography.” In The Post-Fordist Sexual Contract: Working and Living in Contingency (ed. Lisa Adkins and Maryanne Dever; Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016): 149-69.

 

 

Extract

I forward an analysis of the process of preparing contracts themselves prior to service operation, and the negotiations between various public sector administrators that shape employees’ job quality. I make use of Dorothy Smith’s (2005) methodology of institutional ethnography for the purpose of understanding how job quality is shaped for both certified and uncertified employees in the social services commissioned by the Israeli Welfare, Education, and Health ministries.

 

 

 

New Article: Taub, Educational Reform Affecting Teachers’ Motivation

Taub, Ronit. “A New Educational Reform in Israeli High Schools Affecting Teachers’ Motivation and Perception of the Teaching Profession.” Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 209.3 (2015): 503-508.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.279

 

Extract

In 2011, a new educational reform was introduced in Israel, known as “Oz Le’Tmura”. The research sought to examine how the reform has influenced motivation to teach and teachers’ perceptions of the teaching profession. It was found out that the reform improves the quality of teaching, teachers’ professionalism, perception of the teaching profession and teachers’ status as they see it. This reform has redefined the factors that shape the perception of the teaching profession and motivation to teach on three levels and has improved the teachers’ work conditions and wages by introducing educational strategic processes in the education system.

 

 

 

New Article: Kerzman et al, Attitudes toward Expanding Nurses’ Authority

Kerzman, Hana, Dina Van Dijk, Limor Eizenberg, Rut Khaikin, Shoshi Phridman, Maya Siman-Tov, and Shoshi Goldberg. “Attitudes toward Expanding Nurses’ Authority.” Israel Journal of Health Policy Research (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/110.1186/s13584-015-0005-z

 

Abstract

Background
In recent years, an increasing number of care procedures previously under the physician’s authority have been placed in the hands of registered nurses. The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of nurses towards expanding nurses’ authority and the relationships between these attitudes and job satisfaction facets, professional characteristics, and demographics.

Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted between 2010 and 2011 in three major medical centers in Israel. Participants included 833 nurses working in 89 departments. Attitudes toward the expansion of nurses’ authority were assessed by self-report questionnaire, as well as job satisfaction facets including perception of professional autonomy, nurse-physician working relations, workload and burnout, perceptions of quality of care, and nursing staff satisfaction at work.

Results
Nurses reported positive attitudes toward the expansion of nurses’ authority and moderate attitudes for interpretation of diagnostic tests in selected situations. The results of multivariate regression analyses demonstrate that the nurses’ satisfaction from professional autonomy and work relations were the most influential factors in explaining their attitudes toward the expansion of nurses’ authority. In addition, professionally young nurses tend to be more positive regarding changes in nurses’ authority.

Conclusion
In the Israeli reality of a nurse’s shortage, we are witnessing professional transitions toward expansion of the scope of nurses’ accountability and decision–making authority. The current research contributes to our understanding of attitudes toward the expansion of nurses’ authority among the nursing staffs. The findings indicate the necessity of redefining the scope of nursing practice within the current professional context.

 

 

New Article: Shetach and Marcus, Critical Managerial Capabilities of Medical and Nursing Managers in an Israeli Hospital

Shetach, Ana, and Ohad Marcus. “The Critical Managerial Capabilities of Medical and Nursing Managers in an Israeli Hospital.” Evidence-Based HRM 3.1 (2015): 81-102.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EBHRM-12-2012-0019

 

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the managerial capabilities that are required of medical and nursing managers, in a Christian-affiliated hospital in Israel, in order to promote the job satisfaction of their subordinates.

Design/Methodology/approach

Data were gathered via questionnaires, administered to 107 doctors and nurses of a small Christian-affiliated hospital in Israel, regarding the job satisfaction of the respondents, and their evaluation of the managerial capabilities of their medical and nursing superiors. Correlations and regressions were carried out on the data.

Findings

Overall managerial capabilities of medical and nursing managers were shown to be significantly related to how their subordinates felt about their teams and about their work. The results suggest differences between nurses and doctors. When analyzed for the two dimensions of managerial capabilities and the two dimensions of job satisfaction, the results were significant for the nurses, but not significant for the doctors. When tested for Christians vs non-Christians, the results for the nurses were the same as in the sample as a whole; whereas for the doctors, there were differences between the two religious groups.

Research limitations/implications

The sample is small and culturally specific, thus limiting the generalization potential of this study.

Practical implications

Findings of this research may have practical implications regarding hospitals’ recruitment, promotion, instruction and follow-up policies.

Originality/value

This study sheds light on the issue of hospital management and leadership within a specific cultural-religious setting, which has not been previously investigated.

 

New Article: Shetach & Marcus, Citizenship-Behavior, Cooperation and Job Satisfaction of Medical and Nursing Teams

Shetach, Ana, and Ohad Marcus. “Citizenship-Behavior, Cooperation and Job Satisfaction of Medical and Nursing Teams in an Israeli Hospital.” Team Performance Management  21.3-4 (2015): 181-98.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/TPM-11-2014-0058

 

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate into the relationships among citizenship behavior within medical and nursing teams, cooperation among these teams within hospital units and job satisfaction of members of those teams.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were gathered via questionnaires, administered to 107 doctors and nurses of a small hospital in Israel, regarding their job satisfaction, their evaluation of the citizenship behavior within their own professional team (medical or nursing) and the extent of cooperation of their own team with the other professional team. Preacher and Hayes’s mediation analyses were carried out on the data.

Findings 

The findings show that medical–nursing cooperation mediates the relationship between citizenship behavior within the professional team (medical or nursing) and job satisfaction. When analyzed separately for doctors and nurses, results show that job satisfaction is predicted by the cooperation between the medical and nursing staff within hospital units, for nurses only. Citizenship behavior is shown to predict job satisfaction for each of the two professional sectors. Although for nurses, both factors affect their levels of job satisfaction, whereas for the doctors, cooperation affects citizenship behavior within the medical team, which, in turn, affects their job satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

The research sample is small and culturally specific, thus limiting the generalization potential of this study.

Originality/value

 

The unique nature of teamwork within hospital departments is hereby investigated. The findings shed light on a critical issue of hospital human resource management, which has not been previously investigated, and may have practical implications regarding hospitals’ overall management policies.