• Jayne Faulkner and Heather Laschinger.
• School of Nursing, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
• J Nurs Manag. 2008 Mar 1; 16 (2): 214-21.

BackgroundThe recruitment and retention crisis has catalyzed interest in workplace empowerment for nurses. Many nurses feel that they do not receive the respect they deserve in hospital settings; however, there are few systematic studies of respect for nurses.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between structural and psychological empowerment and their effects on hospital nurses' perceptions of respect.MethodA secondary analysis was conducted of data from a larger study of 500 randomly selected hospital staff nurses. A predictive, non-experimental survey design was used to test a hypothesized model derived from Kanter's Work Empowerment Theory.ResultsBoth structural and psychological variables were significant independent predictors of respect, although structural empowerment had considerably greater explanatory power.ConclusionsThe findings support Kanter's theory. Hospital nurses who perceive themselves to be structurally and psychologically empowered are more likely to feel respected in the workplace.Implications For Nursing ManagementChanging workplace structures is within the mandate of nurse managers in their roles as advocates for and facilitators of high-quality care. Nurse managers have the influence and resources to facilitate empowering work conditions that can increase nurses' feelings of being respected. In addition, promoting collaborative inter-professional and intra-professional relationships and assuring continuous support to nurses are particularly important strategies for building respect.

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