Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Nursing

Advisor

Janice Long

Abstract

The healthcare environment is complex and ever-changing, which has a direct impact on the nurse. The effects of the constant change to the nurse may result in the development of change fatigue, which causes the loss of trust in the organization, a feeling of resentment, and a sense of apprehension while depleting the individual’s reserves. The purpose of this correlational study guided by Lazarus and Folkman’s stress and coping theory was to determine if there is a relationship between (a) job satisfaction and change fatigue and (b) organizational commitment and change fatigue in nurses who work in an outpatient clinical environment. The McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale, the Change Fatigue Scale and the Klein et al. Unidimensional Target neutral Commitment Measures were administered online to 136 nurse participants recruited from outpatient clinical settings via social media and email. Results of correlational analysis showed a statistically significant relationship between change fatigue and job satisfaction which were weakly correlated r(134) = .19, p = .026, and a weak positive correlation was seen between organizational commitment and change fatigue r(134) = .17, p = .046). Results may have a positive impact on social change through raising awareness of what the nurse experiences during change initiatives while potentially improving staff retention. The leadership team would benefit from monitoring the amount and timing of initiatives being introduced to potentially decrease change fatigue from occurring. Further studies should be performed to explore the impact of change fatigue on nurses working in the outpatient clinical settings as an increased number of services are being provided outside of the acute care setting.

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