STAFF NURSE PERCEPTION OF JOB EMPOWERMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT - A TEST OF KANTER THEORY OF STRUCTURAL POWER IN ORGANIZATIONS

In this study, Rosabeth Kanter's1 structural theory of organizational behavior was tested in a nursing population by examining the relations hip between 161 staff nurses' perceived job empowerment and their comm itment to the organization. Data were collected using the Organization al Description Opinionnaire,2 the Organizational Commitment Questionna ire,3 a modified version of the Conditions for Work Effectiveness Ques tionnaire,4 and a demographic questionnaire. Consistent with Kanter's theory, a strong positive relationship was found between nurses' perce ptions of power and opportunity and their commitment to the organizati on. In addition, overall empowerment was correlated positively with nu rses' perceptions of their immediate managers' power. The results sugg est that nurse administrators can empower their staff and improve orga nizational commitment by manipulating the structures in the work envir onment to allow greater access to the power and opportunity structures that Kanter maintains are important to overall work effectiveness.